Alumni - Marie Halkjaer, MA Publishing

In September 2004 I moved to Oxford to spend a year learning how to publish books. Before then I hadn't worked in publishing and had only a vague idea of how a manuscript is turned into a book. Now, 3½ years later, I feel prepared to start my own publishing company.

The MA in Publishing at Oxford Brookes was an exciting mix of practical advice and inspirational discussion. Courses such as Editorial, Marketing management and Design and production gave me a range of tools to handle the various processes of publishing. Almost all courses focused on the tasks we would meet, when working in the industry. Particularly New Product Development where we were divided into divisions of a fictitious publisher. The division was to make a proposal for a new title, including book design drafts, economic overview, description of rights potential, a proposal for a marketing plan etc. This gave a good overview of the entire publishing process and prepared us for the work flow of an actual publishing company.

The course was complemented by two internships - one with a large publisher and one with a small. This provided valuable insight into the very different environments in which small and big companies must operate and how they go about solving the issues they are confronted with. The things I learnt here in many ways affect how I handle my daily tasks today.

Marie Halkjaer

Since her return to Denmark Marie Halkjaer has worked with several small publishers as head of marketing. She is now in the process of starting her own publishing company, Clockwise publishing, which will publish its first book in May. She is also working as a freelance consultant.

Posted on 20 Mar 2008 around 2pm