Alumni

Our alumni have gone on to a range of publishing and publishing-related careers in the commercial and not-for-profit sectors. If you are one of our alumni and would like to tell us what you're doing now, please get in touch.

Emily Ferro, MLitt. in Publishing Studies 2012-2013

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Attending the University of Stirling to earn my degree in Publishing Studies was easily one of the best decisions I have ever made. The broad range of courses taught throughout the year provide excellent support for work in any area of the publishing field, and the courses help students to identify the area that suits them best. I firmly believe that I would not be where I am today without the experience I gained from my time at Stirling, and from the internship I held as I studied. As courses in publishing are few and far between here in the United States, I count myself incredibly lucky to have had a chance to explore a new country while learning the ins-and-outs of an industry that I love.

Blake Brooks, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2012-13

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‘StirPub supported me from day one of the course, allowing me to pursue the areas of publishing I was interested in. By helping me with internships they allowed me to gain the experience I needed, and the course provided wonderful networking opportunities. Without the experience and education I gained from the course I would never have achieved everything that I have. The course is the perfect first step to a career in Publishing.’

Blake Brooks, Marketing and Events coordinator, The Bookseller

Kate McNamara, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2011-12

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One of the things that really drew me to the MLitt in Publishing Studies course was how practical the modules were. The classes and lecturers offered a myriad of practical skills through the publishing project, dissertation, and through the way the course was taught. Right from the start we were given group exercises, like making pitches as international companies at rights fairs, and creating marketing materials in a team in a short space of time and presenting them to the class. We were also encouraged to keep on top of what was happening in the publishing world outside of our classroom. All of this also gave me lots to talk about in interviews. We were also exposed to many different aspects of publishing, which was invaluable. When I began the course I was set on becoming an editor but I found myself becoming increasingly interested in marketing as well.

Now I am working as a Sales and Marketing Assistant with McGraw-Hill Education, a thoroughly enjoyable role where I can utilize the software, marketing, communication and design skills that Stirling gave me. It has also really helped in my understanding of how publishing in general works, and my role within the company in particular, and especially in choosing where I wanted to go. The course helped me get the job by giving me the needed skills, allowing me to articulate them in interviews and detail my professional development, and enabling me to prepare the interview tasks, but it also puts me at ease in my work. I can’t recommend it enough.

Ellen Cheng, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2011-12

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Ellen at the London Book Fair 2012

Choosing to be a part of the University of Stirling must be the greatest decision in my entire life. I attended the MLitt Publishing Studies programme in 2011/2012.

Before I joined the big family, I was a commissioning editor working in Taiwan. By thinking of getting more experience of e-books and rights licensing, I made my mind up to apply to the programme. The Stirling Centre for International Publishing and Communication provides rich training courses from editing, marketing and distribution to train students familiar with the whole publishing supply chain. In addition, having the chance to attend the London Book Fair in April is fantastic. I even found an opportunity to have a summer internship in Chicken House, a professional YA fiction publisher.

Now I work as foreign rights specialist at Suncolor Publishing Group, one of the Top 5 publishing enterprises within Taiwan. My job is to manage all the intellectual properties and scout potential trading titles to import or export. Communicating and negotiating are the most important skills within rights selling. There are some interesting highlights in my work like traveling to the main book fairs, meeting various publishing partners and different cultural experiences. Furthermore, I have another two alumni working in the same company. I just cannot stop loving my job. Thanks to the University and all the tutors and lecturers.

Aileen-Elizabeth Taylor, MLitt in Publishing Studies, 2011-12: From the Classroom to the Office

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Around this time last year the 2012 MLitt in Publishing Studies class enjoyed a fascinating talk from David Martin of Martin the Printers. Earlier this month I had the pleasure of meeting him again – this time in my office of my new job. As a soon to be graduate of the course I am very pleased to have been offered a job at Oxford University Press as a Production Assistant in the English Language Teaching division. I have been at my job for about two months now and I can see the clear benefits of the course. For example when editors send me corrections in titles, I already know the mark up signs from the editorial classes. It’s one less thing that has to be explained and taught to me while learning the job. Having a good general knowledge of the overall publishing industry has definitely stood me in good stead. What I find fascinating about English Language Teaching publishing is how local economies, politics and culture can play a big role in shaping market trends.

I love my job so much I look forward to Mondays – apparently that’s strange but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thanks M. Litt in Publishing Studies, couldn’t have done it without you!

Aileen-Elizabeth Taylor

MLitt, Publishing Studies, 2011-2012

Neil Simpson, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2008–2009

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I came to the Publishing Studies course at Stirling after completing my undergraduate degree in English Language and Literature at Glasgow (2006) and working in admin for two years. After graduating I knew that moving into the publishing industry was what I wanted to do with my degree, but I didn’t know which area of it would be the best fit. Researching the course at Stirling, I felt that it would be so wide-ranging and comprehensive that I would be able to find what I was best at and determine which was the right path to go down. I was proved right.

The teaching on the course covered all aspects of publishing, and was set up to function as equivalent to your first year working in a publishing house. In addition to the excellent teaching, another very valuable part of the course was the regular guest lectures from current publishing professionals. We heard from people from many different areas of the industry and, again, this only helped to show which area appealed the most to us as students. After graduating I was lucky enough to secure two separate work placements through the course, at Waverley Books (at that time in New Lanark) and at W Green (Edinburgh). The placements were a great follow-up to the course and allowed me first-hand experience of the day-to-day running of publishers’ offices, which stood me in good stead for my next move.

I joined Cicerone Press as Production Editor in 2010, where I have a hand in seeing books all the way through from submission to publication. My main responsibilities include liaising with authors, briefing our editors and designers and writing marketing copy – all of which has been aided by my time at Stirling.

I would definitely recommend the MLitt in Publishing Studies to prospective students. It was a great introduction to the industry and its comprehensive teaching allowed me to narrow my focus and helped to identify which part of publishing was best for me. Studying at such a beautifully located campus and meeting lots of good people and sharing many good times only added to the experience.

Conny Lenz, MLitt in Publishing Studies, 2010-2011

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Having spent four years in Stirling completing my bachelor’s degree, the decision to continue my education with the MLitt in Publishing Studies course seemed like the natural next step. I loved the diversity in subjects that were taught and the range of aspects, of publishing, that were covered. The course gave me the opportunity to not only expand on my publishing knowledge, but provided me with invaluable work experience through internships and the classes themselves. The Stirling course adapted itself to suit the changes occurring in the publishing industry at present, and the insight into digital publishing gave me the knowledge I needed in order to find my current job.

Although it took me nearly four months, I now work as Publishing Assistant for the Library Reference department at Cengage Learning EMEA in Hampshire, England. I have recently passed my probation and am constantly building upon the knowledge and experience from the MLitt course, which provided me with a firm base and the understanding I needed in order to get to where I am now.

Helena O Leary, MLitt in Publishing Studies, 2009-2010

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I graduated from the Mlitt in Publishing Studies in 2010. I really enjoyed my time in Stirling and found the course to be extremely interesting with a good dose of challenging too! After graduation I moved to New York to complete an Internship with Continuum International Publishers Inc, which I did over 2 months. The addition of practical experience on top of what I had learned on the Mlitt course was invaluable and I enjoyed my time there immensely. When I had completed the internship with Continuum I was offered a job with Pearson Education in New Jersey as an editorial assistant with the music department. A dream job! unfortunately, due to visa restrictions I was unable to take this position. I am currently living in Bilbao in Northern Spain where I am working part time as an editorial assistant for a leading scientific journal and an international marketing agent for a Spanish business solutions company. The direction my life has taken is full of triumphs and challenges, obstacles and wonderful new experiences. The MLitt. in Publishing Studies gave me direction and a clear sense of career goals but also offered me skills in marketing and design which have proved invaluable in my current position.

Katrina Melvin, MLitt in Publishing Studies 2010

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I worked as an English teacher in Asia for six years before I joined the University of Stirling. I enjoyed my life, but I knew it was time for me to do something different, to get a “proper job”. I’d done some freelance editing and copywriting here and there, but never had the opportunity to go into it full time. So, I did a bit of research online and found about Stirling’s publishing course, which has an excellent reputation and seemed to be a great way to get a foot in the door of the publishing industry. I then visited the department and was really impressed by the curriculum and the enthusiasm of the staff.

Going back to university after having worked for a few years was quite scary – I wasn’t sure if my brain had turned to mush since last time I wrote an essay or took an exam. Luckily it hadn’t: I also realised I was more motivated than I ever was as an undergraduate, and found my work experience to be valuable in several ways. The dissertation was the thing that terrified me the most, but in the end it is the thing I most enjoyed. I was really pleased to get the dissertation prize at the end of the year, and I’m now working on publishing one chapter of my dissertation as a stand-alone article.

I learned a lot during my time at Stirling – of course, there’s a lot you can only learn about the industry by going out and getting a job, but the course gave me a great foundation and a definite advantage in the job market. (I’m sure I wouldn’t have got as many interviews if it wasn’t for the MLitt.)

My time at Stirling went by so quickly, and I can hardly believe it’s been a year now since I handed in my dissertation. Since then, I’ve come back to Malaysia and I’m now working for a small publisher here. But, I’ve got my eye on Singapore or Hong Kong and hope to make a move sometime soon – Singapore in particular is home to the Asia Pacific offices of many multinational publishers, and with so much growth and development in Asia at the moment, I think the already-established publishing industry there will offer many opportunities in the near future – I recommend publishing graduates check it out – it’s as much of a rat race as London, but at least you race the race in the sun!

Duncan Lockerbie, Publishing Studies MLitt, 2007-2008

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After I started Publishing Studies I realised that there were many students on the course who shared a similar background to me: we had an under-graduate arts degree from a few years before (in my case philosophy) and had struggled to make any headway in the world of work. I was drawn to publishing studies by little else than a love of books and a feeling that a post-graduate qualification was necessary to start making meaningful progress in my career. It’s fair to say that the course exceeded all my expectations. The staff were friendly, enthusiastic, and clearly very knowledgeable. We were given an excellent view of the many aspects to the industry and graduated well-prepared to start our careers – as is proved by the number of my class-mates who went on to excellent first jobs in the industry. It was also great to work with so many students from around the world, especially in a setting as beautiful as that of the University of Stirling campus.

Since leaving I have set up my own publishing company called The Lumphanan Press, where we help authors to self-publish their work. This wouldn’t have been possible without the skills I learned on the course. The publishing project was particularly useful, as it gave me an excellent grounding in how to produce printed publications using the industry standard tools (mainly Photoshop and InDesign). I basically came out of the course ready to start publishing books, and it only took little more reading on my part before I was producing professional publications. The course gave me the confidence and ability I needed to start out in business on my own – a far cry from the days washing dishes after my philosophy degree!

Contact us

We are happy to talk to you about opportunities for study, research and partnerships with the Centre. 

Postgraduate Administration Team
Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Stirling Centre for International Publishing and Communication
University of Stirling
Stirling
FK9 4LA

Email: LitandLangPG@stir.ac.uk