Monday, June 10, 2013

Yale Publishing Course Seeks A Few Good Publishers


Interview With Tina C. Weiner, Director, Yale Publishing Course


1.      Who should apply to the Yale Publishing Course?  The curriculum is geared to mid to senior-level publishing professionals in all areas of responsibilities – editorial, marketing, sales, business development, management, design, production, and digital strategy.  About 50% of the class is made up of participants from outside the United States.

2.      What will participants learn?  They will be brought up to date on the latest innovations and trends in media and will acquire the skills and knowledge that will enable them to advance their careers and lead their companies more effectively. The curriculum focuses on:  understanding  and utilizing new technological advances; strategic planning for integrating print and digital; new ways to increase revenues and monetize content; understanding and coping with ever-increasing disruption in the industry; the financial realities of publishing today; how to reach global markets; and how to motivate your staff and be a more effective leader.

3.      Why is the course focusing on these areas? We are trying to cover the most crucial issues facing the industry today and provide a forum for open discussion of these issues from a global perspective. We will discuss how technology is influencing book publishing, magazine publishing, and digital publishing of all kinds.  The emphasis will be on how to adapt your content to print and digital formats,  how to find a sustainable financial model for your type of publishing, and how to think about and plan  strategically for the future.

4.      How does Yale’s offering compare to other programs? The Yale program is a course – not a conference.  The sessions are conducted in a classroom setting with lots of interaction between students and faculty and a great deal of time allowed for extensive Q and A. The class is limited to no more than 70 participants for each program ( book and magazine) to allow for a close relationship to develop between the participants and allow one –on- one access to the speakers. The Course is intensive and covers a lot of territory in 5 days, with conversations carried on outside the classroom at meals, breaks, receptions, and special events. YPC’s emphasis on building leadership skills and its informal atmosphere are, I believe, unique. I also bring in faculty from the Yale School of Management which adds a business school perspective to the program.

5.      What do you find rewarding and challenging about YPC? The challenge is to zero in on the most relevant topics and find the industry experts who are not only innovators but who also are excellent teachers. I spend a great deal of time and energy on this, and it seems to be working really well – based on the feedback we receive from the attendees. The most rewarding thing for me has been getting to know some really amazing industry experts and  meeting incredible emerging  industry leaders in the from all over the world. I  learn a lot from both the speakers and the participants and I really value that.

6.      What trends are you seeing in publishing? I see more sophisticated approaches to audience development and monetization of content; greater attention being paid to discoverabilty; growing use of data analytics; increasing development of other services  offered by publishers; more attention paid to creating a brand; greater focus on a global market; and more fluent integration of print and digital formats. Across the board, I feel publishers are meeting the challenges of disruption with less panic and more innovation and flexibility. The Course always seems to highlight the fact that this is an exciting time to be in publishing – one in which change is the only constant.
  
For more information, please consult: http://publishing-course.yale.edu


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Brian Feinblum’s views, opinions, and ideas expressed in this blog are his alone and not that of his employer, the nation’s largest book promoter. You can follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels more important when discussed in the third-person. This blog is copyrighted material by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2013 

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