ENMPBB: Publishing and the Business of Books

Module code: ENMPBB

Module provider: English Literature; School of Humanities

Credits: 20

Level: Postgraduate Masters

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Nicola Wilson, email: n.l.wilson@reading.ac.uk

Module co-convenor: Dr Sophie Heywood, email: S.L.Heywood@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 21 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module explores the place of the writer within the business of modern international publishing, or what Michael Bhaskar calls ‘the content machine’ (2013). Through a mixture of critical reading, seminars, and practice-based workshops in Reading’s unique Special Collections and publishers’ archives, we’ll explore a series of modern writers’ interactions with publishers, editors, agents, and translators, considering the journeys and revisions that texts undergo in order to reach diverse, global readerships. You will be able to critically evaluate how publishing rights are sold from one country to another, and how translations are commissioned and funded. The module will equip you with a robust, historical understanding of creative writing and modern international book publishing and will include contact with publishing professionals.  

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to: 

1. demonstrate a good understanding of modern print culture and international publishing 
2. understand how literary texts are made, circulated, and re-produced through complex, collaborative processes 
3. think critically about debates around commerce, questions of taste, and the literary 
4. engage critically with ideas presented in seminars and secondary reading. 

Module content

The exact contents of the module will be settled in discussion with the students enrolled so as to take account of their particular interests. The module’s primary materials will vary from year to year, and student to student. Key texts and topics covered may include Feminist publishing and Virago Press, the Hogarth Press, Heinemann’s African Writers series, Allen & Unwin and Chatto & Windus archives, Italo Calvino’sIf On a Winter’s Night a Traveller,Clark and Philllips, Inside Book Publishing;Bhaskar, The Content Machine; Sapiro, The Sociology of Translation; Casanova, The World Republic of Letters. 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

The module consists of ten weekly seminars, each two hours in length. Each seminar will involve the reading and writing of literary/critical/ theoretical texts, and consideration of the publishing context in which they are produced and sold. The module teacher will also be available for consultation with students on a one-to-one basis to discuss their work and the progress of the module as a whole. 

Study hours

At least 22 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 50% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Reassessment

Additional costs