Course coordinator
Dr Richard Newsome
Course overview
- Study period
- Semester 1, 2025 (24/02/2025 - 21/06/2025)
- Study level
- Postgraduate Coursework
- Location
- St Lucia
- Attendance mode
- In Person
- Units
- 2
- Administrative campus
- St Lucia
- Coordinating unit
- Communication & Arts School
Overview of the contemporary global publishing industry and book culture, with a particular emphasis on the Australian publishing industry.
This course examines a range of issues in contemporary publishing, both in Australia and internationally.
Course requirements
Incompatible
You can't enrol in this course if you've already completed the following:
WRIT6010
Course contact
Course staff
Lecturer
Dr Richard Newsome
Timetable
The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.
Additional timetable information
Whilst every effort is made to place students in their preferred activity, it is not always possible for a student to be enrolled in their tutorial of choice. If you require assistance, please ensure that you email timetabling.commarts@enquire.uq.edu.au from your UQ student email with:
- Your name
- Your student ID
- The course code
- A list of three tutorial preferences (in order of preference)
- Reason for the change – e.g. timetable clash, elite athlete status, SAP
Teaching staff do not have access to change tutorials or help with timetables; all timetabling changes must be processed through the Timetabling Team.
Aims and outcomes
This course will help students to develop an understanding of the publishing industry through a series of guest lectures by prominent writers, editors, and publishers and through a program of readings, tutorials, and seminars.
Learning outcomes
After successfully completing this course you should be able to:
LO1.
demonstrate an understanding of the business of publishing in Australian and global contexts
LO2.
demonstrate skills necessary for a career in the writing, editing, and publishing industries.
Assessment
Assessment summary
| Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper/ Report/ Annotation | Assessment one - Book Review | 15% 500-700 words |
24/03/2025 4:00 pm
Submit via Turnitin through Blackboard |
| Creative Production/ Exhibition | Assessment two - Podcast | 35% 6-8 minutes |
14/04/2025 4:00 pm
Submit audio file via EchoVideo & the script via Turnitin through Blackboard |
| Presentation |
Assessment 3 - Presentation
|
10% 3-5 minutes |
28/04/2025 - 19/05/2025
A presentation schedule will be arranged in the early seminars. Contact the course co-ordinator if you can't make it for your allotted time so another time can be arranged. |
| Paper/ Report/ Annotation | Assessment four - Non-fiction Book Proposal | 40% 2500 words |
9/06/2025 4:00 pm
Submit via Turnitin through Blackboard |
Assessment details
Assessment one - Book Review
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Paper/ Report/ Annotation
- Weight
- 15% 500-700 words
- Due date
24/03/2025 4:00 pm
Submit via Turnitin through Blackboard
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02
Task description
Choose a book (fiction or non-fiction) published in 2023 or 2024 and review it for a specific outlet (e.g. newspaper, journal, literary or cultural interest website). Include the name of the publication at the top of the review.
This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
Submission guidelines
TurnItIn Receipts:
Assignments for this course will be submitted electronically via Blackboard and using TurnItIn. Before submitting any assignments for this course you must ensure you have completed UQ's compulsory online Academic Integrity Tutorial.
When you successfully submit your assessment to TurnItIn you will see text confirming your submission is complete, before being redirected to your Assignment inbox. On this page you can:
- View the name of the submitted file
- View date and time of the upload
- Resubmit your paper (if necessary)
- Download your submitted paper
- Download digital receipt.
If you cannot see your submission in your Assignment inbox you should regard your submission as unsuccessful. Students are responsible for retaining evidence of submission by the due date for all assessment items, in the required form (e.g. screenshot, email, photo, and an unaltered copy of submitted work).
If the submission was not successful:
- Note the error message (preferably take a screenshot).
- Go to your assignment page and see if it is possible to submit again.
- If you cannot submit again email your course coordinator immediately with the assignment attached.
Please visit this webpage for further advice on how to submit your TurnItIn assignment.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
The maximum extension allowed is 28 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.
Late submission
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
Assessment two - Podcast
- Mode
- Product/ Artefact/ Multimedia
- Category
- Creative Production/ Exhibition
- Weight
- 35% 6-8 minutes
- Due date
14/04/2025 4:00 pm
Submit audio file via EchoVideo & the script via Turnitin through Blackboard
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02
Task description
Working individually or in pairs, write and produce a podcast about an aspect of the trade publishing industry that interests you, or about an aspect of writing, editing, and/or publishing in general. A list of suggested topics covered by previous students is provided on Blackboard. Once you have chosen your topic, research it, write, record, edit and produce a 6-8 minute podcast aimed at a general audience with a specialist interest in your topic. That is, this is not an 'academic' project per se, but one aimed at an audience of like-minded peers.
Podcast scripts should be formatted in 12pt Times New Roman, double-spaced.
An information sheet in the Assessments folder on Blackboard contains all details on how to upload the podcast file via Soundcloud. The script should be submitted via Turnitin on Blackboard.
Your podcast should consist of original material, created by you. You are encouraged to include original interview segments/Q&As/chat with experts or laypeople. Music or audio must be from creative commons or copyright-free sites. Externally derived content should be used only if it is integral to your argument/narrative and used sparingly – this means any excerpts from existing online interviews/chat/quotes/news reports/broadcasts etc that you did not develop yourself (max 30 seconds).
You can use any software that you are familiar with to create your podcast. However, the UQ Media and Production Services team (MaPS) only supports Adobe Audition. Audio kits will be available to students for three-day loans.
- MaPS also provides a recorded version of the training for those who can't make the in-semester sessions or want to refresh the basics: https://youtu.be/MQ0Jx9BAPFY
Other useful links can be found here:
- https://jactech.com.au/guides/
- https://www.youtube.com/watchmaps/
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPFQDGmZ0yqosBX5HFfneqLucY9Ij6JCK.
MaPS will email instructions on how to download the Adobe Creative Cloud Software Suite at Home. Adobe is available on campus in some labs (including Joyce Ackroyd Ideas Centre, room 215). MaPS can also be contacted via email for follow up at maps@uq.edu.au.
This assessment task evaluates students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students may use AI-generated voices to compile their podcast if they wish, but the writing of the script must be their own work.
Submission guidelines
TurnItIn Receipts:
Assignments for this course will be submitted electronically via Blackboard and using TurnItIn. Before submitting any assignments for this course you must ensure you have completed UQ's compulsory online Academic Integrity Tutorial.
When you successfully submit your assessment to TurnItIn you will see text confirming your submission is complete, before being redirected to your Assignment inbox. On this page you can:
- View the name of the submitted file
- View date and time of the upload
- Resubmit your paper (if necessary)
- Download your submitted paper
- Download digital receipt.
If you cannot see your submission in your Assignment inbox you should regard your submission as unsuccessful. Students are responsible for retaining evidence of submission by the due date for all assessment items, in the required form (e.g. screenshot, email, photo, and an unaltered copy of submitted work).
If the submission was not successful:
- Note the error message (preferably take a screenshot).
- Go to your assignment page and see if it is possible to submit again.
- If you cannot submit again email your course coordinator immediately with the assignment attached.
Please visit this webpage for further advice on how to submit your TurnItIn assignment.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
The maximum extension allowed is 28 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.
Late submission
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
Assessment 3 - Presentation
- Identity Verified
- Mode
- Oral
- Category
- Presentation
- Weight
- 10% 3-5 minutes
- Due date
28/04/2025 - 19/05/2025
A presentation schedule will be arranged in the early seminars. Contact the course co-ordinator if you can't make it for your allotted time so another time can be arranged.
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02
Task description
Each student will prepare and present to the group a 3-5 minute outline of their non-fiction project. The presentation should include the following elements:
- A title and a brief synopsis
- The publishing category that best fits the proposal
- Comparable titles and their publishers
- Which publisher you'll target, and why
- Identify the aspects of your proposal that would be attractive to a commercial publisher
- What drew you to the idea in the first place and what can you bring to the task to make it excel.
- All presentations will be recorded for marking purposes via recording facilities available where the assessment takes place (eg. ECHO360, Zoom, camera device)
- Recordings will be retained by the School of Communication and Arts for at least 12 months from the release of the final grade for the course.
- Recordings will be stored in a secure manner and will only be accessed by authorised school staff for the purposes of:
- Moderation of marking;
- Provision of feedback to the student(s) recorded; and/or
- Re-marking following a successful re-mark application.
Submission guidelines
The presentation is marked pass/fail for 10%. Do the presentation and cover the required elements for the full 10 marks.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to defer this exam.
Contact the course co-ordinator if you can't make it for your allotted time so another time can be arranged.
Late submission
You will receive a mark of 0 if this assessment is submitted late.
Contact the course co-ordinator if you can't make it for your allotted time so another time can be arranged.
Assessment four - Non-fiction Book Proposal
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Paper/ Report/ Annotation
- Weight
- 40% 2500 words
- Due date
9/06/2025 4:00 pm
Submit via Turnitin through Blackboard
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02
Task description
Prepare a proposal for a non-fiction book to present to a particular publisher, and show in the cover letter's address who that publisher is. Your book can NOT be memoir, but a relevant biography of a prominent figure or historical event is permitted. The work can not be material that has been submitted for assessment in another course; that is, it must be written specifically for this assessment.
Try to identify a gap in the current market that would motivate a real publisher to accept your proposal.
The proposal should consist of:
- a cover letter of 1-2 pages that demonstrates your research into the market and details why you are the best person to write this book
- a blurb for the back cover, which entices the reader
- A table of contents with a 1-2 sentence summary of each of your chapters
- a writing sample of about 1500-1800 words from one of your proposed chapters.
Exemplar book proposals are provided on the Blackboard site.
This task has been designed to be challenging, authentic and complex. Whilst students may use AI and/or MT technologies, successful completion of assessment in this course will require students to critically engage in specific contexts and tasks for which artificial intelligence will provide only limited support and guidance.
A failure to reference generative AI or MT use may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.
To pass this assessment, students will be required to demonstrate detailed comprehension of their written submission independent of AI and MT tools.
Submission guidelines
TurnItIn Receipts:
Assignments for this course will be submitted electronically via Blackboard and using TurnItIn. Before submitting any assignments for this course you must ensure you have completed UQ's compulsory online Academic Integrity Tutorial.
When you successfully submit your assessment to TurnItIn you will see text confirming your submission is complete, before being redirected to your Assignment inbox. On this page you can:
- View the name of the submitted file
- View date and time of the upload
- Resubmit your paper (if necessary)
- Download your submitted paper
- Download digital receipt.
If you cannot see your submission in your Assignment inbox you should regard your submission as unsuccessful. Students are responsible for retaining evidence of submission by the due date for all assessment items, in the required form (e.g. screenshot, email, photo, and an unaltered copy of submitted work).
If the submission was not successful:
- Note the error message (preferably take a screenshot).
- Go to your assignment page and see if it is possible to submit again.
- If you cannot submit again email your course coordinator immediately with the assignment attached.
Please visit this webpage for further advice on how to submit your TurnItIn assignment.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
The maximum extension allowed is 28 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.
Late submission
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
Course grading
Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.
| Grade | Cut off Percent | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (Low Fail) | 0 - 24 |
Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 2 (Fail) | 25 - 44 |
Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 3 (Marginal Fail) | 45 - 49 |
Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes |
| 4 (Pass) | 50 - 64 |
Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 5 (Credit) | 65 - 74 |
Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 6 (Distinction) | 75 - 84 |
Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes. |
| 7 (High Distinction) | 85 - 100 |
Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes. |
Additional course grading information
- Where fractional marks occur in the calculation of the final grade, a mark of x.5% or greater will be rounded up to (x+1)%. A percentage mark of less than x.5% will be rounded down to x%.
- Where no assessable work is received, a Grade of X will apply.
Supplementary assessment
Supplementary assessment is available for this course.
Additional assessment information
- Further information regarding the assessment, including marking criteria and/or marking rubrics are available in the ‘Assessment’ folder in Blackboard for this course.
- Marks Cannot Be Changed After Being Released: Marks are not open to negotiation with course staff. If you wish to discuss the feedback you have received, you should make an appointment to speak with the Course Coordinator.
- Assessment Re-mark: If you are considering an Assessment Re-mark, please follow the link to important information you should consider before submitting a request.
- Integrity Pledge: Assignments for this course will be submitted electronically via Blackboard and using Turnitin. Before submitting any assignments for this course, you must ensure you have completed UQ's compulsory online Academic Integrity Modules.ﾠIn uploading an assignment via Turnitin you are certifying that it is your original work, that it has not been copied in whole or part from another person or source except where this is properly acknowledged, and that it has not in whole or part been previously submitted for assessment in any other course at this or any other university.
- Withholding marks prior to finalisation of grades: Per UQ Assessment Procedures – Release of Assessment Item Marks and Grades: The final assessment item and the marks for the assessment item are to be released only after the final grade for the course has been released.
Learning resources
You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.
Library resources
Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.
Learning activities
The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.
Filter activity type by
Please select
| Learning period | Activity type | Topic |
|---|---|---|
Week 1 (24 Feb - 02 Mar) |
Seminar |
Week 1 An introduction to the world of publishing, and an overview of the course and expectations for the semester ahead. Bring a copy of a favourite book to class, as well as your copy of Yellowface. Be sure to read the readings in Week 1 resources folder. Learning outcomes: L01 |
Week 2 (03 Mar - 09 Mar) |
Seminar |
Week 2 Challenges and Opportunities in Australian Publishing: A publisher's perspective, with UQP Publishing Director Madonna Duffy. Be sure to read the readings in the Week 2 resources folder beforehand. Learning outcomes: L01 |
Week 3 (10 Mar - 16 Mar) |
Seminar |
Week 3 Book reviews & book review culture. Be sure to read the readings in the Week 3 resources folder beforehand. Learning outcomes: L01, L02 |
Week 4 (17 Mar - 23 Mar) |
Seminar |
Week 4 The portfolio career of the writer and editor. Self-branding, marketing, self-publishing: guest lecturer Dr Charlotte Nash-Stewart. Be sure to read the readings in the Week 4 resources folder beforehand. Learning outcomes: L01 |
Week 5 (24 Mar - 30 Mar) |
Seminar |
Week 5 Non-fiction in a commercial world. Research and writing underpinning a successful non-fiction pitch. Also, podcasting considerations. Be sure to read the readings in the Week 5 resources folder beforehand. Learning outcomes: L01 |
Week 6 (31 Mar - 06 Apr) |
Seminar |
Week 6 Contracts, Rights and the Role of Agents. Guest lecturer: author's agent, Alex Adsett. Be sure to read the readings in the Week 6 resources folder beforehand. Learning outcomes: L01 |
Week 7 (07 Apr - 13 Apr) |
Seminar |
Week 7 The physical aspects of publishing: paper, printers and other commercial considerations. Be sure to read the readings in the Week 7 resources folder beforehand. Learning outcomes: L01, L02 |
Week 8 (14 Apr - 20 Apr) |
Seminar |
Week 8 Digital changes in publishing. Guest lecturer: author and digital maven, Simon Groth. Be sure to read the readings in the Week 8 resources folder beforehand. Learning outcomes: L01, L02 |
Mid-sem break (21 Apr - 27 Apr) |
Not Timetabled |
MIDSEMESTER BREAK |
Week 9 (28 Apr - 04 May) |
Seminar |
Week 9 Marketing, publicity and sales in the book industry. Guest speaker, Tonile Wortley from Hachette. Be sure to read the readings in the Week 9 resources folder beforehand. Presentations begin this week. Learning outcomes: L01, L02 |
Week 10 (05 May - 11 May) |
Not Timetabled |
Week 10 Labor Day holiday week - independent writing Learning outcomes: L02 |
Week 11 (12 May - 18 May) |
Seminar |
Week 11 Australian books in an international context. Guest lecturer: internationally acclaimed author, Professor Kim Wilkins. Be sure to read the readings in the Week 11 resources folder beforehand. Learning outcomes: L01, L02 |
Week 12 (19 May - 25 May) |
Seminar |
Week 12 The business of book selling. Guest lecturer: Fiona Stager, Avid Reader Books. Learning outcomes: L01 |
Week 13 (26 May - 01 Jun) |
Not Timetabled |
Week 13 No seminar this week - independent writing Learning outcomes: L01, L02 |
Policies and procedures
University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:
- Student Code of Conduct Policy
- Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
- Assessment Procedure
- Examinations Procedure
- Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure
Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.
Course guidelines
Communication Expectations
While you are a student at UQ, all communication must be conducted according to the UQ Student Code of Conduct. The UQ Library has a helpful Communicate and collaborate online module.
- Email is the primary way for you to send messages to, and receive information from, the School and our staff.
- You must use your UQ email address (not a private address) to communicate with staff.
- You should add a clear subject line, including course code, and a 2-3 word statement.
- You can send email at any time, however please do not expect responses outside normal working hours (Monday to Friday from ~8am to ~5pm).
- Emails that constitute bullying, harassment or discrimination against staff contravene the Student Code of Conduct. Emails like this will be reported to the University, and the matter will be pursued as misconduct.