Program Overview

The Stirling Centre for International Publishing and Communication is a world-leading centre for postgraduate study in publishing, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2022. The course equips students with the skills and knowledge to launch their career in the publishing industry, offering a comprehensive, coherent and practical approach to print and digital publishing across sectors.

As a student on the course you will be immersed, from day one, in the current debates driving the industry: from cutting-edge digital developments, to diversity in the literary industries and sustainability issues in book production.
 
You will learn about publishing across sectors, genres and formats, developing expert knowledge of the publishing process, from commissioning and planning right through to sales and rights management. You will learn a wealth of new skills, enabling you to create and manage your own original publishing project during the course and to produce professional marketing plans and business development reports. The course culminates in a major project, for which students may choose to submit either a significant piece of original research in the form of a 15,000 word dissertation, or a digital project, offering a creative response to a publishing-related question.

This course is demanding, stimulating and enjoyable. We update the content every year to reflect the rapid changes that transform the industry, so you will graduate with cutting-edge skills and knowledge of current publishing industry practice and standards.  This is why many publishers now consider it equivalent to a year's worth of experience at a publishing company. We are proud of our Stirling graduates, many of whom  occupy senior positions in both commercial and not-for-profit publishers and other organisations across the world.

Scotland is an excellent place to study publishing, with its rich literary heritage and a distinctive publishing ecosystem, characterised by dynamic independent publishing.