Boston University Launches Innovative New Program in Book & Magazine Publishing
Richard L. Cravatts Ph.D.
August 17, 2006
Boston University recently announced the launch of its Certificate Program in Book and Magazine Publishing, offered by the University’s Center for Professional Education.
Students in the new publishing program can select custom coursework in all related aspects of the publishing industry,” said Ruth Ann Murray, director of the Boston University Center for Professional Education, “including design and print production, custom publishing, new magazine creation, academic and trade publishing, editing, and magazine and book marketing and promotion—all the while receiving hands-on instruction from seasoned professionals representing the top book and magazine publishing houses in the region.”
The explosive magazine and book publishing industries offer a wide range of job opportunities, Murray said. For example, Fred and Jan Yager pointed out in their book, Career Opportunities in the Publishing Industry, that in 2001 alone, some 17,694 magazines were published. In 2003, they note, book sales totaled $23.4 billion, a 4.6 percent increase over 2002. In 2003, approximately 70,000 publishers—from obscure, small houses to the conglomerates—produced 175,000 new books.
Intensive evening courses and seminars for working professionals will help students keep abreast of the rapid changes in media and publishing, and bring experts from the book industry for rigorous programs to train those wishing to either jump start their career development or make a move to a whole new area of competency within their industry.
For those wishing to switch careers and enter the industry, the course work provides a broad core of practical knowledge necessary for assuming a professional role in publishing,” said Richard L. Cravatts, Ph.D., the founding director of the publishing program. “For those already in entry-level positions in publishing, coursework can provide advanced training to facilitate broader professional responsibilities and re-training in new skills. And those who work for corporations, universities, hospitals, or museums that currently publish—or that anticipate publishing—magazines, books, or other intellectual property can gain professional skills to help enhance branding efforts at their respective organizations.”
Students elect to concentrate in either book or magazine publishing—and go on separate course tracks—once they have completed required core courses in design, editing, and the business aspects of the publishing industry. Students are required to complete seven courses, for a total of 147 hours of instruction. Guest lecturers, agents, publishers, authors, editors, and other publishing professionals will attend specific course segments and help enhance learning with a real-world perspective on contemporary practices.
Our objective is to provide intensive courses, seminars, and workshops for working professionals,” said Cravatts, “to help students keep abreast of the rapid changes in media and publishing, and to bring experts from the magazine and book industry as lecturers to train and retrain those wishing to jump start their career development, or make a move to a whole new area of competency within their industry. The well-respected Radcliffe Publishing course provided this vital training for some 50 years, and our thinking was that since that successful program had moved to Columbia University, we had an opportunity here to provide needed teaching programs to fill the gap in the regional publishing market.”
One innovative and exciting resource we’re making a centerpiece of the publishing programs is the Publishing Lab,” said Cravatts, “which will offer students unique, 'real world' exposure to publishing projects, and, at the same time, provide tangible, valuable benefits to regional nonprofits by assisting them in the important work of communicating their missions to their respective constituents.” Guided by teaching staff and magazine professionals, projects undertaken in the Lab on behalf of non-profit organizations will offer students exposure to the editing, design, production, and marketing processes. As part of coursework in the Program, students will help in all aspects of either reworking an existing publication or creating and launching a new magazine for the participating non-profit.
Mr. Cravatts, the Program’s director, has served for more than 25 years as publisher of the Boston Classical Network, a firm that creates custom publications to help market the region's major performing arts organizations. He was the founding editor of Wellesley Weston Magazine, associate publisher and editor in chief of Orlando's Best and the Greater Boston Restaurant & Wine Review, art director of Myopia Polo, art director and travel editor for Palm Beach Illustrated, and the Boston dining correspondent for East/West Network, Inc., publishers of in-flight magazines for the nation's leading airlines.
From 1976-78 Mr. Cravatts was the first director of publications at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and the founding editor of the School’s magazine; he later served as director of public relations at Harvard's School of Public Health.
His feature stories, op-eds, book reviews, and articles have appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, Sunday Times of Malta, Harvard Crimson, Palm Beach Post, Real Estate Finance Journal, Chicago Tribune, Jakarta Post, Boston Herald, Washington Examiner, and other newspapers and magazines around the world.
Mr. Cravatts has taught graduate and undergraduate-level courses in Magazine Publishing, Magazine Editing, Entrepreneurial Marketing, Public Relations, Advertising, e-Commerce Strategy & Web Design, Account Planning, Marketing, Integrated Marketing Communications, and Business and Expository Writing at Boston University, Tufts University, Simmons College, Suffolk University, Emerson College, Curry College, and Emmanuel College.
The noncredit tuition is for the complete program in either book or magazine publishing is $3,495. The fee covers all lectures, workshops, skills development training, and most educational materials.
About the Boston University Center for Professional Education
The Center for Professional Education at Boston University provides the opportunity for professionals to adapt to the changes taking place in their industries by updating their knowledge, honing current skills, and acquiring new skills. Short, high-quality, non-credit programs are specifically designed to meet the continuing professional education and certificate needs of such industries as biotechnology, financial services, fundraising, private investigation, real estate, facilities management, and law. Through non-credit seminars short courses, and certificate programs, the Center for Professional Education provides students the opportunity to gain the needed education to empower them for today's economy.
Students in the new publishing program can select custom coursework in all related aspects of the publishing industry,” said Ruth Ann Murray, director of the Boston University Center for Professional Education, “including design and print production, custom publishing, new magazine creation, academic and trade publishing, editing, and magazine and book marketing and promotion—all the while receiving hands-on instruction from seasoned professionals representing the top book and magazine publishing houses in the region.”
The explosive magazine and book publishing industries offer a wide range of job opportunities, Murray said. For example, Fred and Jan Yager pointed out in their book, Career Opportunities in the Publishing Industry, that in 2001 alone, some 17,694 magazines were published. In 2003, they note, book sales totaled $23.4 billion, a 4.6 percent increase over 2002. In 2003, approximately 70,000 publishers—from obscure, small houses to the conglomerates—produced 175,000 new books.
Intensive evening courses and seminars for working professionals will help students keep abreast of the rapid changes in media and publishing, and bring experts from the book industry for rigorous programs to train those wishing to either jump start their career development or make a move to a whole new area of competency within their industry.
For those wishing to switch careers and enter the industry, the course work provides a broad core of practical knowledge necessary for assuming a professional role in publishing,” said Richard L. Cravatts, Ph.D., the founding director of the publishing program. “For those already in entry-level positions in publishing, coursework can provide advanced training to facilitate broader professional responsibilities and re-training in new skills. And those who work for corporations, universities, hospitals, or museums that currently publish—or that anticipate publishing—magazines, books, or other intellectual property can gain professional skills to help enhance branding efforts at their respective organizations.”
Students elect to concentrate in either book or magazine publishing—and go on separate course tracks—once they have completed required core courses in design, editing, and the business aspects of the publishing industry. Students are required to complete seven courses, for a total of 147 hours of instruction. Guest lecturers, agents, publishers, authors, editors, and other publishing professionals will attend specific course segments and help enhance learning with a real-world perspective on contemporary practices.
Our objective is to provide intensive courses, seminars, and workshops for working professionals,” said Cravatts, “to help students keep abreast of the rapid changes in media and publishing, and to bring experts from the magazine and book industry as lecturers to train and retrain those wishing to jump start their career development, or make a move to a whole new area of competency within their industry. The well-respected Radcliffe Publishing course provided this vital training for some 50 years, and our thinking was that since that successful program had moved to Columbia University, we had an opportunity here to provide needed teaching programs to fill the gap in the regional publishing market.”
One innovative and exciting resource we’re making a centerpiece of the publishing programs is the Publishing Lab,” said Cravatts, “which will offer students unique, 'real world' exposure to publishing projects, and, at the same time, provide tangible, valuable benefits to regional nonprofits by assisting them in the important work of communicating their missions to their respective constituents.” Guided by teaching staff and magazine professionals, projects undertaken in the Lab on behalf of non-profit organizations will offer students exposure to the editing, design, production, and marketing processes. As part of coursework in the Program, students will help in all aspects of either reworking an existing publication or creating and launching a new magazine for the participating non-profit.
Mr. Cravatts, the Program’s director, has served for more than 25 years as publisher of the Boston Classical Network, a firm that creates custom publications to help market the region's major performing arts organizations. He was the founding editor of Wellesley Weston Magazine, associate publisher and editor in chief of Orlando's Best and the Greater Boston Restaurant & Wine Review, art director of Myopia Polo, art director and travel editor for Palm Beach Illustrated, and the Boston dining correspondent for East/West Network, Inc., publishers of in-flight magazines for the nation's leading airlines.
From 1976-78 Mr. Cravatts was the first director of publications at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, and the founding editor of the School’s magazine; he later served as director of public relations at Harvard's School of Public Health.
His feature stories, op-eds, book reviews, and articles have appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Christian Science Monitor, Sunday Times of Malta, Harvard Crimson, Palm Beach Post, Real Estate Finance Journal, Chicago Tribune, Jakarta Post, Boston Herald, Washington Examiner, and other newspapers and magazines around the world.
Mr. Cravatts has taught graduate and undergraduate-level courses in Magazine Publishing, Magazine Editing, Entrepreneurial Marketing, Public Relations, Advertising, e-Commerce Strategy & Web Design, Account Planning, Marketing, Integrated Marketing Communications, and Business and Expository Writing at Boston University, Tufts University, Simmons College, Suffolk University, Emerson College, Curry College, and Emmanuel College.
The noncredit tuition is for the complete program in either book or magazine publishing is $3,495. The fee covers all lectures, workshops, skills development training, and most educational materials.
About the Boston University Center for Professional Education
The Center for Professional Education at Boston University provides the opportunity for professionals to adapt to the changes taking place in their industries by updating their knowledge, honing current skills, and acquiring new skills. Short, high-quality, non-credit programs are specifically designed to meet the continuing professional education and certificate needs of such industries as biotechnology, financial services, fundraising, private investigation, real estate, facilities management, and law. Through non-credit seminars short courses, and certificate programs, the Center for Professional Education provides students the opportunity to gain the needed education to empower them for today's economy.