The Publishing Training Centre - Page 1 of 2 |
The foundations
The Publishing Training Centre at Book House (PTC) was established in 1979. Formerly the training division of The Publishers Association (PA), it eventually became part of The Unwin Foundation, a family trust dedicated to furthering excellence in book and journal publishing.
It is now a charity in its own right, but retains close links to The Publishers Association, and the Board of Trustees is always represented by at least three directors of the PA.
Purpose
The purpose of the PTC is:
"the promotion and furtherance of the commercial education of persons in any part of the world who are concerned in either the printing or publication or distribution or sale of books or writings."
To this end, the PTC runs more than 60 open courses, in subjects ranging from copy-editing to time management. Most courses take place at the PTC’s premises at Book House in Wandsworth.
The PTC also runs in-company training, which is proving to be an ever more popular option for some publishing companies. Such training can take the form of one of the open courses, delivered in-house, or else the programme can be tailored specifically to the client’s needs.
Advances
Over the years, the PTC has had to keep up with industry developments. Technological advances mean that training in areas such as electronic publishing is ever more important. Consequently, the PTC now offers open courses in subjects like XML and SGML and Marketing Using the Internet. Training is also available in specific software packages, such as QuarkXPress and Adobe Acrobat.
Nevertheless, the backbone of the PTC’s portfolio remains its training in key publishing skills such as proofreading and copy-editing and this is reflected in the range of distance learning courses on offer.
Basic Proofreading and Basic Editing were the first such courses to be launched by the PTC and they were soon followed by Effective Copywriting.
New courses in Picture Research and Copyright and Contracts will shortly be added to the list and, on top of these, it’s also possible to enrol on Typographic Design (a West Herts College course) through the PTC.
Proofreading
Basic Proofreading is by far the most popular programme. It was written by Gillian Clarke, a founder member of the Society of Freelance Editors and Proofreaders, and a regular tutor on the PTC’s open courses.
Although it’s perfectly suitable for in-house publishing staff, Basic Proofreading by Distance Learning is often used by freelances, or would-be freelances, to lay a firm foundation of skills and experience.
In a world where experience is key to finding work, the course cannot provide the whole answer, but it does provide an excellent place to start.
The course costs £375 and takes approximately 35 hours of study to complete, with five marked assignments and tutor support. The PTC recommends that delegates take around six months to complete the study, although it can be done more (or less) speedily if required.
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