Tag: Scottish Storytelling Centre

Storytelling in Action at Luath Press

During my placement at Luath Press, I had the opportunity to test my publishing knowledge in a fast-paced office setting, and to feel that I made significant contributions to the company’s publishing process. From assessing and cataloguing newly submitted manuscripts, to designing covers, to preparing final proofs for print, I was able to take part in a very wide variety of tasks, and I feel that I have learnt a great deal.

In my first week, I had the opportunity to devise a marketing plan and to draft cover ideas for a series of artbooks by photographer Alex Boyd. This I enjoyed a lot, since it challenged me to use my Creative Suite skills in a practical setting. Returning to Luath a few weeks later, I was pleased to discover that my idea to market Boyd’s three forthcoming books
in a visually similar manner had been carried through.

In both weeks I also carried out a degree of research and social media planning and built a database of publicity contacts for in-house use. I was shown the ins and outs of ONIX software and learnt about mail systems and newsletter distribution, things which had only been touched upon in the classroom. I also discovered quite a lot about the process of organising ePub files for print and ensuring authors remained happy with any proposed layouts (not always an easy task!).

Out of all the tasks I undertook, what I took the most pride in was the opportunity to use my editorial skills in assessing newly submitted manuscripts… Continue reading “Storytelling in Action at Luath Press”

My Placement at Publishing Scotland

10338725_10152271097194213_1271137288329369682_nAs part of my internship with the Scottish Centre for the Book for the collaborative project “40 Years of Scottish Publishing” with Dundee University and Publishing Scotland, I managed to secure a placement with network body for the book publishing industry.

The project I mainly worked on, reflecting on the last 40 years of publishing in Scotland and celebrating the 40th anniversary of Publishing Scotland, was a great challenge and a highly interesting opportunity for me to gain insights in the work of a membership body.

16013_10152271096969213_5074433640570345436_nAs three partners in different locations worked on different parts of the project, I started getting an overview, joined meetings and set up a shared database. The whole idea of this project was to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Publishing Scotland with an exhibition, which will be shown throughout Scotland in different venues. Therefore the work was divided into producing exhibition panels and an accompanying booklet, as well as organising the exhibition launch, and the various venues afterwards.

As three other students and I already had started working on the booklet, my first main task was to bring all the different parts together, create a consistent layout and compile all extra material needed for the 48-page publication. … Continue reading “My Placement at Publishing Scotland”

Storytelling Lecture

Professorial Lecture by Dr Donald Smith, Director of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival
Event Date: 04 March 2010
Location: Lindsay Stewart Lecture Theatre, Craiglockhart Campus.
Donald Smith has been Director of the Netherbow Arts Centre and its successor, the Scottish Storytelling Centre, through nearly three decades of dramatic change. He has also been Director of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival since its inception and a catalyst in the global storytelling renaissance.
In his lecture, “Global Nation? Defining Scotland’s Festive Identities”, Dr Donald Smith, a respected commentator on cultural affairs, teases out some of the inside stories, and peers into a potentially turbulent yet open future for Scotland’s capital city and its Festivals in a period of global crisis.
What is driving Scotland’s twenty-first century identity and self projection? What are the roles of culture, environment, history and politics in this crucible? And where are Edinburgh’s Festivals positioned in the mix? Is there consensus around starting points and objectives, or are Festival programmers part of  wider, partly undeclared, culture wars?
What might it mean for Scotland to be a truly global nation, and are its Festivals crucial to the project – or freeloaders?
The lecture is open to all staff, students and the public, and is followed by a reception.