MA Publishing: The Beginning

A little while before Christmas I mentioned that I would be starting an MA course in Publishing in January 2021. It’s now February 2021, I started my MA and the only way to describe it would be; chaotic. However, the chaos has in no way undermined my enjoyment of this course.

It’s probably of no surprise to anyone that starting a part-time master’s whilst working full-time and also applying for jobs (as my temporary contract rapidly comes to an end) in the middle of a global pandemic is chaos. I probably sound completely mad to some of you and I would probably agree with you. I have found the last few weeks so overwhelming at points that I’ve worried that I have made a terrible mistake. But then I take a deep breath, my girlfriend tells me to calm down and take a coffee break, and I remember that I’m actually really enjoying the course.

Although I might not love spending my evenings and Weekends catching up on seminars and reading, against all odds I do manage to enjoy it. And this speaks to my genuine interest in and love of book publishing.

Now I’ll be the first hold my hands up and say that I wasn’t thrilled when I found out that my first module would be on the marketing and budgeting aspect of publishing (it’s just not my area), yet even this has fascinated me. Whether it’s finding out about storing metadate or the nuances of audience profiling, I’ve honestly enjoying rounding out my knowledge out the industry.

I find it thoroughly rewarding to learn in aid of a concrete career goal (something that was unsurprisingly not present for my Philosophy degree). Whenever I sit down to read my big book on ‘How to Market Books’ I’m usually quite tired, often have a big mug of coffee or tea (read: glass of wine) and only just dredging up the motivation to bother after a full day of work, but somehow I always come across something that draws me into the reading.

All of this is to say that sometimes the madness is worth it. Don’t be put off a master’s degree just because it seems a little daunting. If you have a genuine interest in the subject, then it will almost definitely be a good decision. Obviously, sometimes it will be hard, and you might feel like you’ve made a mistake, but you will also get to learn about something that you love.

If you want to keep reading about my journey with this MA then give this post a like and follow my blog to be notified every time I post.

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