MONASH UNIVERSITY FACULTY HANDBOOKS

Arts Undergraduate Handbook 1996

Authorised by Academic Registrar, April 1996

ENH2290

Publishing in Australia

W Kirsop

Synopsis This subject provides a critical and historical view of publishing in Australia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Although it is not vocational in character, it also aims to give students a practical understanding of work in a publisher's office. It looks at all the processes that stood between the author's manuscript and the printed book in the hands of the reader in both periods, with case studies selected from the 1870s and the 1980s. The interdependence of the Australian and British, and latterly American, publishing industries is explored in an attempt to explain the social and cultural significance of the local trade.

Assessment Two practical exercises (500 words each): 20% + Report (2000 words): 20% + Essay (3000 words): 30% + Class test (1.5 hours): 30%

Prescribed texts

• Australian Government Publishing Service Style manual for authors, editors and printers 4th edn, AGPS
• Beaumont J How to do your own publishing: A complete guide to self-publishing in Australia Orlando Press
• Borchardt D H and Kirsop W (eds) The book in Australia: Essays towards a cultural and social history Australian Reference Publications
• Clark G N Inside book publishing: A career builder's guide Blueprint
• Plotnik A The elements of editing: A modern guide for editors and journalists Macmillan

Recommended texts

• Coser L A and others Books: The culture and commerce of publishing U Chicago P
• Unwin S The truth about publishing Allen and Unwin