Information, Media & Telcommunications - PUBLISHER
"Be
the Publisher! Sell the material!"
(ideas from Reuban West, ACU
Education student)
Primary
Middle
Secondary
Australian
Curriculum General Capability:
Literacy
Australian
Curriculum General Capability:
Personal and social capability
Australian
Curriculum General Capability:
Numeracy
Cooperative
Learning Activity
1. There are many different career paths Publishers can take. Publishers can work within the internet, publishing articles and professional papers on websites such as The Conversation.
Mainly Publishers are associated with Literature. There are multiple publishing companies which help are more public relations specialists. Publishers assign editors and then help sell the book through various campaigns.
Group Task: For this task you will need three groups of 2.
In each pair, one person will be tasked to write a short story and the other will be the publisher.
As the writer, you are to write about any subject/genre as agreed on within the group. Enclose your story within a plain cover with no indication of you being the author.
As the publisher, you will be tasked with thinking of ways to sell the short story the public (your class or peers). As a group, you might consider having a theme to your short stories or papers as this would make it easier to publish as a book.
Members within each group will need to edit each short story.
2. Exchange stories within the group and write a review
for each of the three stories. These reviews need to be honest but also
provide positive aspects about the story.
3. As the publisher of the pair, you are to think of the different ways you may sell these short papers/stories considering:
-
The price. What price will you put on this story? Why? Is it the same price for all three stories? Why? Why not? Research the price of similar short story books at your local book seller. How do they compare?
-
The reviews by other readers. How will you use the reviews? In flyers? On the cover? How will they be placed? What sections of the review will you highlight? Discuss with the other publishers within your group.
-
Book - Is it a series of short papers/stories? Do the stories have a theme? What is the genre?
-
Who is your target audience? Who would it interest?
4. Each pair is also to design the cover of the book. Write a "blurb" about the contents - the hook that will grab readers to want to read this book.
Compare with the other two pairs.
Discuss which cover is the most suitable for the compilation of the book
(from all three pairs).
5. Submit your finished book to
the lead Publisher (your teacher). Read the other students' books.
6.
Reflection:
-
Is there anything you would change in your book now that you have seen the other examples? Why? Why not?
-
Is there anything you would do differently if faced with this task again?
Drawing
the Line
Middle
Secondary
Australian
Curriculum General Capability:
Literacy
Australian
Curriculum General Capability: Ethical Understanding
Australian
Curriculum Cross Curriculum Priorities:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures
Philosophy
Cooperative
Learning Activity
1.
Read the following article
from
The Conversation 3 March 2015 and list the arguments stated.
2. With a partner, discuss the arguments provided.
-
Did you have the same arguments listed?
-
What are the business reasons given? Who by?
-
What are the ethical reasons given? Who by?
3.
Discuss the following questions in a group of 4 - 5 students
-
Do you agree with the ethical reasons given? Why? Why not?
-
What was the impact of the policies of Campbell Newman and his government? On Indigenous authors? On the arts community in general?
-
Does the reaction of the publisher to the past policies of Campbell Newman warrent this action? What are the ethics involved?
-
Should publishers make an ethical stand when deciding what to publish? Why? Why not?
4. As a group, come to consensus (agree as a group) about these questions and put forward your arguments to the rest of the class.
Academic
Publications - should they be open
access?
Secondary
Australian
Curriculum General Capability:
Literacy
Australian
Curriculum General Capability: Ethical Understanding
Australian
Curriculum General Capability:
Critical and creative thinking
Philosophy
Cooperative
Learning Activity
1. For quite some time now, Academics have been outraged by Publishing Houses, their costs and restrictions. These restrictions go against the grain of freedom of information and many Academics do not think their research work should be restricted to only those who can pay.
Academic Libraries find the cost for subscriptions to publications limiting but at the moment, Academics need to publish in top rating journals for their own academic standing within the universities.
This is a dilemna.
Read the following The Conversation 27 July 2011 to see what happens with papers that Academics all over the world do to publish their research. Take particular note of the role of Publishing Houses.
Discuss with a partner. Are there any ethical issues here? What are they?
2. What is the difference between "Open Access" and "Free" for Academic papers?
"“Free” only means that articles can be read, and may be subject to an embargo before becoming free.
“Open”, when used correctly, means not only free (and immediate) access, but includes rights of reuse, all clearly denoted by a license, Creative Commons." (Source: The Conversation)
In groups of 4 - 5 students, read the following articles carefully taking note about the different players (Publishers, Academics, general public).
You may wish to allocate the
different articles so that each student reads 1 - 2 articles each.
3. Do you understand the issues involved? Discuss with your group.
What are the arguments involved? List them particularly the Academics vs Publishers. Share within the group your reasons and be ready to justify with examples. Remember to cite the article where the example is given.
4.
Discuss the benefits of open access vs closed access from the point of view of
a. the Publisher
b. the Academic
c. general public
5. As a group, come to consensus to the question:
"Academic Publications - should they be open access?" Why? Why not?
Copyright ©
On the Job Online
