Editorial Project Management
Managing editorial projects brings many risks and challenges, but also rewards, whether you work in-house or freelance. This in-depth course will help you to use both traditional and Agile project management techniques to navigate your way successfully through each stage of your projects.
Clear explanations of best practice theories and terminology, combined with hands-on experience, will give you the tools to effectively manage your print and digital editorial projects.
The course promotes active learning and uses a blended approach of self-study, interactive activities, group work and an in-depth editorial case study to guide you through the practical tasks.
Using the case study, students take a step-by-step approach to setting up and running a project, learning how to handle issues that arise along the way. How to estimate costs, manage your budget, maintain profitability, control costs, assign tasks and document processes are all covered.
At the end of the course, you will have gained skills and knowledge to put into practice immediately. Plus, you will have access to a suite of templates and documentation to help keep your editorial projects running smoothly and profitably from start to finish.
Please note that this course focuses exclusively on editorial projects. If you have a non-editorial role and want to gain an understanding of general, non-editorial projects, we recommend Introduction to Project Management.
Who is it for?
- Editorial Project Managers
- Editors
- Desk Editors
- Freelance Editors
- Project Editors
- Production Editors
- Managing Editors who are responsible for the management of complete editorial projects
What will you achieve?
On completing this course you will be able to:
- assess the scope, needs and risks of an editorial project
- set up robust processes to maintain and document progress and issues
- accurately estimate timings to produce a detailed and reliable schedule
- create and maintain the project budget to ensure profitability
- effectively manage and communicate with your team and other stakeholders, wherever they are
Programme
Before the first session, you will be sent details of the editorial case study that forms the central example for the course. Completing the tasks will take 30 minutes and is required before attending on Day 1. There will also be homework tasks set between the three days, each requiring around 30 minutes' study time.Day 1
- Leading a project – skills, accountability and responsibility
- Understanding goals and objectives
- Determining workflow and dependencies
- Assessing and mitigating risk
Managing content and processes
- Documenting progress, content and issues
- Managing complex, multi-part projects
- Working for continual improvement
Day 2
Managing your time and tasks
- Agile techniques to keep on track
- Defining and prioritising tasks
Scheduling
- Estimating and allocating time
- Mitigating delay and why
- Scheduling tools and tips
- Linking dependencies
Day 3
Budgeting
- Estimating costs
- Understanding profitability
- Using contingency
- Keeping to budget
Working with suppliers
- Negotiating fees
- Briefing suppliers – local and offshore
- When things don’t go to plan
Talking teams
- Roles and communication
- Leading virtual teams
The course consists of three x 3.5-hour sessions, each a mixture of delivery and interaction using Zoom breakout rooms and other online tools. There will be breaks in the session with the opportunity to do exercises and take a break. The course will run on from 9am to 12.30pm on each day.
You will need to activate a free Zoom account to join the course. This takes two minutes and does not require any payment. It is purely for administrative purposes.
Any information to be completed beforehand will be sent via email.
If you have any concerns about technical requirements or access please contact us on or telephone (+44) 020 8874 2718.
In-house training
This course is also available for in-company training, either virtually or in person at your office. Course content is tailored to suit your requirements. Group sizes range from five to twelve attendees. To find out more, email or telephone +44 (0)20 8874 2718.
Delegate feedback
“Sarah is an excellent teacher and was positive and supportive throughout, encouraging us to share thoughts and giving useful feedback on homework. I also enjoyed the breakout rooms – Sarah went through the tasks really clearly beforehand. I’ve gained confidence in briefing and staying updated with freelancers, a better understanding of project costs and some really good ideas on how to improve my schedules and collaborate with others using Google Sheets and Miro.” Assistant Editor, Bloomsbury Publishing
“This course will really benefit me as a new editor. The pacing throughout was great, Sarah's energy was good and she was really relatable. I’ve gained practical skills, industry knowledge and tools for management.” Edco delegate
“Sarah was engaging, clearly experienced and helpful with feedback and advice. The content on scheduling and budgeting, and the templates provided, have been particularly helpful. It was great to have group tasks to complete to practice and work together.” Kogan Page delegate
“The content was clear, interesting, and engaging. There was a lot of extremely useful practical advice, applicable to my own projects and work. Sarah was a great trainer and I would like to thank her for putting this course together! I have already started applying things I've learned in the course to my own work, such as time management and organisational skills, and have already seen an improvement in my day-to-day work. I have also applied the key learnings such as project scheduling, risk assessment, and stakeholder management to my project plans and feel like I am on track for success with these tools.” Springer Nature delegate
"Sarah was absolutely brilliant. She made it relevant, personalised, engaging and fun! I have a greater overall understanding and some very specific helpful techniques." Oxford University Press delegate (in-company training)
“An excellent course that covered all areas of project management, from technical skills to teamwork. I learned that a good project manager is empathetic as well as pragmatic, and structured but flexible in their approach. Sarah has an engaging style and drew on anecdotes from her years of experience to illustrate the coursework, which made the course very enjoyable. I’ve gained confidence and knowledge." Project Editor, Gill Education
“The programme, content and teaching were excellent. I am moving to a new editorial project management role next week and the skills I have learned on this course will be invaluable.” Hodder Education delegate
“I really enjoyed the course. Sarah is a great teacher and went in-depth into topics. I liked the breakout room exercises as well. I have a better understanding of project management, including budgeting, and have learned new Excel skills – which was great!” City and Guilds delegate
About the tutor(s)
Since 1999, Sarah Sodhi has proofed, tagged, bound, corrected, edited, managed, commissioned, subbed, scheduled, estimated and produced a great deal of content – from interactive, multi-media resources to marketing leaflets, from monthly magazines to 900-page medical tomes.
Starting her career at a small medical publisher in Oxford, Sarah produced medical textbooks, journals and a bi-monthly magazine. She then moved into the public sector to work for an adult education charity, introducing formal scheduling procedures, progress-chasing systems and detailed budgets. After this, she immersed herself in the education sector, editing and managing digital and print resources for primary, secondary and adult education publishers.
Sarah has been involved in the following projects:
- Oxford International Computing for Primary and Lower Secondary – Publishing a 12-book computing textbook series to coincide with the launch of a brand-new curriculum. Coordinating a multi-author team, a large freelance editorial team and design professionals, both in-house and off-shore.
- Scholastic's Disgusting Poems Anthology – Relaunching a successful 10-book poetry series, involving a redesign, commissioning more than 800 new artworks and clearance of 800 copyright licences.
- Twenty First Century GCSE Science – Coordinating the authoring, editing and development of over 2000 online interactive resources to support the suite of print and digital blended learning materials.
Dates
Monday, 10 February 2025
Date information for future sessions
February 2025
- Dates: 10, 12 & 14 February 2025
- Times: Each session will run from 9.00am to 12.30pm
June 2025
- Dates: 16, 18 & 20 June 2025
- Times: Each session will run from 9.00am to 12.30pm
October 2025
- Dates: 20, 22 & 24 October 2025
- Times: Each session will run from 9.00am to 12.30pm
Course format
- Virtual classroom
- 9.00am to 12.30pm
- Three x 3.5 hour sessions including breaks, comprising three half-day sessions on three days
A number of discounts are available
What you will need
To join the course, you will need access to a computer or laptop with a camera and microphone. You will need to activate a free Zoom account to join the course. This takes two minutes and does not require any payment. It is purely for administrative purposes.