How can you afford to take time away from the office? The real question is: How can you afford not to when so much is changing around you? You will be working to broaden your own understanding of new media opportunities as they apply to your markets. You will be grappling with specific publishing challenges related to your own company. And you will be making global contacts that will benefit you in the future. Taking the time to step away from your business and study it will contribute much more to your organization than the work you might have completed had you stayed in your office.

The Course is designed for those mid-career publishing professionals who are being groomed to take on broader responsibilities within their companies. Most attendees have already developed considerable expertise in print publishing, but they need to develop new skills and strategies in order to take advantage of emerging digital opportunities. Publishers, editors, art directors, production and circulation managers, authors, sales and marketing executives, corporate communicators, educational professionals, new media specialists, and occasionally even lawyers and financial analysts apply to the Course. We admit a heterogeneous group of 120 professionals from book, magazine, small press, museum, association, university, corporate, multimedia, and international publishing settings. It is this diversity that makes the group lively, dynamic, and in itself, an excellent resource. The average age of our participants is currently 38, and the average number of years of experience in publishing is 11. Participants have from 4 to 20+ years of experience in publishing. They have come from 25 states and 30 foreign countries.

Stanford University is at ground-zero of the technological revolution we’ve all been experiencing in our professional lives. The University is the intellectual heart of Silicon Valley, and many of the companies in the Valley were started by University alumni. We are fortunate to be able to draw from these resources as we plan the sessions dealing with new technologies and new media opportunities.

The Course covers a sequenced curriculum that includes editorial development, design, layout, production, sales, marketing, distribution, promotion and finance. Some sessions will highlight areas you know well. Other sessions will be entirely new to you. By the end of the Course, you will have a much clearer sense of best practices throughout the entire publishing process, and a better grasp of the skills and strategies you'll need to cope with a fast-changing digital landscape. You will be much more valuable to your company for that knowledge.

We need to know what you expect to get out of the Course. If we feel the Course cannot meet your expectations, we will let you know promptly. And if there is sufficient interest in an area not currently in the curriculum, we will try to work it in. Moreover, your analysis of your own publishing challenges is the first step in an assignment that culminates in the creation of a "to-do" list that you will bring back to your office the week following the Course.

No. It is an intense course presented in 8 full days carefully planned to be comprehensive.

Yes. Working with various publishing associations and organizations, we are able to offer various kinds of financial aid.

Absolutely. Not only will you participate in sessions and discussion groups about international markets and publishing, but you will also live among and study alongside of publishing professionals from other countries while you are on campus. "Who you know" coupled with "what you know" will give you a significant competitive edge in today's marketplace.

Entrepreneurs and publishers will find enormous value in the presentations on how to define products and markets, reach those markets, estimate costs, survive once launched, and many other sessions on editorial and design development. Even publishers who feel quite secure about the future of their publications will find these sessions helpful. The checklists that emerge from the Course (and conversations with the speakers afterward) will help you avoid some of the pitfalls that go with the territory.

Many. More than 30 faculty members, plus a score of specialists, come to Stanford in July expressly to share helpful insights. These high-level professionals are available to you for casual conversations in which you can discuss your company's publishing problems. And your fellow participants will also be valuable resources for you both during the Course and long after. The Course atmosphere is notably relaxed and friendly, in spite of the rigorous schedule. Once you have completed the Course, our Alumni Directory and Networking Guide is available via the Web to all past participants (3,000 plus), providing you with an international network of publishing professionals.

Only if you feel that publishing models are fixed and there is little left to learn about the industry. While we require of our participants a minimum of 4 years of publishing experience, most have far more than that. Among participants in the Course over the past five years, the average number of years of experience has been 11--and we have had a good number with 20+ years. Many experienced, high-powered people attend the Course and are well-satisfied.