This course is now at capacity. If you would like to be placed on the waiting list, click the "Tickets" button and fill out the form.

This three-day intensive is designed to bridge the gap between a liberal arts education and a career in publishing. Combining skills training and professional development, this class is an excellent first step for those who want to explore the many different types of work within book, magazine, and digital publishing while also acquiring the tools of the editing trade.

This Introduction to Editing and Publishing provides students:

- A working understanding of the development and production processes for books, magazines, and digital media
- An orientation to the Chicago Manual of Style
- A robust discussion of the principles of copyediting across media, including the crucial matters of style and the different roles various types of editors play throughout media production
- Practice developing copyediting skills including triage, markup, and CMOS drills
- Panel discussions about trends in publishing featuring industry veterans
- Casual networking opportunities with publishing professionals
- 20-minute, one-on-one meetings with publishing professionals focusing on specific career goals
- Tours of local publishing houses
- All meals and daily coffee breaks

Dates: May 24-27, 2017

The class begins with dinner at 6pm on Wednesday, May 24, and ends after lunch at 5pm on Saturday, May 27. In order to maximize instructional time and facilitate casual networking with publishing faculty, all meals are included in tuition. While breaks will be provided throughtout, students should come prepared for three long days of instruction and professional development. Additionally, homework will be assigned both before and after the class that could take up to a total of eight hours.

Location: Calvin College

Grand Rapids, Michigan

Faculty: publishing and media industry veterans from across the country, including Grand Rapids's own thriving publishing community

see full faculty bios below

Tuition: $575

includes all meals and transportation to/from off-campus locations during the class

Optional Housing: on-campus housing is available for an additional charge

On campus housing will be available, and more details will be made available to attendees at a later date.

Note: For those staying on campus, a free shuttle will be provided to/from the Grand Rapids airport and Amtrak station. Students are responsible for their own transportation to Grand Rapids and to campus daily if not staying on campus.

FACULTY

Chad R. Allen is editorial director of Baker Books where he has worked for fifteen years. He blogs for writers and other creatives at chadrallen.com and has been published in such online places as LifeHacker, The Accidental Creative, MichaelHyatt.com, Goinswriter.com, and The Good Men Project. Chad is also the creator of Book Proposal Academy, an online course designed to help nonfiction writers build compelling book proposals. Authors he’s worked with include Mark Batterson, Kyle Idleman, Phyllis Tickle, and Chip Ingram.

Katelyn Beaty, editor-at-large for Christianity Today, was the magazine’s youngest and first female managing editor and founded the website Her.meneutics. A graduate of Calvin College, Beaty is the author of A Woman's Place: A Christian Vision for Your Calling in the Office, the Home, and the World and has written for The Atlantic, Washington Post, and New York Times, among other publications.

Daniel Burke is CNN's religion editor, where he oversees their award-winning religion section, CNN Belief, and offers on-air analysis on CNN and its affiliated networks. Burke was previously a reporter and editor at Religion News Service.

Brian Bolger is the managing editor of Baker Academic and Brazos Press, where he facilitates the work of the divisions' project editors and oversees editorial production. He has worked in book publishing for twenty years and edited a variety of titles, with much of his time devoted to textbooks and reference works.

Dirk Buursma is a thirty-year veteran of the publishing world, having spent his entire career with Zondervan. He currently serves as senior editor-at-large for Zondervan’s book group, filling a production/development editorial role in both the academic and trade areas. His first thirteen years at Zondervan were devoted to serving on the Zondervan Bible editorial team as a theological editor.

Jeannie Choi is associate digital editor for the New York Times Magazine. She previously served as associate online editor for Bread for the World and web editor for Sojourners.

Lisa Ann Cockrel is managing director of the Calvin Center for the Faith & Writing, where she directs the Festival of Faith & Writing. She previously served as editor for Baker Academic, managing editor of Brazos Press, associate editor for Christianity Today, Intl., and senior editor for Moody Magazine. Her own writing has appeared in publications including Sojourners, Books & Culture, Her.meneutics, and The Hedgehog Review.

Patton Dodd is executive director of media and communications at the H.E. Butt Family Foundation. His long career in start-up digital publishing includes stints as editor-in-chief at OnFaith, executive editor of Bondfire Books, managing editor at Patheos, senior editor and community producer at Beliefnet, and deputy editor at PurposeDriven.com, published by Reader’s Digest. His own writing has appeared in publications including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, CNN, Newsweek, Financial Times, Slate, and Christianity Today.

Mara Naselli is a writer and a former senior manuscript editor from the University of Chicago Press. She has been teaching editing since 2006 and holds an MA in political science and an MFA in writing and literature. Her essays have appeared in Agni, The Kenyon Review, The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Hudson Review, and elsewhere. She is also a recipient of the 2014 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers Award.

Mary Hassinger is a senior editor for Zonderkidz, the children’s division of Zondervan. In this role, Mary works as senior developmental editor with the categories of general picture books, board books, and leveled readers in the I Can Read series as well as middle grade and YA fiction and nonfiction and children’s Bibles. Prior to joining Zondervan, Mary worked as an editor with School Specialty, Inc., formerly McGraw-Hill Children’s Publishing, worked in adult literacy, and taught junior high religious studies, language arts, and history for 13 years.

Kristin Kornoelje is a managing editor for Baker Publishing Group.

Alice Rhee is an Emmy-award winning journalist with nearly two decades of experience in network and cable news production and non-fiction programming across all platforms. She’s produced or contributed programming for NBC News, MSNBC, Washington Post, USA Network, and WNYC Radio. Rhee has also worked with the Tribeca Film Institute to build a short documentary program for emerging and diverse filmmakers and consulted with news organizations, non-profits, and emerging content creators to design and implement digital video strategies. She’s currently the director of media for the H. E. Butt Family Foundation.

Amanda Skofstad is assistant director for media relations at the University of Notre Dame. She has worked in marketing communications for fifteen years, including roles with publishers including Ave Maria Press, Moody Publishers, and Eerdmans.

Stephanie S. Smith serves as acquisitions editor for Zondervan’s Trade team. She worked previously as an editor at Barna Group and RELEVANT Media Group. Via her own editorial services company, she has worked with Moody Publishers, Thomas Nelson, Harvest House. Christianity Today, Q Ideas, and more. Stephanie writes a monthly email, SLANT LETTER, for writers looking to find their angle, write like they mean it, and do it in style at slantletter.com.

Wendy Wetzel is a nonfiction marketing manager for Revell and Baker Books. She has worked in Christian publishing or as a freelance editor for almost 20 years, including over a decade as a copyeditor for a wide variety of trade book projects at the Baker Publishing Group before crossing internal borders into marketing.

Shari VandenBerg is senior editor in the Bible Group at Zondervan. She works on everything from major study Bibles to devotional Bibles to special book projects. Before her tenure at Zondervan, she was editor at World Publishing, working on Bibles and books.

Sandra Vander Zicht is an associate publisher and executive editor of Trade Books at Zondervan. She has been in publishing for nearly 45 years, and she celebrated her 32st anniversary with Zondervan this year. She has also served as an associate editor of a weekly denominational magazine and as a curriculum editor for Christian Schools International. She has worked with many diverse authors, including Christine Caine, Henry Cloud, Lysa TerKeurst, and Ann Voskamp.

additional faculty TBA

FAQs

Are there ID or minimum age requirements to enter the event?
This course is geared toward upperclassmen in college and graduate students considering a career in publishing, freelance or otherwise. It will also be of benefit to early-career publishing professionals looking for a structured training opportunity and those exploring a change in careers. Students must be at least 18 years old.

What are my transportation/parking options for getting to and from the event?
Students are responsible for their own transportation to Grand Rapids and to campus daily if not staying on campus. Free parking is available on campus, and regular city bus service via The Rapid is also an option.

What can I bring into the event?
Required text: Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition
Note: All meals will be provided starting with Wednesday night dinner and ending with Saturday lunch. Morning coffee breaks will also be provided.

How can I contact the organizer with any questions?
Please email us at ccfw@calvin.edu and put EDITING CLASS in the subject line.

What's the refund policy?
75% refund until Feb 1
50% refund until March 1
25% refund until April 1
No refunds after April 1