Magazine professional development opportunities at Ryerson's Chang School

There are a number of exciting learning opportunities available in the winter term of the Magazine and Web Publishing program at Ryerson University's Chang School. [Disclosure: I teach in the program.] 

NOTE: Registration is open now and it's important not to leave it until the last moment, risking disappointment. 

• CDJN 113 — Magazine and Website Editing deals with print and online skills in a focussed workshop environment. Drilling down into the editorial process, class members working in small groups get to use their skills and imagination in creating a plan for a digital or print magazine. 13 evenings, starting Jan 18. 
• CDJN 116 — Introduction to Magazine Design is a course that explores and analyzes how and why successful online and print magazines look the way they do. Not a design course, but rather an overview of typography, grids and formats; the anatomy of a magazine; developing design concepts and particularly the cover; working out a map; and the aesthetics and technical considerations of creating magazines that work for the reader. 13 evenings, starts 19 January.
• CDJN 117 — Writing for Magazines and the Web. If you're serious about writing and selling articles for online or print magazines, this is the introduction that deals with conceiving, focusing, pitching, researching, structuring, writing and revising both short and longer feature articles. 13 evenings, starting Jan 20. (A prerequisite for 118)
• CDJN 118 — Advanced Feature Writing The course emphasizes what is called literary journalism, which combines journalism's concern for solid reporting and factual accuracy with many of the dramatic techniques of fiction. At its best, this kind of feature writing holds readers' interest, entertaining them while simultaneously providing the depth and context necessary to understand complex issues and events or capture the essence of a profile subject. There will be short writing assignments as well as one longer feature. 13 evenings starting Jan 21.
• CDJN 120 — Magazine Fact-Checking and Research In the magazine business, fact-checking is a key entry-level job, a way for aspiring writers or editors to learn how a magazine works and how professional writers put together a story, and to develop relationships with editors that can lead to assignments or jobs. For writers, the more they know about what happens to an article in fact-checking, the better prepared they'll be to provide what editors want. 7 evenings, starting Jan 19.
• CDJN 121 — Magazine Packaging The course looks at planning and assigning a story package for online and print: websites and tablets; editing stories destined for packages; and working with art directors and digital producers to create packages. A variety of types of stories will be discussed and provided by both the instructor and the students, from long features to visual stories to instructional pieces to words-and-pictures infographics. Students are encouraged to think of magazines as both print and digital products. ONLINE CLASS (Distance Ed.) 7 weeks, starting Jan 18.
• CDJN 202 — Magazine Marketing and Circulation Selling of magazines themselves, rather than than their advertising pages currently offers more potential for revenue growth - and more career opportunities - than any other area of magazine publishing. This course focuses on marketing magazines to readers, covering all systems and methods that successful circulation marketing employs. 7 evenings, starts Jan 20.
• CDJN 204 — Layout Software for Magazine Editors  Many editors are expected to have some knowledge of the Adobe InDesign page layout program used to edit and format text, place artwork, create page layouts and organize editorial production and copy flow. This course provides the basics of the InDesign program that editors most need to know. Instruction is fast-paced, hands-on, and is taught in a Macintosh computer lab. 7 Saturdays mornings 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. Starts Jan 23.
• CDJN 205 — Magazine Production In addition to the fundamentals of print production, this course includes the basics of multi-purposing text and pictures for today's digital magazine realities. Acquire the skills to publish on multiple platforms, gain an overview of current magazine production practices, including how magazines are printed and bound, and about how to schedule, budget and track magazine production for all formats; about ad portals, pre-media, printing process, and quality control. 13 evenings, starting Jan 19.
• CDJN 207 — The Online Publishing Toolkit The Online Publishing Toolkit is aimed at magazine professionals who want a general introduction to the technologies underlying digital publishing today. This course is not intended to make you a coding genius. Instead, to make sure you can talk knowledgeably with your IT staff, developers, and web designers about your publication's needs and ambitions online. Whether you’re in editorial, design, or publishing, learn to fully contribute to your magazines’ digital projects.Find out how to deliver content to readers whenever, wherever, and however they wish, with such vital tools as content management systems, mobile apps, "the cloud," digital versions and mobile editions, social media, micro sites, analytics, ad portals, and more. 7 evenings starting Jan 20.
• CDJN 208 — Ad Sales on the Web Ad sales in the digital age requires traditional persuasive skills, but operating in a whole new world of design, accountability, and instant measurement. Digital delivery is a big part of the future of magazine publishing. Become familiar with the ways online advertising is priced, pitched, measured, designed, and packaged. Learn about rich text, standard ad formats and pricing, positioning your publication against such heavy-hitting competitors as Google, and exercising your creativity to meet online advertisers' needs. Understand the metrics that matter most to advertisers and agencies and how to package and deliver them. 7 evenings, starting Jan 21.