The course teaches publishers how to assess the present status of their magazines, identify problem areas, and apply tried and true principles to solve the problems.

In addition to leading the management course, Renard, Simas, and Edwards will offer consulting services to participants. Topics they will cover in the course include developing a business strategy, advertising, budget preparation, and managing subscriptions. Participants will learn how to lay a successful foundation for a new magazine or to strengthen the foundation of an ongoing magazine.

The conference next month is the second of three MTI-sponsored training events in India. Both of the previous conferences, held in Bangalore, were well received.

“Participating in this conference has been an experience of a lifetime,” said a participant in the 2012 conference. “As an Indian Christian it would never have been possible for me to gain access to such invaluable and relevant training on my own.”

A participant from 2011 explained his appreciation for the detailed training provided in training sessions: “I don’t think there is another training program like this anywhere else. This training program teaches the students in four and a half days what would otherwise take years to learn.”

The trainers have decades of management and publishing experience to draw from.

David Renard is a partner with mediaIDEAS, a global consultancy providing research and advice on the publishing industry’s technology-enabled future.  He founded and built Netcirculation, the largest nationwide distribution network for high-end boutique fashion, art, photography, and design titles. And, he co-created Stare, a publishing and advertising agency. He also spearheaded a new European subsidiary that developed research-driven decision support tools, which he grew into a multi-million dollar business.

In demand worldwide as a speaker on digital publishing, he also taught a digital publishing seminar for Magazine Training International in India in 2012, and in the U.S. in 2015.

Marcos Simas, publisher and editor of Christianity Today Brazil, is a 20-year veteran of the Brazilian publishing industry. Simas currently serves as chief editor at Geográfica Editora, and as acquisition editor at Editora Planeta do Brasil, where he acquired the Portuguese rights for over 250 titles for Portico imprint. He is also developing a new magazine business in Brazil and serving as an editorial consultant to Christian and general trade publishers who want to acquire Portuguese rights from the American market.

Simas previously worked as an editor with Editora Mundo Cristão and Juerp/Baptist Publishing House.

A ministry and publishing veteran of near 40 years, Rick Edwards has his own publishing business, Seven Interactive, specializing in digitally-delivered curriculum. He also operates five websites for publishers, authors, and the church.

Edwards is the former associate publisher of Salem Media Group’s publishing division with its eight magazines and seven websites. Previously, Edwards worked for LifeWay Christian Resources, first as editor of youth Sunday School curriculum, eventually serving as director of the Adult Sunday School Department.

Before he moved into publishing, Edwards served as senior pastor of churches in Oklahoma and later in Tennessee.

The management course will be followed by a six-day Editing the Magazine Course Jan. 31 – Feb. 5.

by Jennifer Howard, communications director