Participants from four continents are attending Magazine Training International’s (MTI) new eight-week Introduction to Magazine Management online course, which began September 23.

The 20 full-course participants and 12 auditors hail from Australia, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, and the U.S.

David Renard, a partner with mediaIDEAS, and Francis Ayieko, founder and publisher of Nairobi-based Christian newspaper The Shepherd, are leading the management course. They will cover the following topics: building a publishing model; finding readers in print and online; distribution and fulfillment; production fundamentals; funding and sustaining your publication; conducting audience research; developing a business strategy; and overcoming the digital publishing hurdle and digital marketing.

Even at only the halfway point in the course, it is well received.

“This is great stuff!” says Gwendolyn Davies of Wycliffe in the U.S. “I have always dreamed of publishing a magazine, but never had the practical knowledge of how to do it. Thank you.”

“I’m already being blessed by week one session,” says Abraham Ogenyi of Agents of Change Network in Nigeria. “I keenly look forward to subsequent sessions.”

Participants in each of the three online courses will receive a 75-to-94-page e-book based on the 220-to-250-page Introduction to Magazine Publishing textbook, which is available in French and English. Those who complete the series will also receive a soft cover edition of the Introduction to Magazine Publishing textbook.

The management course is the first in the new online series, Introduction to Magazine Publishing. The 20-week course will be offered as a series of three six-to-eight week online courses. The subsequent Introduction to Magazine Editing course will be offered April 6 through May 18, 2024, and will be followed by the Introduction to Magazine Design course in the fall of 2024.

The magazine editing course will cover the principles of editorial planning, how to develop a magazine profile, and work with writers. Participants will learn how to select, shape, and edit manuscripts, and write impactful leads, conclusions, headlines, and callouts. The trainers include Jeremy Weber, director of CT Global, and Esther Nyaga, publishing manager of Publishing Institute of Africa.

Design course trainers Lea Greene, publication content manager and designer for SACONNECTS, and James Njoroge, art director of Timazi, will discuss how to design a magazine that draws the readers’ attention, enhances readability, effectively communicates the magazine’s message, and makes a visual impact. Participants will learn how to design attractive covers, enticing spreads, appealing departments, and inviting tables of contents.

More information about the new online series is available on MTI’s website at https://magazinetraining.com/events/category/online-courses/.

by Jennifer Howard, MTI communications director