As the professional association for editors in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, we are invested in the future of the industry and the next generation of editors and publishing professionals. So we were thrilled to partner with Whitireia Publishing to speak with that next generation and learn more about them, their goals and their favourite punctuation marks.
At Whitireia Publishing, each new year brings a new group of ākonga (students) to our campus in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa (Wellington, New Zealand).
Over the year, they’ll complete the Graduate Diploma in Publishing (Applied), gaining skills in editing, project management, typesetting and publicity while working on real publishing projects with real clients.
Read on to get to know more about three of our 2025 ākonga!
What drew you to editing/publishing?
Brodie: My love for books and wanting to help in any way I can to bring beautiful books into the world!
Colin: I’ve previously worked in journalism and communications, and the part I’ve really loved is writing and editing. As a journalist, I also used to do book reviews and author interviews. I never felt quite right being critical after the book was published – I’d love the chance to work with the author before it’s published.
Oscar: As a kid, the only reasonable excuse for getting out of playing sports with my three siblings was saying I wanted to read a book; now here we are.
What are you most looking forward to at Whitireia this year?
Brodie: Working on a project with some of my classmates and learning about each step in the publishing process. Working with passionate people (which we all are) will make the projects exciting!
Colin: The chance to learn from some industry experts. Just now, we’re very early in the course, but we’ve already heard from a children’s book publisher, a printer and academic, and a poetry and fiction publisher, as well as our fantastic tutors.
Oscar: I’m excited to join another creative industry and connect with all the wonderful people that populate it. It’ll be so much fun running a budding publishing house with my peers.
What do you hope to do after you graduate?
Brodie: I’d like to contribute to the production of good books that bring people happiness in whatever capacity that is. I’m not limiting myself to a particular role in the publishing industry and want to try all there is to offer.
Colin: I’d love to edit books. At the moment, nonfiction is what I’m thinking, but I’m also hoping that the Whitireia publishing course will show me some things that I haven’t already thought about.
Oscar: I’ll be figuring it out as we learn and play around in the course, but at this stage I’m keen to work in marketing and publicity. It would be cool to land at a place like PRH (Penguin Random House) or Hachette Aotearoa, or maybe do production at a museum press – who knows!
What is your favourite grammar rule or punctuation mark and why?
Brodie: I love a good exclamation mark! I think it’s a great way to express excitement and hopefully have that translate to the reader. Although I am trying to use them less in emails! It’s a work in progress.
Colin: I learned teeline shorthand, which is still useful for taking notes. Some of the characters are very like proofing marks. Instead of a full stop, teeline uses a big forward slash from below the line to above. I use it all the time and when I’m scanning through notes, it makes it really easy to see where sentences and quotes start and stop.
Oscar: I love a semicolon; they’ve always seemed cheeky.