Bookish Jobs for Bookish People: Rosie the Student Librarian

As a blog run by college aged kids, the thing most on our minds, aside from books, is what the heck we are going to do with our lives. We all joke and dream about having a job where we could read or blog all day and feel pangs of jealousy when we encounter someone who does just that. In my (Jamie's) job search, I've realized that there are so many different types of bookish jobs out there that I had never even thought about. In college I never thought I could be in the book industry because I never wanted to be an author or an editor or a publisher. I didn't think there was anything else out there. I've come to realize that there so many types of bookish jobs out there for people of varying strengths and abilities and I want to spotlight these jobs... and thus began our feature--Bookish Jobs for Bookish People.

Hey everyone. Julia here. Today we are going to switch up this feature just a little bit and feature someone quite close to my heart, my younger sister Rosie. Rosie is just starting her senior year of college and thus that dreaded job search is impending, but throughout her college career, she has been lucky enough to be surrounded by books in her student job at the campus library. Today we feature: Rosie, the student librarian.

Job Title: I don't really have a title. But I am the only student worker in the cataloging department at my university.

What is your major?
Japanese with a minor in business administration and multiage education.

How long you've been in this position:
Since I was a freshman, and I'm now a senior. I also work a few days a week over the summer.

How did you get the position? How hard was it to find?
Early on, I applied for a position at the library, and they pretty much told me that I’d be working in the cataloging department.

Describe what a typical day looks like for you:
Well, it can be pretty open-ended. I have a list of things that need to eventually get done. Most of the time it consists of labeling new books for the reference desk or circulation department; relabeling old books; changing books to a different call number; fixing discrepancies, like if I am going through the card box and I find that something has the same call number, then I go and change one of the books; sorting and organizing the card catalogue; and jacketing books that need it. And labeling juvenile books. And repairing old books. I do a lot of stuff. Plus, currently we are moving books to different departments so there is a lot of relabeling.

Wait, did you say card catalogue?!
Yes! It’s not open for students to use, but it is still actively used for the records in the back. It’s a good idea.

Three qualities/skills you should have to excel at this job are:
Organization, patience, listening comprehension… oh and learning to use a typewriter. I regularly use my IBM Sectric Typewriter. Changing the ribbon is fun… not.

What is your least favorite aspect of your job?
Uh… What do I not like? The fact that book jackets pile up very quickly, meaning I will do ten book jackets and then there will be thirty more. There is always a book needing a jacket.

Biggest perk of your job:
The flexibility during school time. I can work to my schedule. And the fact that the people I work with are awesome.

Tell us one of your best or funniest memories on the job:
One of the people I work with likes Dunkin Donuts, so she brings in coffee and doughnuts once in a while. The Chai Tea used to keep me awake during my accounting classes. Saving grace.

What do you think the biggest misconception is about your position/industry at a college library?
That it's boring. A lot of people, especially guys from what I have seen, get bored quickly. I think it's fun! We have a good time. I think is easy to multitask; I can talk about school while labeling a book. It's not just stuffy people sitting behind a desk all day. It's people doing something they like and having fun doing it. It's good wholesome work that is flexible and fun.

Complete this sentence. This job is not for you if... you get distracted easily.

What advice do you have for people who are interested in working in the library in college?
Apply quickly. This really applies for any college job. There are a ton of students all looking for the on campus work. If you don’t apply quickly, you don’t get a job. The end.

And now let's end on something fun! Our Top Ten Tuesday this week was 'Book Characters You Would Switch Places With for 24 hours'.  Which book character would you switch places with?
Hermione Granger, because I would get to learn about awesome, smart, cool Harry Potter things.

Thanks Rosie, for stopping by and sharing your college library work experience. Check out the other Bookish Jobs Post: Erica from Harper Perennial: Marketing Manager, Jen: Children’s Programmer, SR. Library Assistant, and Tom from Harper Teen, Book Designer.

Bookish Jobs For Bookish People: Cathy From Random House

As a blog run by college aged kids, the thing most on our minds,  aside from books, is what the heck we are going to do with our lives. We  all joke and dream about having a job where we could read or blog all  day and feel pangs of jealousy when we encounter someone who does just  that. In my (Jamie's) job search, I've realized that there are so many  different types of bookish jobs out there that I had never even thought  about. In college I never thought I could be in the book industry  because I never wanted to be an author or an editor or a publisher. I  didn't think there was anything else out there. I've come to realize  that there so many types of bookish jobs out there for people of varying  strengths and abilities and I want to spotlight these jobs... and thus  began our monthly feature--See past  Bookish Jobs For Bookish People.

Name: Cathy Serpico
Job Title - Online Sales Coordinator for the Amazon sales team at Random House. I facilitate getting content like videos, photos, essays, blog posts, and site ads on Amazon. I also get to play with customer search data and set up campaigns that drive users to our books. Since Amazon is, obviously, wholly an e-retailer, merchandising space like you see in a physical bookstore is much more limited, so you have to get creative about how and where you can lead a customer to a book!

How long you've been in this position: since May 2010.

What prior position(s) did you hold before this position? Marketing Coordinator for Harper Paperbacks and Avon, and before that, Amistad.
 

What type of higher education or training do you have? I’ve got a B.A. in English with a minor in Religious Studies. I spent a lot of time reading in college. Not much has changed… though I probably read less about Hell now. (Seriously, that was one of my religion classes. Appropriately, the class was made to squish into a room the size of a closet.) My favorite non-office job was waitressing – it teaches you so much about how to be human to people, manage expectations, and have a sense of humor about things. You can’t learn that from a class and you need it to survive in the working world!

What degree would the ideal candidate for  this position hold? You must love books. Why else would you bother? I’m going to assume your blog’s readers have got that part covered. Honestly, getting a job in publishing is less based on what you majored in versus having a passion to bring what you know to book publishing. So much is changing in the industry with e-readers and the many different formats people can come to a story through now. It’s an exciting time. Anyway, I digress. First and foremost, you must love books. Second, any background with sales, marketing, business, and online marketing/search know-how – COMBINED with loving books – would probably make you a very attractive candidate – for what I do, anyway.

Describe what a typical day looks like for you:  I run some pretty exciting reports every morning. That’s a constant. Past that, it varies by day. Some are spent coordinating content with marketing, having phone calls with Amazon to make sure we’re good on stock, brainstorming new ways (or improving existing ways) of merchandising, managing Amazon’s early-reviewer program, keeping my team on track so we’re submitting book nominations on time. And somewhere in there I eat a sandwich.

Three qualities/skills you should have to excel at this job: Multi-tasking, being able to see the forest for the trees, knowing Microsoft Excel quick-key shortcuts. Yes, you must excel at Excel.

What is your least favorite aspect of your job? I spend a lot of time in Excel. While this in itself is fine, one day I’m probably going to need glasses. Also, there was poop on the floor of the bathroom once. True story.

EW POOP?! Haha. Biggest perk of your job: Free books! My awesome team! Did I mention the free books?

Tell us one of your best memories on the job: It’s always gratifying when you’re a super advocate for a book you love and it gets noticed. We send Amazon a monthly slideshow of our top books to get them on their radar for when they pick their Best of the Month books, and everyone on the team puts a burst on their favorite. (It’s the little things that make my day.) This month one of Amazon’s BotM books was Kevin Brockmeier’s THE ILLUMINATION, which was my pick for February! Not that I think that tipped the hand, but it was validating that someone else shares my undeniably good taste in literature.

What do you think the biggest misconception is about your position/industry? That it’s dying? It’s not dying. I want to punch people when I hear that. It’s changing. And change can be good.

Complete this sentence. This job is not for you if.. you can’t juggle a hundred things at once, and remember to finish the second thing you started that morning.

What advice do you have for people who are interested in your position? Definitely educate yourself on all the developments that are happening with digital books. In many ways it’s a new frontier and publishers are just dipping their toes in the water of how to navigate it all! I was going to make a Louisiana Purchase joke there, but I’m not sure how to tie it in now.

And now for something random to end the interview...what is one job you just don't think you'd be cut out for?  Club promoter. So outside the realm of my personality. I would be the worst club promoter in the world.

Bookish Jobs For Bookish People: Tom From Harper Teen

As a blog run by college aged kids, the thing most on our minds,  aside from books, is what the heck we are going to do with our lives. We  all joke and dream about having a job where we could read or blog all  day and feel pangs of jealousy when we encounter someone who does just  that. In my (Jamie's) job search, I've realized that there are so many  different types of bookish jobs out there that I had never even thought  about. In college I never thought I could be in the book industry  because I never wanted to be an author or an editor or a publisher. I  didn't think there was anything else out there. I've come to realize  that there so many types of bookish jobs out there for people of varying  strengths and abilities and I want to spotlight these jobs... and thus  began our monthly feature--Bookish Jobs For Bookish People.

As someone who frequently lusts over covers and runs amok in bookstores to see them in person, I'm really excited to introduce you to Tom from Harper Teen who has one of those jobs that I wish I could have...if only I was actually talented and artistic!

Job Title: Book Designer, Harper Collins Teen Division.  I'm responsible for designing the jackets (or covers if it's a paperback) and interiors of books for Young Adult and teen readers.

How long you've been in this position:

I've been a designer with Harper's childrens division since September 2008, and have been in the teen dept. since...hmmm...tough to say?  I was half-and-half with teen and picture books for around 10 months or so.  I've been teen exclusive since last January (2010).

What prior position(s) did you hold before this position?

I was a book designer with Rosen Publishing from October 2000-December 2006, then moved over to be a marketing designer from December '06-April '08.  I was...not a huge fan of being a marketing designer, and it was not by choice that I moved.

What type of higher education or training do you have? What degree would the ideal candidate for  this position hold?

My degree is hardly ideal!  I have a BFA in Illustration from Syracuse University.  I actually didn't take one single design class in college, embarrassingly enough.  However, my first art director saw from my illustration portfolio that I knew how to "make things look good," and he was patient enough to teach me the rest on the job.  I actually know many graphic designers who have illustration degrees, but I suppose the best way to get in the field is to actually study design?

Describe what a typical day looks like for you:

Hmmm...it varies to an extent, because two days of the week we have morning cover meetings where we show other designers and editors the covers we're working on to get feedback and suggestions.  We also have a torturous Monday morning production meeting where we have to tell a roomful of people the status of our books.  Aside from that, I generally sit at my desk and either work on new designs or route jackets that have been going through the editorial and copy editing filter, making the necessary changes.  I also meet with my art director to get her ideas on books I'm working on, etc.  My day all depends on the urgency of projects.  Sometimes it's a house on fire, and sometimes I'm working on a dozen permutations of the same logo all day.

Three qualities/skills you should have to excel at this job: 

Multitasking!  Attention to detail.  And a thick skin.  You just can't get discouraged or take it personally if a roomful of sales reps shoots down your jacket.  It happens to everybody and it largely has little or nothing to do with the quality of your designs.

What is your least favorite aspect of your job?

Definitely production meetings.  I'm still not sure why I can't just tell my immediate boss where my books are at.  I feel like they exist just to embarrass people who have projects running late.  They're time-eaters.

Biggest perk of your job: 

Why free books, of course!  I read a ton, and Harper publishes lots of terrific mystery and crime authors, so it's gratifying to find, say, a whole set of Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder Crime Novels on the basement free shelves.

Tell us one of your best or funniest memories on the job:

I would actually say that co-running my first model casting session.  I felt like David Hemmings in BLOW UP or something.  Like, I'm this sleazy creep in a suit looking through teenage models' portfolios and asking them questions.  It was one of those, "where has my life gone?" moments.  It was like I was dressed as "that guy" for Halloween...but I actually WAS that guy.  It was fun.

What do you think the biggest misconception is about your position/industry?

Hmmm...I can't say.  Maybe that we have less creative freedom than people would think and have to take many different voices (sales, upper management, authors, ediorial) into account when we're making a jacket.  It would be great if the buck stopped with the art directors, but that's only the first stop. 

Complete this sentence. This job is not for you if... you have grand dreams of designing the next award-winning, innovative jacket.  At the end of the day, I'm happy if my covers look nice and I've pleased my bosses.  In teen publishing, you're generally REACTING to trends...not starting them, so for every one TWILIGHT jacket, there are 50 that are made to LOOK LIKE TWILIGHT.  If you're going to chafe at trying to tailor the look of your work to fit a current high-selling trend, then you should definitely look somewhere other than Young Adult publishing.

What advice do you have for people who are interested in your position?

Go into advertising design!!!!  More money there.  Nahhh...I would say that if you love books and want to design them, then keep looking at them!  Make sure you've got a strong awareness of the market and what kinds of books people are picking up.  Then maybe mock up some jackets that have that feel, if you haven't already.  Art directors are looking for people who have covers in their portolio that look modern and fresh. 

And now for a bit of random...If you could switch jobs with one person for a week who would it be?

Absolutely, positively, without question a U.S. Marshal.  I've actually looked into the job requirements and I meet them all.  I still have three years (they don't take anyone over 36) to switch careers should I choose.


Thank you, Tom, for stopping by...and thank you for all the pretty, lustworthy covers that you have a hand in making. Harper Teen has some of my all-time favorites!


Check out Tom elsewhere on the web:

Personal website  - tomforget.com
Tumblr - http://gazellefamily.tumblr.com/
Blog for his work - http://tomforgetbulletins.blogspot.com
Collaborative Magazine That He Works On - mammalmag.com

Bookish Jobs For Bookish People (02)

As a blog run by college aged kids, the thing most on our minds, aside from books, is what the heck we are going to do with our lives. We all joke and dream about having a job where we could read or blog all day and feel pangs of jealousy when we encounter someone who does just that. In my (Jamie's) job search, I've realized that there are so many different types of bookish jobs out there that I had never even thought about. In college I never thought I could be in the book industry because I never wanted to be an author or an editor or a publisher. I didn't think there was anything else out there. I've come to realize that there so many types of bookish jobs out there for people of varying strengths and abilities and I want to spotlight these jobs... and thus began our monthly feature--Bookish Jobs For Bookish People.

I apologize about our lack of posting this feature after we featured the awesome Erica from Harper Perennial.  I got really busy in life but we are back up and running for 2011!

Name: Jen Watson (@Librarygal)

Job Title: Children’s Programmer, SR. Library Assistant.

My role includes planning and implementing several literacy based programs for children ages 0-12 and their families. I visit schools in the area, host tours of the library, provide readers advisory, reference and general patron services. I also assist with collection development and the operations of the library.

How long you've been in this position: 3 years

What prior position(s) did you hold before this position?

I worked in a book store for 5 years and did training, and event planning in addition to selling books. Before that I was an Early Childhood Educator in a childcare.

What type of higher education or training do you have?

A Diploma in Early Childhood Education. I’m still working on a degree majoring in Child, Youth and Family Studies.

What degree would the ideal candidate for  this position hold?

Bachelor’s of Education or Early Childhood Education.

Describe what a typical day looks like for you:

A Typical Monday

I begin work at 9 am (unless its Tuesday or Thursday then I start at 1:00) and prep the library for opening.

I check my email and then go over the programming plans I have for the day.

I step up my programs and wait for the children and their parents to arrive.

On Mondays I have two programs in a row “Tales for Two’s” and then “Preschool”. I have 20 children in each program plus their parents so it makes for a busy morning.

Programs are finished by 11:30am I then help at the desk until lunch.

After lunch I either have meetings or time to plan and prep other programs. I have 7 programs a week so having this time is really crucial.

5:30 is time to go home.

My schedule varies and so do my responsibilities depending on the needs of the library-but I love the variety of things that I do.

Three qualities/skills you should have to excel at this job:

You must love children and it takes patience, creativity and enthusiasm to run programs. You need to have excellent time management skills, flexibility, and have experience supervising and developing staff.

What is your least favorite aspect of your job?

I wish I didn’t have to collect fines, or bill patrons who have damaged or not returned books. It reminds me of working in retail and dealing with unhappy customers. The library should be a happy place.

Biggest perk of your job: Aside from working with kids and talking books all day? The library is fabulous at developing their staff; the professional development opportunities are great. Also. staff don’t pay fines.

Tell us one of your best memories on the job:

I plan and implement a program called Reading Buddies. It’s for children in grades 1-4 who are reluctant/struggling readers. We play literacy games, and practice reading skills, but my main goal is to keep it fun. One of my favourite memories is watching this one boy who at the beginning of the session hated to read, (his mom was forcing him to come) but by the end of the session he had made such progress and his attitude had changed toward reading. I’ll never forget him or his mom and how proud she was of him. I’m so lucky to have a job that enables me to witness wonderful moments.

What do you think the biggest misconception is about your position/industry?

That we know and have read every book in existence. Please don’t be offended if I haven’t read a book your either looking for or excited about.

That we sit behind a desk... I’m on my feet all day!

That everyone who works in a library environment is very introverted and quiet- I’m the complete opposite and am known to break out in song at different point through the day.

That we only have books. It’s amazing how adaptive the library is; we carry books of course but so many other things as well. (although sometimes I feel a bit like a blockbuster movie store)

Complete this sentence. This job is not for you if...You don’t like people. I’m with the public all day; this job can’t be done behind closed office doors.

What advice do you have for people who are interested in your position?

A background in the education of children is necessary, I would start there. A lot of the daily operations in the library can be learned on the job, but in order to be a programmer, you really need the background in education. When I was taking ECE, I never dreamed at the time that I could apply that knowledge for a career in library services. There are a lot more doors open that we often think.< Fun Question: If you could switch jobs with one person for a week who would it be? I don’t have a specific person in mind, but I’ve taken a couple of courses in publishing/marketing and with my love of the book industry I’d love to work in Publicity at a Major Publishing House. My dream is to someday be a host of a children’s TV program......silly right?

Totally not silly! And thanks for telling us about your awesome job! It sounds like you truly do love it and THAT is important. And please...can you get me out of my library fines!? :) Check out Jen at her blog -- Lost in the Library. 

Bookish Jobs For Bookish People (01)

* New Feature Alert! * This is a feature I wanted to start ever since we started this blog in June.  After a couple months of developing it and interviewing people..here it is!


As a blog run by college aged kids, the thing most on our minds, aside from books, is what the heck we are going to do with our lives. We all joke and dream about having a job where we could read or blog all day and feel pangs of jealousy when we encounter someone who does just that. In my (Jamie's) job search, I've realized that there are so many different types of bookish jobs out there that I had never even thought about. In college I never thought I could be in the book industry because I never wanted to be an author or an editor or a publisher. I didn't think there was anything else out there. I've come to realize that there so many types of bookish jobs out there for people of varying strengths and abilities and I want to spotlight these jobs... and thus begins our new monthly feature--Bookish Jobs For Bookish People.


I knew for our first Bookish Jobs spotlight that I absolutely had to have Erica Barmash from Harper Perennial. She is ridiculously awesome and, let's be honest, as someone who studied marketing in college I pretty much want her job! :)  So, give Erica a big warm welcome to The Broke and the Bookish!


Name: Erica Barmash
Job Title: Marketing Manager, Harper Perennial
How long you've been in this position: Just over a year, though I have been writing the Harper Perennial blog, the Olive Reader, for longer than that

What prior position(s) did you hold before becoming the marketing manager? Before this job, I was a copywriter/promotions manager in our advertising and promotions department for four years. Before that, I spent six months at a Catholic magazine as the assistant to the book review editor. Before that, I was a publicity assistant for a year and a half at Abrams, an art book publisher. Before that, internships.

What type of higher education or training do you have? What degree would the ideal candidate for  this position hold?  I have a BA in English. Before I switched jobs within HarperCollins, I was super worried that my lack of official marketing education would be a problem, but my boss learned her job from the ground up and had no problem with me doing the same (she started way back when as the assistant to our publisher, back when our publisher was the audio marketing director. Our publisher started out as the assistant to our president, back when he was the head of sales at another company. Lots of respect in our department for the concept of working your way up.) Publishing isn’t rocket science. You can learn what POS is and how to present at a sales conference, but no one can teach you how to work hard, be enthusiastic, be part of a team, and love reading. Those things are more important than degrees, at least in my experience.

That's a really great point. There really is no subsitute for hard work and passion. Describe what a typical day looks like for you: I usually get in around 8:45 or 9 and start tackling emails. I’ll usually spend the first hour or so of the day reading and responding to emails and doing email-related tasks like reading reviews bloggers have sent in, answering questions, etc. A lot of my job involves disseminating information—passing blog reviews on to editors, passing marketing plans on to sales, etc etc.

Then, around 10:30ish, if I don’t have a meeting that morning, I’ll try to tackle one of the bigger things on my to-do list. That could be anything from writing our monthly newsletter to sending out blog outreach emails to preparing my presentations for an upcoming sales conference. (See the attached photos of various to-do lists of mine for a better idea.

I almost always go to lunch around 12:30, and I almost always go with Mark Ferguson, the online marketing manager for Harper hardcovers. After lunch, it’s more emails, more meetings, more to-do lists. There’s almost no typical day, except that most days are busy, and a lot of them are fun.

Three qualities/skills you should have to excel at this job: On the practical side, it helps to be a good writer. Communicating clearly and effectively is really important when you’re a major conduit for information! It’s also helpful to be able to express your enthusiasm for a book in writing, whether it’s to bloggers or to other people in the company. Being aware of and not scared of the internet and social media is also extremely important. But maybe the most valuable skill—and the one that I still work on all the time—is to be thick-skinned. Sometimes that means that, after a disagreement with someone inside the company, you can let it go and continue to work with him. Other times it means that you are able to accept that a book you love isn’t going to do very well, no matter what you do.


What is your least favorite aspect of your job?

Every job has some boring clerical tasks, and this job is no exception. Processing invoices isn’t fun, but it’s necessary! On a more emotional level, it is really, really difficult when a book and author you love don’t get the attention they deserve.

Biggest perk of your job: free books! Knowing what cool books are on their way. Meeting and becoming friends with some of our amazing authors. Working with people who share a passion for books.

Tell us one of your best memories on the job.

I consider many of the people I work with to be practically family, and so we have a lot of great moments together, but a recent one happened when Amy Baker (my boss, our marketing director) and Mary Sasso (harper paperbacks marketing coordinator) road-tripped to the Boston Book Festival.

 
I'm sure it was a good time as I found out how fun you ladies are at the Brooklyn Book Fest. What do you think the biggest misconception is about your position/industry?
I think in general there’s a lot of confusion about what marketing does, partly because it varies from company to company and even imprint to imprint within companies. I’ve often been mistaken for a publicist, even by people within the industry. Outside of the industry, I think a lot of people view book publishing as being about nothing but low pay and long hours. But I think I work the same hours as anyone who cares a lot about his or her job, and while I’m not rolling in money, I’m also not poverty-stricken.

Complete this sentence. This job is not for you if.. you can’t do a million things at once!

What advice do you have for people who are interested in being a marketing manager for a publishing company?

Read as much as you can.

And now for a fun question. Childhood dream job? 
Published novelist. (I’ve got the novelist part down, now just need to get to the published part.)

I'll be reading your novel once it's published for sure! Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. As someone who so very much wants a job doing marketing for the book world, it's really awesome to know that passion and hard work is rewarded!