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!

Paula reviews: Machine of Death: A Collection of Stories About People Who Know How They Will Die

Title: Machine of Death: A Collection of Stories About People Who Know How They Will Die
Editors: Ryan North, Matthew Bennardo and David Malki !
Publisher: Bearstache Books, 2010
How I got my hands on it: bought it on amazon

So I’m not sure how many of you followers are fans of webcomics. I would say I enjoy them quite a bit, I casually read a few – I’ll let their archives build for a month or two then read them all in one day but I routinely read two of them. I cannot start my day without reading Questionable Content (www.questionablecontent.net) or Dinosaur Comics (www.qwantz.com). Seriously, my days are incomplete with out these two gems.

Machine of Death is the brainchild of Ryan North, the writer of Dinosaur comics. Five years ago, T-Rex (the main character of Dinosaur Comics) mentioned how awesome it would be if there was a machine that would draw a small blood sample and then tell us exactly how (not when) we died. The fun part of this machine is that there is no avoiding this death. No matter how much you try, it’s fate, it cannot be changed. If someone’s slip reads DROWNING, no matter how much they avoid water for the rest of their life, they will drown. As T-Rex would say, super fun times!

The brilliance in this book is how it came to be, the writer of the webcomic, only actually has one story in this anthology, this rest is fan written. Pretty cool, huh? After North wrote that comic, the fan response was so positive that he called for Machine of Death Stories. Out of the hundreds received, these are the 30 best.


With all that being said, I’ve got to say, man I love this book. And let it be known, I’m not usually a fan of short stories. I don’t have anything against short stories in particular, but if I’m given the choice between a short story and a novel, I’m going to choose the novel. But these stories are sooo good! And there’s such a wide variety too. It feels like each time I sit down to read it, I think, there can’t possibly be a better story than that last one I read. And it proves me wrong every time! These stories are good because they explore the idea of whether it’s good to know how you die or not. Also, the machine is often cryptic in it’s output, that you may think you know how you die, to realize that you were completely wrong. There are funny stories, like “Torn Apart By and Devoured By Lions” where the character finds out how he’s going to die and becomes so excited about it, because it’s going to be the best moment of his life. There are sad stories, like “While Trying to Save Another”, where the character understands how he’s going to die, tries to get out of it, and realizes at the end that he has to save this person. And there are poignant stories, like “Nothing” which is a sweet story about a 170 year old man who will never die, and he hates it.

I don’t know what else to say. This book is good. Actually it’s great. Every story is good. Ryan North has been nice enough to put up the PDF of it online for free, so if you want to read it RIGHT NOW you can: http://machineofdeath.net/a/. But I encourage you read a sample of it online and if you like what you see, buy a copy on amazon (it’s only $10) because North self-published this beast, and it’s always nice to give back to a project so fantastic. Also, sidenote: the editors of MOD asked fans to buy a copy on the release date so they could get on amazon’s top 100, the response was so great that they got to #1. Let that be a tasty tidbit to give you an idea of how awesome this book is.

If you haven’t guessed: 5 stars.

Julia Reviews "The Jewel of St Petersburg" by Kate Furnivall

Title/Author: The Jewel of St Petersburg by Kate Furnivall
Publisher/Year Published: 2010 by Sphere
How I got this book: I spotted the cover at the library
Why I read this book: I have a guilty soft spot for reading historical fiction about revolutionary Russia
Rating: 5 stars

I wish I could remember how I found out about this book. If I could find the person or website I would give them a big hug. Well, I don't think it is possible to hug a website, but if I could find a way I would. In any case, somehow I found out about the book. I love reading about early 1900s Russia. Something about the time period draws me in and doesn't let me go. Maybe it's like reading about the Titanic, always perched on the edge of your seat knowing what's going to happen, but hoping for a happy ending anyway.

In any case this brings me to The Jewel of St. Petersburg. The main character in this story is Valentina Ivanova, daughter of the financial director to the Tsar. She's grown up in privilege, but tragedy strikes the family and alters the path Valentina sets for herself. Jump ahead to 1910 and we get to see Russia on the brink of change.

The interesting part about this book is it has the perfect balance between the historical and the fiction. Entwined with the history, Valentina's story of what she does for love of her family and of Jens is remarkable. It twists and turns all the while taking Valentina from a children to an adult. She is such a strong character that is supported by some pretty dynamic characters as well.

But what pushed me into 5 star land was really the fact that it wasn't all Valentina's story, but also Russia's story. We received the story of the revolution through Arkin, a rebel Bolshevick ready to stir the flames of change in the heart of the people. Arkin was a great foil to Valentina. I couldn't hate him from what I know of history and even what he revealed of himself through the pages.

Two minuses: One was the initial overuse of Russian words. I don't mind Russian words, but after one or two times don't tell me the direct English translation. I can figure it out by context. Either this tapered off as I read or I stopped noticing...

The other minus was the ending, well not really the ending per say but my own ending experience. Let's step back. Picture it. I am sitting on a crowded airplane, soaking in the climactic scenes the novel was building towards. The end happens. "Wow! What and ending! I am completely satisfied!" I say. "Oh look! An excerpt from the next book!" I skim the pages and all of the happiness I had just felt was invalidated. I was kind of angry, but I did a little research and found that this book was in fact a prequel to the excerpt I skimmed, which would make for a whole different experience for the readers who read in publishing order. I felt better after that.

The Jewel of St. Petersburg is a wonder of historical fiction. I would recommend this to anyone. It has intrigue, war, romance, rebellion and great plot and characters.

Plus look at how pretty that cover is! 5 stars!

Jen Reviews "Nightshade"

Title: Nightshade (Nightshade #1)

Author: Andrea Cremer

Published: Philomel Books, 2010

How I Got It: Purchased myself

Rating: 4 stars

Summary:

Calla Tor has always known her destiny: After graduating from the Mountain School, she'll be the mate of sexy alpha wolf Ren Laroche and fight with him, side by side, ruling their pack and guarding sacred sites for the Keepers. But when she violates her masters' laws by saving a beautiful human boy out for a hike, Calla begins to question her fate, her existence, and the very essence of the world she has known. By following her heart, she might lose everything--including her own life. Is forbidden love worth the ultimate sacrifice? (from the book jacket)

Thoughts:

What caused this book to skyrocket to the top of my to-read list and also convinced me to pre-order the book (and I never pre-order books)?  The ingenious marketing plan.  When I first heard about this book I thought it sounded interesting and of course added it to my constantly growing TBR list.  Then about a month before the book’s release one of the main characters, Shay Doran, started popping up all over the Internet.  You could actually interact with Shay.  He had his own Facebook page, a blog, and he’d post videos that addressed fans by name.  I really enjoyed following Shay’s adventures through Rowan Estate and hearing all of the strange happenings.  

Now onto the book! 

First, the cover is so amazing.  I fall hard for good book covers.  The dust jacket feels pretty.  I’m not sure how to describe it, but the texture is just...pretty!  Side note #1:  I love Calla’s makeup on the cover.  Hey, maybe next Halloween I’ll dress up as Calla. 

Nightshade starts off with Calla, the alpha female of the Nightshade pack, saving a human who was being attacked by a bear.  She didn’t recognize the boy, she thought he was a lost tourist.  Needless to say, Calla got a surprise when the human, Shay, shows up in one of her classes a couple weeks later.

This book has one of the most intense love triangles I’ve come across recently.  Our alpha female is torn between two worthy (but completely different) suitors: Ren, the alpha male of the Bane pack and Shay, the new kid at school.  All of her life Calla has known that she has been ‘arranged’ to marry Ren.  Since they are both alphas their packs will combine to form one larger pack.   Then just before the union Shay comes into the picture.  This makes Calla question if she should just assume her role as Ren’s mate or if she should take a chance and make her own decisions.  Side note #2:  One thing that drove me crazy throughout the book was how Ren was allowed to date different girls but Calla had to stay ‘pure’ until the union.

I don't want to get too much into the paranormal aspect.  It's too hard to not give away any major spoilers.  The Keepers, Guardians and Searchers are all quite fascinating.  The mystery that starts to unravel is riveting (but a little confusing, I had to reread some parts).  The dynamic of the werewolf packs and their traditions is interesting. 

Overall, I really enjoyed Nightshade!  I loved how strong of a character Calla is, yet she still gets flustered by a cute boy.  I'm looking forward to the next installment of the trilogy!

Side note #3:   There is one part of the story that I did not like at all.  It’s a pretty big twist and I did not see it coming.  It takes place in a cave...if you read the book you probably know what I’m talking about.  

So I'm pretty new to the paranormal genre.  I'd like to read more paranormal books, any recommendations?  I've only read the Twilight books and Shiver.  

Jess' Review: The Simple Dollar (Trent Hamm)

Image found here

Title: The Simple Dollar: How One Man Wiped Out His Debts and Achieved the Life of His Dreams

Author: Trent Hamm (Web site)

Publisher: Financial Times Press, 2010

Notes: I received this book as an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from the publisher, Financial Times Press. I have reviewed it honestly and personally. As part of this opportunity, I was also asked to apply one chapter from Trent's book to my life, which you can read about here.

A brief summary: Trent Hamm is best known on the Web as the man behind The Simple Dollar, a popular personal finance blog. In The Simple Dollar, Trent explores personal finance in his own life, offering many personal narratives, as well as constructive, useful techniques for readers to apply to their own lives.

My thoughts: I am a long-time reader of The Simple Dollar, and so when the opportunity came about to receive an ARC from the publisher, I jumped on it. I was curious to see how this combination memoir/self-help book differed from others, and if Trent's fantastic blogging personality would come through in the book.

Trent's book is well-written and to-the-point, which is consistent with his blog style. I like the personalized anecdotes and interesting tidbits. One thing I'm curious to see is if the aesthetic nature of the book changes with publication; it seems very textbook-like in paper, font, and plain book style. (The book is published by a subsidiary of Financial Times Press.) Most memoirs or books similar to this are published with a more reader-focused, audience-oriented feel. This is not so (though I do recognize that my copy is an ARC, so I'll have to compare after publication).

As much as I liked the book, I think it repeats a lot of what Trent already discusses on his blog. I also think that his writing is especially well-suited for blogging because he proposes questions and is able to engage the audience in a different way. Much of the same material is covered in his blog, but in fact the blog posts cover it at much greater length and with a greater number of resources.

Overall I think Trent's book is a worthy, wonderful read. It has given me new perspective on where his writing comes from, and where the motivation to get financially fit, originates. I especially think that people who have not yet read Trent's blog will benefit from the book in a major way.

Rating: 4 stars

Daisy's review of The Study Train

Title/Author: The Study Train Vol 1: Reunion of the Untouchables by Kurt Frenier
Publisher/Year published: Eloquent Books in 2010
Why I read it: it sounded interesting.
How I got it: the author sent it to me. This will not influence this review in any way.

Summary from GoodReads:
"Five hundred years ago, Master Magician Mikhail Pilkington III created a magical flying train, the Study Train. His vision: to take average teenagers aboard, show them the world, and turn them into leaders. Ethan is invited on the train, escaping his miserable life in Switzerland, and soon discovers that the train is all but ordinary. It is filled with magic, secrets, people with interesting histories, and much more. Ethan's intrigue and hunger for knowledge and power catches the attention of a hidden, ancient alliance called the Untouchables. Soon, Ethan learns all their mysteries, powers and sorcery. He stands out from the rest of the students and is recognized as the long-awaited leader for the Untouchables. But his dark side - The Dark Fire Inside - grows and becomes much stronger than anyone thought it would. Ethan gets sucked into a web of conflicts and feuds while battling his own inner feelings. Will he go for power, or turn toward good?"

Sounds interesting right? I thought so too. But (yes here it is already) it didn't live up to it.
For me it went wrong almost from the start of it, I didn't believe the picture Frenier painted of Ethan's home life with a mom working two jobs who Ethan claims not to know at all and a dad who refuses him his dinner when he's 3 minutes late. After that it didn't really get any better, the characters seemed to act unnaturally and I still don't really know what kind of person they are. Or even what kind of person Ethan is. One minute he's antisocial, then he's uber-friendly, he's in awe of his headmaster Althulos and the next things he's defying him and going all powerful maniac on us. It's a bit confusing, most of all because he's only 15 years old and completely new to all of it.

Which makes me come to another thing that bothered me: the Study Train is supposed to be a school where they train people to become world leaders, then TELL ME what it is that makes this school so special other than the fact that it's a flying train. Never once in the book does Frenier mention what kind of classes they are taught, where is the magic that I expected them to be studying?

The magic comes for Ethan, though not very gradually. One day Althulos decides to teach him how to fly the train and he masters this instantly. The same goes for other skills he picks up. In one afternoon he acquires at least 10 different magical abilities it takes others ages to learn. Maybe it's just me, but I enjoy it when characters have a hard time or at least some difficulty with stuff like this. It makes them more real and in this book not even the instant mastering is described. Frenier just tells us Ethan's spent an afternoon with someone who teaches him this and POOF! he knows how to do it. I always enjoy it more when you show me what is happening, not when you just tell me it did. This happens most of the time with a lot of things I would have liked explained more extensively.

Ethan goes against Althulos' wishes pretty early on and doesn't really get into any trouble because of this. He does something way out of line and Althulos only shouts at him and that's it. I mean, really? My parents were pretty easy going, but even I would have gotten sent to my room (at least) for that. They're not really big on discipline on the Study Train.
I also didn't really feel Ethan struggled with the good vs evil dilemma, he doesn't even seem that impressed he's supposedly the new long-awaited leader of a group of mostly grown men.

One last issue I had: at some point Frenier mentions people who've been students of the Study Train (it's been around for 500 years generating influential people) and on the list is Alexander the Great. Who lived from 356 to 323 BC (I googled it). Which is way more than 500 years ago. Maybe it's not that big an issue, but it bugged me.

But of course, this is only my opinion. The Crazy Bookworm loved it, you can read her review here.

As for me, I can't in all honesty give this book more than 1 star.

Jamie Takes on Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

*** Also posted on my personal book blog-- The Perpetual Page-Turner ***
Title/Author: Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
Publisher/Year: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (Simon & Schuster Imprint) 2008
How I Got This Book: I bought it before I went to the LHA signing.
Why I Read This Book: My love for history, particularly the Revolutionary period, coupled with the fact that I really enjoyed Speak and reading LHA's blog, I just had to read this one. I also, as a child, had a period where I read anything and everything I could get my hands on regarding slavery.
Rating: A well-deserved 4.5 stars!

I typically provide my own synopsis but every time I tried to write a compelling synopsis it fell short of the one written on Goodreads.

As the Revolutionary War begins, thirteen-year-old Isabel wages her own fight...for freedom. Promised freedom upon the death of their owner, she and her sister, Ruth, in a cruel twist of fate become the property of a malicious New York City couple, the Locktons, who have no sympathy for the American Revolution and even less for Ruth and Isabel. When Isabel meets Curzon, a slave with ties to the Patriots, he encourages her to spy on her owners, who know details of British plans for invasion. She is reluctant at first, but when the unthinkable happens to Ruth, Isabel realizes her loyalty is available to the bidder who can provide her with freedom. 

I need to divulge the fact that I don't typically read Middle Grade fiction but I could not pass this one up. My fascination with history, coupled with the fact that my stepdad is a huge Revolutionary War buff (he even does the Washington's Crossing reenactment every Christmas morning) and my childhood obsession to read everything ever written about slavery, made this novel a must read for me!

This book did not disappoint me in any way. I felt the shackles come out and bind me to this novel immediately; I knew I couldn't put this down. What a thoroughly captivating novel with memorable characters and moments. Laurie Halse Anderson proves herself to be a masterful storyteller as she deftly weaves together an evocative fight for freedom through the eyes of Isabel, a Loyalist's slave, and the history of a nation's fight for freedom. The novel doesn't openly "tsk tsk" the nation's gross injustices on the slavery front but rather shows, through Isabel, the implications of such a practice and the glaring hypocrisy of a nation who wants to be free yet are not willing to release their slaves but want nothing more than for them to fight for their cause.

At certain points I forgot I was reading a novel meant for a younger audience. The perfectly paced adventure will hook younger readers (as I saw at the LHA event)  as well as adults but the impeccable writing and the complexities that lie within the heart of the story, as well as this period in history, will keep adults reading.  It was fun to read this book and then converse with my Revolutionary War genius stepfather  about the events that were happening in the novel only to learn even more about the particular event--e.g. the fire in New York City--not a spoiler as it is in the history books!

I really appreciated Anderson's dedication to keeping the novel pretty much in line with the historical facts. I loved that she focused on the struggle between the Loyalists and the Rebels in New York City as it is an area that often gets overlooked and it really is quite compelling--as I learned further from my step dad. I found the inclusion of pieces from real documents and letters from this time period at the beginning of the chapter to be fascinating and was glad that she added them.

Isabel is a character that you will find yourself remembering for a long time to come. She's strong, resilient and entirely loyal to the ones that she loves and cares for. Reading this book felt reminiscent of the feelings that I felt while reading Little House on the Prairie or Little Women as a child. I felt myself wholly transported to another time and side by side with Isabel in her fight. There were moments where I felt like Isabel wasn't quite true to the times, either because of speech or questionable actions, but for the most part I felt like she was convincingly written.

The only thing I found to be irksome was the incredibly short chapters. I'd get really into the story and then I was jolted into a new chapter. However, I thought about the fact that this was written for a younger audience with a shorter attention span than mine and found that it was probably perfect for them and I just needed to deal with that minor inconvenience.

My final thought: Amazing! I don't care if you don't read MG or YA books, if you like a good historical novel--pick this up! It isn't a wonder that the kids at the signing I went to were hanging on to every word that Laurie uttered and were completely enamored with this novel. It is compelling and the ending will leave you rushing out to by Forge! I think this would be an awesome novel to complement a social studies lesson on this time period.


Found this AWESOME video a kid made about the novel for what I'm guessing is a school project (listen to the words!):