Meet the Booker Prize-winning author who is still driving buses.
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Day 5 - Boe Rushing reports from Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar
Friday, August 7th, 2009Boe Rushing reports from the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar - it’s day five.
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Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better today happens. I’ll keep it short because it is very late. Greg Gibson, the nautical specialist, gave the most touching talk of the seminar.
After a discussion on auctions we had one. All of the proceeds go to support local libraries. I had the winning bid on a ver cool Between the Covers shirt signed by Tom (Congalton) and Dan Gregory. The last item in the auction was the highly coveted dinner for two with the faculty tonight. I had no plans on bidding but then I noticed that Ellie, from Australia, who was sitting near me was in a bidding war with someone in the front of the room. I asked her if she had someone to take and said I would go in with her. After a while we agreed we couldn’t go any higher and dropped out. Everyone congratulated the winner who stood up. It was Robin, my friend from the airport. She turned to me and motioned that I was going with her. So I had been bidding against myself without even knowing it.
I just got back from a wonderful evening with some of the top antiquarian book dealers in the country. Hopefully some of their knowledge is rubbing off on me. This has been a great week with one more day to go.
Day 4 - Boe Rushing reports from Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar
Thursday, August 6th, 2009Boe Rushing reports from the Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar - it’s day four.
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Day four began with me realizing I have been living in a bubble for four days. The dorms where most of us are staying have no TVs and we’ve hardly been in our rooms anyway. It’s all books all the time. The day’s first presentation was by Dan Gregory and concerned rare book photography. If this book thing doesn’t work out for him I think he could make a living on the comedy circuit.
After our break Dan DeSimone gave an excellent talk on selling books to libraries. Over the years I have sat in front of a lot of instructors. At least half of the time I didn’t want to be there and I think the other half of the time the instructor didn’t want to be there. This week is the opposite of that. I, and I am sure many of the others, are eagerly absorbing this information. Likewise the instructors are passionate in their love of books and the trade. In my discussions with Dan, and in his talk today, I have been very impressed with his genuine desire to pass on his knowledge and I am very appreciative.
After lunch Mike Ginsberg, Kevin Johnson and Rob Rulon-Miller each spoke on evaluating and pricing books. There were some technical problems but Rob kept us entertained by describing the various things that were supposed to be displayed on the screen as he spoke. He might be able to open for Dan on the comedy tour. We also spent time going over some of the student’s book descriptions from the day before.
The afternoon ended with Kevin Johnson discussing buying and selling books on the Internet. This talk was filled with great practical tips and was a great way to end the day. But the day wasn’t over yet for myself and half of the class. After dinner we took a bus to Hooked on Books, a very nice local bookstore where Mary Francis Ciletti gave a very interesting presentation on the nuts and bolts of operating a bookstore. Being one of the few present actually considering opening a store (again) I asked lots of questions. Maybe too many. Sorry guys.
So after we all bought some books we returned to the dorms and here I am. I would encourage anyone who has a dream like me to have a succesful career dealing in antiquarian books to attend this seminar. It might just change your life.
AbeBooks’ customer support staging open house on 29 July
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009Job-seekers interested in working for AbeBooks are invited to attend an open house being staged by our customer support department on Wednesday 29 July.
As I am sure most people know, AbeBooks is an online marketplace for new, used, rare and out-of-print books. We are located in a fantastic office building close to downtown Victoria. From my desk, I can see float planes taking off, the Olympic mountains in Washington State, the Gorge waterway and its kayakers, and much more. This company was founded in 1996 and acquired by Amazon.com, Inc., in December 2008. More than 20 people are currently employed in the customer support section, which helps booksellers to sell books and booklovers to buy books.
Customer support is a vital part of our company and we’re proud of the level of support that we offer to buyers and sellers. Anyone interested in working in this part of AbeBooks requires a deep commitment to providing exceptional customer service, excellent communication skills and the ability to work in a demanding technology-driven environment. A sound knowledge of Internet-related technologies is vital.
Visitors will be given an introduction to the company and learn more about the skills required to work in this department of AbeBooks. There will also be a tour of the facility and the opportunity to meet Human Resources director Judy Hamza and Shaun Jamieson, Director of Sales and Account Management. Visitors are welcome to drop off resumes.
The open house will be staged on Wednesday 29 July from 1pm until 2.30pm. AbeBooks is located in a state-of-the-art office building at Suite 500, 655 Tyee Road, Victoria, BC, V9A 6X5 – just a few minutes from downtown Victoria. Refreshments will be served. Anyone requiring further details should email hr@abebooks.com
One other thing, AbeBooks is filled with people who began their AbeBooks’ career in customer support before transferring to other areas of the company. The marketing, quality assurance, operations, and systems departments all contain people who cut their teeth in customer support.
Chinese Museum Honoring Migrant Literature Set to Open
Tuesday, July 7th, 2009A museum for migrant workers’ literature is scheduled to open September 26 in Suzhou in east China’s Jiangsu Province.
One of the founders of the museum, Xu Qiang says that many of the migrant workers spend their free time writing novels and poetry. “Their works, especially poems reflecting their life and work, account for a precious part of Chinese literature,” Xu said.
Eloisa Cartonera - Using Cardboard to Create Books and to Help People
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
In the midst of the Argentine economic crisis, those desperate for money began collecting paper and cardboard from municipal waste to sell for recycling. These people are became known as “cartoneros”.
From this crisis, creativity was born. In 2003, Eloisa Cartonera was established, breathing new life into the cartoneros community. Eloisa Cartonera publishes the works of new and classic Latin American writers such Cesar Aira and Alejandro Lopez and purchases cardboard used in the books from the cartoneros. The cartoneros also paint and decorate the books.
The authors help by giving up their copyrights. These donations have made it possible for Eloisa Cartonera to publish 5,000 books a year and to pay the cartoneros five times as much as they’d receive from garbage processors.
Eloisa Cartonera is located in Buenos Aires but the concept has spread throughout Latin America. 
The books are inexpensive (one newspaper article reports that an Italian distributor bought 70 copies for three euros) and offer a promising return for foreign distributors as the books can be marketed outside of the country as a cultural and social project, not to mention unique pieces of art. It seems as if it’s a winning proposition for all involved.
Eloisa Cartonera has a website where you can see some of their work.
Publishing lay-offs
Thursday, February 19th, 2009In my 19-year working career, I have only been made redundant once. “Please put your office key and company credit on the table, and you will need to leave the building within the next hour.” It was the entire office staff and we went to the pub at 11am. I wasn’t actually that upset as I got a pay-off and went to Australia and New Zealand for two months. This was long before I had children and a mortgage so I simply shrugged it off.
In the London Review of Books, Colin Robinson recounts being laid off by a large publisher back in December. It’s an interesting piece. There must be an awful lot of ex-publishing staffers thinking about becoming freelancers right now.
Victorian Farm: Rediscovering Forgotten Skills
Tuesday, January 20th, 2009Fans of the BBC2 reality series “Victorian Farm” will want to get their hands on the tie-in title, Victorian Farm: Rediscovering Forgotten Skills (also known as Tales From the Victorian Farm).
Victorian Farm, a follow-up to the 2005 series Tales From the Green Valley which explored life on a 17th Century British farm, follows archaeologists Alex Langlands and Peter Ginn and historian Ruth Goodman as they spend a year on a farm estate in Shropshire 1885-style.
The book includes a broad range of photographs, the team’s diary entries, authentic recipes and practical craft, cooking and household management projects. There are also extensive features on topics such as new inventions, breeding methods, clothing and food.
The television series has also prompted renewed interest in the book The Book of the Farm by Henry Stephens. Read more about this in Richard’s January 12th blog post.
Oh and did you know that you can actually visit the Victorian Farm? The Acton Scott Historic Working Farm is open to the public April 15 - November 9, 2009.
Thank you
Monday, November 5th, 2007More than 250 people attended the AbeBooks.com Open House event last Friday. I thought may be 50 people would come along and would have been thrilled with 70, but they just kept arriving. In the end, we ran out of visitor badges. It was a real mixture of people - techies, project managers, marketing types, finance people, entrepreneurs, some folks who were regular buyers and wanted a look, and even a couple of booksellers sneaked in.
Thank you to everyone who attended - Judy Hamza, our HR director, has a huge pile of resumes and she began reading them almost immediately after the event ended.
AbeBooks Open House
Friday, November 2nd, 2007AbeBooks.com is hosting its first ever Open House today, so if you are in Victoria, BC, and wondering what it takes to work for us then pop down. We’re at 655 Tyee by the Bay Street Bridge. Look for the big glass building with Bala Fitness on the ground floor - we’re on the fifth floor. The Open House runs from 12 noon to 2pm today (Friday 2 November).