Archive for the ‘work’ Category

Meet book translator Steven T. Murray

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011

Do you know who Steven T. Murray is? How about Reg Keeland? They are actually the same person. Steven T. Murray (his real name) is a book translator and Reg Keeland is this fake name.

Murray is (partially) well known for translating Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy from Swedish into English. He’s also translated Henning Mankell’s books and lots of other Scandinavian literature. Here’s a little article by Murray printed in Publishers Weekly in 2010.

Book translating is a thankless task. An author may use a word that simply does not exist in English or even a particular piece of jargon or slang that is, frankly, untranslatable. The person(s) who translated Haruki Murakami’s books must be some sort of genius – they have to grasp the Japanese language and all the cultural meaning including in his writing. Imagine trying to translate Harry Potter into Latin when Rowling uses unique, made-up words like Muggle and Quidditch?

Murray’s fame is growing to the extent that books signed by him are increasing in value – anywhere from $42 to $1,500.

Murray is making an appearance in the Bay Area’s Litquake literary festival on November 8 at the Commonwealth Club of California. From Smilla to Salander: An Odyssey in Translating Nordic Crime Fiction also features fellow translator Tiina Nunnally.

There is also a VIP reception for Murray at the lovely Book Club of California later that same night, where you can meet the translator.

This author’s writing is “Naughty. But Nice.”

Monday, August 22nd, 2011

Question – what’s the connection between this fantastic British TV advert for cream cakes and Salman Rushdie? Don’t rush off to Google. I’ll tell you. Mr Rushdie wrote the ‘Naughty. But Nice.’ tagline for this famous advertising campaign back when he was a struggling writer. This particular ad aired in 1984 and stars comedians Les Dawson and Roy Barraclough as Ada and Cissie.

Theawl.com has an interesting article about six authors, including Rushdie, who were advertising copywriters.

Pencil sharpener for hire

Monday, November 22nd, 2010

Some bloke in New York is charging $12 a pop to sharpen a pencil reports The Guardian. On one hand, I’m thrilled some people take pencils seriously, on the other, I’m…. (oh why bother?)

AbeBooks’ careers open house on Sept 21

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

Job-seekers interested in working for Internet pioneer AbeBooks.com are invited to attend a careers open house on Tuesday, September 21 at the company’s headquarters.

Located in Victoria, BC, AbeBooks (as you all know) is an online marketplace for new, used, rare and out-of-print books. The company was founded in 1996 and bought by Amazon.com, Inc. in December 2008.

AbeBooks currently has 10 open positions ranging across several departments, including customer support, marketing, site operations and software engineering. Job-seekers looking for positions in customer support are of particular interest to us.

You need to be committed to offering excellent customer service to book-buyers and booksellers. You’d also better understand the Internet and ecommerce inside out.

Visitors will have the opportunity to meet HR Director Judy Hamza and Shaun Jamieson, Director of Sales and Account Management and Customer Support. Anyone who leaves their resume will be entered into a draw to win $100 worth of books. Rules associated with the draw will be available. There will be a short presentation about working at AbeBooks and refreshments will be offered.

The open house will take place on Tuesday, September 21 from 4pm until 6pm. AbeBooks is located at Suite 500, 655 Tyee Road, Victoria, BC, V9A 6X5 – close to downtown Victoria. Anyone requiring further details should email hr@abebooks.com

(By the way, I have worked here for five and a half years. AbeBooks is an excellent place to work but we don’t just take anyone. We’re looking for people with real talent and drive, who get things done.)

The librarian with 45,000 books of scripture

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

Meet the librarian who takes care of “45,000 books of scripture printed in more than 2,000 languages during six centuries.” The profile comes from the Catholic News Services – an organisation that’s probably glad to have the opportunity to write about rare books right now.

Bookseller/seed seller – only on AbeBooks

Monday, April 12th, 2010

YukoA few weeks ago, I ordered a book from one of our sellers, Yuko Horiuchi from Carleton Place near Ottawa.

When the book arrived, the package also contained a price-list for Yuko’s other career – seed selling. Yuko is a professional gardener/professional bookseller, and sells books and open pollinated seeds, including fruits like Black Elderberry and Nanking Cherry, herbs like Chervil and Dill, flowers like Evening Primrose and Soapwort, vegetables like broccoli and squash, and roots like Jerusalem Artichoke and Horseradish.

Intrigued, I contacted Yuko and asked her what was her story. Her it is in her own words:

“I was born and raised in northern Japan. I read every book (minus mathematics) in the school library then in the town’s library. In Tokyo, I had student privilege to access the Parliament Library. I came to Canada in 1979 and was spoiled by the City of Winnipeg’s library system. Then I moved to a small town near Canada’s capital 10 years later.

“It was a rude awakening. I tried everything (to find books) – I asked the local library for an inter-branch loan card to the City of Ottawa library. Finally, I found AbeBooks and Amazon in mid-1990s. My quest was over but family members started making a fuss about the ever accumulating books.

“Being a bookworm, gardening was not my forte. But one fatal winter day in Winnipeg, I saw Harrowsmith magazine. I became an eager couch potato gardener in the suburban apartment. Later on I joined the local food co-op to eat well and provide good food to my young child. I was flabbergasted to find most of the food came from British Columbia. Next door to the health food co-op was the wonderful bookstore, Prairie Sky Books. I bought many books there. The front lawn of house we moved into was ripped up and became a garden, of course.

“I leant everything (about gardening) from books. Before I came to Canada, I had read Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring translated in Japanese. Sawako Ariyoshi’s The Complex Contamination (1975) dealing with pollution was very popular too. It was no surprise that I became an open-pollinated seed saver/organic gardener (1985) and then bookseller (2000). Everything clicked – nice and tidy like Lego blocks.

I visit my family and friends (some from my kindergarten years) in Japan every couple years. I never miss visiting libraries, museums and picking up the ultimate Japanese groceries. I am a so-called ‘kuishino’ person, who loves to eat.”

Here’s Yuko’s site. Gardening and bookselling sounds like an ideal combination for making a living.

Julie & Julia author relocates to a butcher’s shop

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

When I saw the headline – Julie & Julia author takes job in butcher shop – I was thrilled. Excellent, I thought, now we won’t have to suffer through any more ridiculous books about trying to cook an over-complicated French recipe every day. Sadly, we are going to have to suffer through another book from Julie Powell.

Julie Powell’s new book is not for the squeamish, in more ways than one. It opens with her in the back of a butcher shop, flecked with blood and reeking of meat. She’s busy slicing a raw, slippery liver with a foot-long knife.

By the end of the book, another internal organ — her heart — has been filleted: Powell dissects the pain caused by her two-year affair with an old college flame that sent her into an emotional tailspin and almost sunk her marriage.

I think I’ll give this one a miss, especially as the book “reveals the pain of loving two men at once, of her fondness for sadomasochism and even a bout of self-punishing sex with a stranger.” What about the pain of cutting off a finger while chopping up some mutton?

Although I suppose when you are down in the dumps, a butcher’s shop isn’t the worst place to end up. There’s a sharp object in your hand, you can handle some flesh very roughly, and you walk away from your job with blood on your shoes which always alarms the vegetarian community.

On the buses

Tuesday, August 11th, 2009

Meet the Booker Prize-winning author who is still driving buses.

Day 5 – Boe Rushing reports from Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar

Friday, August 7th, 2009

Boe 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.

tom-and-his-shirtAfter 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.

greg-gibson

Day 4 – Boe Rushing reports from Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar

Thursday, August 6th, 2009

Boe 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.

Naomi Sims’ books

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

I have been seeing much written about Naomi Sims, since her death from cancer at 61 earlier this week. The pioneering first black supermodel also wrote a number of books.

All About Health and Beauty for the Black Woman
How to Be a Top Model
All About Success for the Black Woman

Sims, who studying pyschology at NYU before hitting the big time, did not appear to be your run-of-the-mill model.

AbeBooks’ customer support staging open house on 29 July

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

Job-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, 2009

A 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.

Read more…

Eloisa Cartonera – Using Cardboard to Create Books and to Help People

Wednesday, March 25th, 2009

eloisa-cartonera-logo1In 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. decorating-book1

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, 2009

In 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.