Monday, May 30, 2011

10 Good Things on a Monday: Ten Careers for Book Lovers (other than Librarian or Book Store Clerk)

10 Good Things on a Monday is a weekly feature  I am doing dedicated to every person's compulsive list-writing.  Every Monday we are going to make a list of 10 things that will cheer us up and help tide us over the whole week.


Here's how it works:
  1. Think of a particular group of good things you want to make a list on, does not necessarily have to be about books, e.g. your current book wish list, or your favorite book foods (you know, foods you love to eat while reading, if you're like me), or your favorite girly names, whatever you can think of, as long as it makes you feel good.
  2. If you have no ideas for a list, you can always visit my blog post to check out my theme for that week and you can take a cue from my list.
  3. Post your list on your blog, grab that cute ARGH button above and put it on your post too, so we'd know you're doing this meme.
  4. Leave the link for your post on my own 10 Good Things post for the week, if you see others doing it, comment too and let's share our good things with everybody.
  5. Everybody goes through the whole week happy!
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My 10 Good Things for this weekTen Careers for Book Lovers (other than Librarian or Book Store Clerk)
 

Welcome to another edition of 10 Good Things!  A friend of mine once commented on my love for books when she saw my bookshelf.  I know it's not yet as huge as yours, but that friend of mine is not a big book fan so my collection is as much a library to her already.  She told me I should have been a librarian or worked at a bookstore.  Which, although really awesome careers, were not something I would go for (I love high-pressure jobs, like being a nurse :D).  So that got me thinking, what other options are there if you love books and want to work in the book industry?  A little research yielded these results:

1.  Book Buyer - If you love books and enjoy discovering new titles, then this might be a great job for you.  You will purchase books according to the prescribed purchasing regulations and procedures of a book store.  You will also review and analyze sales reports for ordering, planning, and merchandising purposes, etc.  In other words, you get to have a say on which book would be sold in your book store!

2.  Voice Actor for Audio Books - Friends and acquaintances have been remarking for the longest time that you have the best telephone and speaking voice ever:  Well-modulated, expressive, and with perfect enunciation.  Then why not become a voice actor?  Interested?  Then send your demo 'reading' tape to audio book studios and get started!

3.  Acquisitions Editor - You would be dealing with literary agents and authors and you BUY BOOKS FOR PUBLISHERS.  You will be the one dealing with choosing which manuscripts would be published and would sell well and will be enjoyed by more readers.  You have the power!

4.  Translator - Are you bilingual?  Multilingual?  Then this job may be for you!  Imagine if The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon were not translated in English by Lucia Graves, then we have two less awesome books in the English-speaking world to read, right?  There are a million other The Shadow of the Winds and The Angel's Games waiting to be translated into English or another language out there, and you might just be the man for the job.
5.  Rare Book Archivist - Are you very particular about how to shelve your book?  Do you cover your books with plastic and hate it when someone dog-ears a book page?  Then you would probably become a great archivist, preserving old and rare books to make them last for several years.



6.  Book Jacket Designer - Are you the artsy, techie kind?  Love creating and re-creating book covers?  Then why not try to become a book jacket designer?  As the 'art director,' your task will be to conceptualize original book covers for individual books, how cool is that, right?


7.  Book Publicist - If you have vast media connections, then promoting specific books may be perfect for you.  You will be responsible for the marketing of a certain book, contacting major newspapers, scheduling book signings, even contacting TV or radio show producers to promote a book.  Which is quite awesome, if you ask me.
 
8.  Book Cover Model - Now this one could not really be classified as a 'career' but if you think you've got the looks, you can try to audition as a book cover model.  Imagine, your face, or a part of your body right smack on a book cover!


9.  Copyeditor - You would be responsible for making sure the book has correct grammar, no typos, spelling, and punctuation.  You will also watch out for consistency, like whether the character from page 16 who hiccups when nervous does hiccup on page 125 when that character became nervous. 

10.  Bookbinder - This is a skilled profession and you will be required to operate machinery.  You will be the one responsible for putting book covers and pages together. 

Have you chosen which career fits you yet?

Happy New Week!






7 comments:

  1. I never really thought about it, but how cool would it be to see your face on a book cover!?

    here's my list
    http://whatwouldjendo.com/?p=5554

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a great list!! Such an awesome range of careers. I'd love to be a book buyer, but I'd probably buy them all for myself!
    Here's my list for this week :)
    http://thebookgatherer.blogspot.com/2011/05/ten-good-things-on-monday-books-on-my.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. WOW, thanks great list, I've never thought about some of those options.
    I would love to do copy-editing. I'm always finding mistakes and continuity errors in books. :D

    Wouldn't mind doing the voice recordings either, or book buying.
    So many options. I'll bear them in mind.
    :)

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  4. Forgot - here is the link to my post:

    http://beckysbarmybookblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/10-good-things-on-monday-15.html

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love your list! I never would have thought of ten book related jobs. Pretty cool. :)

    Here's my ten good things: http://amateurvoicekp.blogspot.com/2011/05/10-good-things-on-monday_30.html

    ReplyDelete
  6. I always thought it would be cool to be a voice actor, but I don't think I could do different characters' voices :) That would be awesome to be the acquisitions editor! Wow, you really do get to choose what the publishers will eventually publish and what the readers will end up reading. So cool! And I love the people who design book jackets. Whoever they are, they're doing an awesome job! Great list!

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  7. Great list. I would dearly love to become a book designer! They must absolutely get lost in their work... ;)

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I just have to tell you, ARGH feeds on awesomeness, so if you can, drop him some awesome here, and I promise to give some awesome back :D

Right now, because of my really busy schedule, I'm cutting back on receiving awards. So until further notice, me and ARGH would not be accepting awards. But thank you for thinking of us, we really appreciate it!