Nov. 10 Labor shortage: I was reading “No labor shortage on horizon: study”
by Tavia Grant in the Globe and Mail.
There are just more people looking for jobs. They said it’s not to focus on the labor
supply, but about developing and using the skills of Canadians.
Nov. 14 Job interview: Today was my day off so I went to a job interview
in the morning. I had gone to this place
before a couple of months ago for an interview.
I went again because they were hiring again. The first time I went there, I talked to a
man and he showed me the place.
This time, I talked to a woman, and I did a
test. It was a 30min test with 4
parts. I did 2 of them which were
written. The other 2 parts were computer
tests. They weren’t typing tests like
that time I went to the medical office interview.
Nov. 18 Holiday
job: This year I won’t be
taking a holiday job. In 2011 I did at
the Fruit Place and I didn’t like it. I worked there for 2 weeks. Back then, I was working at the restaurant in
the mornings and the Fruit Place were in the late afternoon and early evenings.
In 2012, I worked some shifts at Call Centre #6 at
night. This year, there are more shifts
available at my restaurant in another department.
Nov. 22 Rebecca Eckler: On Jul. 23, 2011, I cut out this article in the National
Post called “Moving Units.” It’s
about a published writer named Rebecca Eckler and the publishing company closed
down. She has all these books that are
stuck in her house and not out in the bookstore where it should be. This is how she dealt with it.
I never really thought about a publishing company closing
down and what would happen if all the author’s books are stuck somewhere. It happened for one author and probably a lot
of others at that one publishing company.
It made me more aware that publishing companies can close down, and
there isn’t good job security.
However, I will still try to get published. There is e-book publishing. Here’s her article:
As an author, I expect many things. I expect to write and
rewrite drafts until I can no longer read my own words. I expect to be edited.
I expect that, at the end of a couple of years, a book will be published and in
stores and that I’ll have to promote the crap out of it.
When my first adult novel, The Lucky Sperm Club, was one of the last books to be published by the flailing Key Porter Books in January (and I say flailing because the imprint, a subsidiary of H.B. Fenn, had no staff and no offices, but had not yet shuttered operations), I felt I had dodged a bullet. At least my book was printed and ready to be shipped to stores. Which it was — for about a week. Then my agent told Key Porter that until they paid me the remainder of my advance they were not to make any money off my book, which meant booksellers couldn’t actually sell the novel, which meant there was no point in The Lucky Sperm Club even being in stores.
I had worked really hard on the book for three years, and for the brief time it was available, it actually received really good feedback. I had faith that Jordan Fenn, who signed my contract, would pay me. I’ve always liked Jordan, but I do not like that he ignored my agent’s phone calls. I do not like that I still haven’t been paid. I especially don’t like the fact I had to pay to get my own books back.
Copies of The Lucky Sperm Club were in a warehouse in the middle of nowhere, and somehow I had to rescue them. This was like a bad Bruce Willis movie. Still, even if I could manage to free them, well, what the heck was I going to do with almost 1,000 copies of my own book?
First, I had to negotiate with the bankruptcy agency to get my books back. They wanted a certain amount for each book. I argued them down, smart enough to know they just wanted to get rid of the books and make any money they could.
Once we agreed on the price, I had to get a bank draft; once it was accepted, they told me I’d have to come pick up the books myself. I had to arrange for a moving truck because, along with The Lucky Sperm Club I also ordered 1,000 copies of my children’s book, The Mischievous Mom Goes to the Art Gallery, which Key Porter also published last year.
In total, I became the proud owner of 70 cartons of books, weighing in at 1,992 pounds. Obviously, I had to call a mover, which was another couple hundred dollars out of my pocket. When the mover pulled up to my driveway and unloaded the boxes, I stood there, stunned. Was I expected to lift all those boxes myself? Where the hell would I put them? I live in a house, not a warehouse! So, I did what any 5-foot-2, 100-pound woman faced with 1,992 pounds of books in her driveway would do. I cried a little. Then I bribed the moving man to help me bring them inside.
Sweating after having helped move the boxes inside, I immediately sent an email that would change everything. I believe desperate times call for desperate measures, and I’m OK with being desperate, especially when I really am desperate. I emailed Heather Reisman, the founder of Chapters/Indigo. (Her email is surprisingly easy to figure out!)
Let me be clear: I am not friends with Ms. Reisman. I don’t think I’ve ever even met her in person. But I sent her an email explaining my situation, and that I didn’t want anything more from her than for my books to be in stores. I figured that by this time I had already lost the remainder of my advance, the money buying my books back, paying and bribing the movers — what more was there to lose?
Publishing this book had already put me in the hole, and all I wanted was for The Lucky Sperm Club to be in stores. And if there is one thing Heather Reisman has, it’s stores. Unbelievably, she responded immediately, telling me we could work out a deal. And we did. Not only would she put my books in her stores, she shocked me when she offered to buy back all my books from me! Things moved very quickly. Within two weeks, Chapters sent a van and a mover to pick up the copies of The Lucky Sperm Club. I could see my living room floor again. I truly believe that Reisman is a person who loves authors and can appreciate their hard work and will, if asked, do anything she can to help them. The Lucky Sperm Club, thanks to an understanding businesswoman and a few emails, is now in 243 stores.
As an author, I never imagined that I would have to go through something like this. But sometimes there are guardian angels out there. All you have to do is ask.
As for Key Porter, what can I say? Thanks for nothing, except that my biceps are looking pretty damn good after moving so many cases of books. And, at the very least, maybe Jordan can come over and help me haul the rest of the boxes down into my basement. Or at least pay for a massage. Because my back is killing me from all that heavy lifting.
• The Lucky Sperm Club is available in Chapters/Indigo across Canada.
Charity work: I was posting some Amnesty International emails I got onto my blog. I was thinking about how I did apply to work at some charities like Donor Worx. It’s like going up to people or standing on the street holding up a binder that is about this cause like Unicef. I think back in 2010, I applied for it and then I was to go to this hotel for this training seminar. I then got hired at my current restaurant job, and I decided to turn down Donor Worx.
Song: I was then thinking about the song “Scream” by Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. The lyric is: “I was disgusted by all the injustice.”
http://www.lyrics007.com/Michael%20Jackson%20Lyrics/Scream%20Lyrics.html
Confront your fear: It’s been a few weeks since I emailed you guys and asked: “What career direction should I go to?” No one answered that question. Then again, it’s rare that my friends would email me back. All I can is imagine your guys responses like:
“Well I got to agree with Grandpa Simpson from The Simpsons. Stay away from journalism because lots of newspapers are closing down. You already put up the above article about a publishing company closing down.”
I will throw in that I read in the newspaper that Tribune is laying off 700 people:
http://www.deadline.com/2013/11/tribune-restructuring-will-slash-about-700-newspaper-related-jobs/
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