The Best of Bad Book Covers

I'm all for DIY: do-it-yourself. The act of self-publishing definitely falls under that category. But writers, like everyone else, have their limitations. For some writers, a limitation is the complete inability to draw...or capably use a graphic design program. Yet, in the true spirit of DIY, they forge ahead anyway. The results are what I shall diplomatically call "questionable" book covers. 

Not so diplomatically, Nathan Shumante calls them "Lousy Book Covers," and he displays some of the best of them on his Tumblr. Shumante, who earns his living as a book designer, knows good cover art and he's not ashamed to say that this ain't it. "Just because you CAN design your own book," he says on his Tumblr, "doesn't mean you SHOULD." Quite right.

There are quite of few gems to behold, all of them from seemingly self-published masterpieces. Blurry artwork, dubious clip art, childlike illustrations, garish color schemes, and bad Photoshop abound. This is what happens when "creativity takes a wrong turn," Joe Berkowitz keenly observed when writing about Shumante's tongue-in-cheek Tumblr for Co.Create. 

Initially, Shumante charitably offered "a free cover redesign to any author whose book was featured" on his Tumblr. "But because a couple of hyperventilating 'sweet snowflakes' accused me of posting these covers as nothing more than a cynical 'negative business model' to driver readers to my cover design sight," he had to rescind that offer, he said. At least he extended that olive branch.

To see many more "Lousy Book Covers," check out Shumante's Tumblr site HERE.

* All of the above images are from Lousy Book Covers Tumblr.

Psychedelic School Library Flyer from 1968

The Samuel Gompers High School Library must have been a far-out place!

Image via http://www.retronaut.com

Librarian Among the Least Stressful Jobs?

Librarian, with a median salary of $54,500, is one of "The 10 Least Stressful Jobs for 2013," reported CNBC.com last week. How did the news site come to this conclusion? Based on information provided by CareerCast, which just released its annual list of the "Least Stressful Jobs of 2013."

Giles wouldn't necessarily agree that librarian is a low-stress job. 
Image via http://www.quirkbooks.com.

According to CareerCast, what makes a job "least stressful"? Tony Lee, publisher of CareerCast.com, told CNBC.com, "These are jobs where people are in control of their day. You don't have somebody kind of breathing over your shoulder. There's no physical risk at all, and no one is depending on you in your job to make their life expectancy longer!" He added, "These are the jobs that keep your blood pressure nice and low."

Speaking about the job of librarian, which came in at #9 on the list, Lee said, "You're working in a comfortable environment. Your job is to help people use services as best as possible. Given the environment, stress levels are low." He asked, "What's the most stressful thing a librarian faces? Teenagers with a paper due and you don't have the books." CNBC.com further noted "there are mandatory 'quiet' rules in libraries and you're surrounded by books."

I'm guessing that neither CNBC.com nor Tony Lee visited a big-city public library before they made their assessment. Despite "quiet rules," it's tough to find a truly quiet spot in your typical public library situated in an urban (or even large suburban) neighborhood. The librarians on duty are often too exasperated or overstretched to enforce these "quiet rules," instead dealing with other issues, such as homeless people and child molesters wandering among the stacks. Or they're diffusing increasingly volatile situations involving mentally ill or violent patrons. And they're doing all this (and more) on a salary that barely allows them to pay their rent. This doesn't sound like a "least stressful" job to me.

Rita Meade agrees with me. She responded to the CNBC.com article in a post published on ScrewyDecimal.com. In her post, titled "5 Reasons Being a Librarian Is Stressful," subtitled "Librarians and Stress: An Anecdotal Study (a.k.a. Not cool, CNBC. Not cool.)," Meade explains why librarians aren't "all just floating on clouds made of sugar, leisurely reading books while basking in the glow of constant patron compliments." Listing reasons ranging from lack of job security to lack of respect, she subverts Lee's assertion that librarian is a low-stress job.

"You're wrong," she tells Tony Lee. "Just plain wrong. I don't want a ticker tape parade for librarians. I don't want accolades. I'm not even asking for higher pay (although that WOULD be nice because I am not making anywhere near the 'median salary' CNBC reported). I just want the media to stop feeding the erroneous assumptions."

To read Rita Meade's entire rebuttal to the CNBC.com piece, go HERE.

PS. I just want to say that public librarians aren't the only kind of librarians. Perhaps those who work in museum libraries or who are employed at radio stations, like NPR, do have lower-stress jobs.

Every Building Has a Story: Muhlenberg Library

Whenever I come across a stately building that looks to be a century old or older, I wonder about its past life: who lived there? What was the surrounding area like when it was built? What was its former use? What is it used for now? I imagine there to be countless stories contained within the walls of these old buildings, but only guessing - often futilely - as to what they could be, I continue on my way.

And what could this building be? Photo taken in 1917 by Irving Underhill, courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York.

Identifying the majestic old buildings that still loom over some city streets has become a bit of a game, thanks to Cornerspotter. This regular feature of the real-estate website Curbed asks readers "to identify the location and/or identity of a particular building in a historic photograph." Whoever guesses correctly doesn't win a prize, but they do get bragging rights for being well-versed in their city's history (or at least for being highly observant of their surroundings).

A recent Cornerspotter asked readers to identify the above building, which it said "was built in the early 1900s, and it's still used for the same purpose today." More than a few Curbed readers correctly identified the building as the Muhlenberg branch of the New York Public Library, located at 209 West 23rd Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues in the Manhattan neighborhood of Chelsea. It's a Carnegie library, and it first opened its doors in 1906.

The Muhlenberg branch of New York Public Library today. Photo via http://ny.curbed.com.

Between 1883 and 1929, steel industry tycoon and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie funded the construction of nearly 1,700 libraries in the United States. Carnegie, who was quoted as saying that "No man can become rich without himself enriching others" and "The man who dies rich, dies disgraced," truly believed in sharing the wealth. He spent billions of his money so that communities, large and small, across the country and around the world could have their own library or libraries. In New York City alone, over $6 million of Carnegie funds went toward 106 public libraries and 3 academic libraries.

The Muhlenberg branch, designed by architects Carrere and Hastings, is three stories high and was built from brick and limestone. According to the New York Public Library website, the branch was "named for William Augustus Muhlenberg, the first rector of Chelsea's Church of the Holy Communion. As rector, he donated many books to the Free Circulating Library, which later became part of the New York Public Library." Today, the library is fully wheelchair-accessible, and it has an audio induction loop and FM assistive listening devices for the hearing impaired in its third-floor community room.

This branch of the New York Public Library was granted landmark status in 2001.

New Year Tidings from Neil Gaiman

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art - write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself." ~ Neil Gaiman

Photo of Neil Gaiman via http://neilgaiman.tumblr.com

Sign of a Good Friendship

From the What Does a YA Librarian Do? Pinterest board

100 Notable New York Writers Who Are Still Living

New York City has long been recognized as an epicenter of the literary world. Home to numerous book publishers and the persons they attract - authors and editors, copy editors and proofreaders, book designers and booksellers, agents and publicists - New York is a veritable hotbed of big shots and up-and-comers in the book business. Flavorwire profiled those comprising the city's literati in its list of "New York's 100 Most Important Living Writers."

Zadie Smith

One of the reasons that drove Flavorwire to put this list together - aside from stirring up a bit of debate, I imagine - was a recent announcement made by Philip Roth. The much-lauded writer of Goodbye, Columbus, Portnoy's Complaint, Sabbath's Theater, American Pastoral, Everyman, and other impactful books stated in October 2012 that he was going to retire after more than 50 years of producing works of literature. News of Roth's retirement led Flavorwire to "look at some of New York City's most important writers, from Roth's contemporaries to his possible successors...taking into consideration their legacy, their publishing history, and their cultural relevance across the board."

Junot Diaz

Among those who Flavorwire listed in its "New York's 100 Most Important Living Writers" article are Junot Diaz, Zadie Smith, Chuck Klosterman, Patti Smith, Pete Hamill, Walter Mosley, Jonathan Safran Foer, Joan Didion, Gary Shteyngart, Paul Auster, and more. Despite some notable names being absent (I would have included Toni Morrison and Arthur Nersesian), the list is an impressive who's who of writers who are either from New York City or live in one of its five boroughs (although I'm guessing that most live in Manhattan or Brooklyn).

Chuck Klosterman

Besides presenting brief profiles of these writers, Flavorwire also interviewed some, asking questions including "How do you feel about Philip Roth retiring?", "Who is your favorite emerging New York writer?", and "What's next for you?" Their answers are touching, unexpected, and quite entertaining. (One of my favorite answers is Sam Lipsyte's response to the question, "How do you feel about Philip Roth retiring?" He said, "I didn't know you could." Writing, like any other form of creative expression, is an impulse that never stops nagging at you and therefore must be heeded. If Roth can turn that valve off, then good on him.)

To see everyone who made Flavorwire's list of "New York's 100 Most Important Living Writers," go to THIS LINK.

* All of the above photographs are from the Flavorwire article.