In Conversation with Julia Jackson
Julia is an independent art historian and provenance researcher; Bookseller; Arts and culture nerd has now been working at Readings for nearly two decades.
How did you become the Assistant Manager at Readings in Carlton. – was it by accident or design?
I started at Readings in 2007 when I moved to Melbourne for a degree at Melb Uni. I had already had 5 years of bookselling under my belt by then, including supervisory roles. When a colleague decided to relocate to Sydney (he’s still in the book trade too), I applied for his job as Night Manager, and then worked up from there.
What did you study in order to be able to do this role?
Hm, there’s not really a degree / course for bookselling. They tend to focus on the publishing / editing aspects. Booksellers are passionate about books and reading, and love nothing more than talking to people about books. That’s why I became a bookseller.
What has been your favourite book you have taken on to sell in the store ( apart from mine ) hahaha
I love reading crime and espionage fiction. You can usually find me thrusting a copy of Slow Horses into someone’s hands, or even the latest Michael Robotham. I also enjoy history and politics books, and nature writing. In my younger days I could demolish 3 or 4 books per week, but bookselling is quite physical and tiring so I don’t read as intensely these days.
How has the digital age of kindles and online publishing, affected people reading hard cover books
Oscar Wilde is famous for many quotes but one concerns the advent of the escalator. People thought that once escalators were developed stairs would become obsolete. That’s how I think about ebooks vs the physical object. There was a great fuss about ebooks replacing their physical counterparts but this hasn’t happened at all. During lockdown we heard lots of anecdotes about people rediscovering bound books to divert from spending so much time in front of the screen.
If you could change something about selling books what would it be?
Hm. Perhaps some sort of special gloves to prevent papercuts?
What do you think the future holds for book publishing and retail book stores?
I’d love to see the Australian book industry continue to be a tour de force in this country and champion local voices
I’d love to see the Australian book industry continue to be a tour de force in this country and champion local voices
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