{"id":3242,"date":"2020-04-07T16:03:13","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T05:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/?p=3242"},"modified":"2020-04-07T16:03:13","modified_gmt":"2020-04-07T05:33:13","slug":"publishing-coronavirus-wakefield-diary-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/2020\/04\/publishing-coronavirus-wakefield-diary-7\/","title":{"rendered":"PUBLISHING IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS: Jesse Pollard on silence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"publishing<\/a><\/p>\n

The next entry into our staff diary series on working in publishing in the time of coronavirus features\u00a0junior typesetter\u00a0Jesse Pollard, talking about the technicalities of typesetting and the value of silence.<\/strong><\/h1>\n

<\/p>\n

When I studied literature at university, one of my tutors posed the question of how exactly\"Jesse<\/a> we define a book. The next picture he used in his presentation was that of a household mop. Although the actual topic of debate was about how books have moved to digital platforms, I\u2019m still disappointed whenever I discover we have yet to translate Shakespeare\u2019s works onto the fibres of household utilities.<\/span><\/p>\n

My job at Wakefield Press is difficult to talk about, because there\u2019s no easy way to sum up what I do. When someone asks me what it is I work as, I always say \u2018I design books\u2019. Sorry Liz (who is our actual designer)<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, I have a confession. I typeset, not design. When I tell people that I typeset,\u00a0and they ask what typesetting is<\/em>,\u00a0the details are so mundane that I say \u2018I design books\u2019. Again, sorry, Liz.<\/span><\/p>\n

In actuality, I\u2019d say my job is to get the technical details of a book ready. I make the measurements for the book so that when it gets made and sent off, it\u2019s not a horribly mismatched mess of miscalculations. I juggle everything from the body of the text to how large in scale the pictures are on the page,\u00a0so that they all fit neatly on each and every single page. Have you ever read a book where the text was being swallowed up by the spine? I make sure that doesn\u2019t happen.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

But in this horrendously chaotic time, in which toilet paper seems to be well on its way to replacing currencies around the world and with our prime platform for forum forcibly shifting to the digital landscape, it has become increasingly apparent that the traditional sense of unity has been disbanded for now. Now, more than ever, working at Wakefield Press has taught me that a valuable privilege not often afforded is a voice and a chance.<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Before joining Wakefield Press in 2019, I used to volunteer at my local library every Friday, doing just a little bit of everything. I would\u2019ve carted a trolley back and forth between the sorting room and the shelves and the racks, slotting the books back where they belong \u2013 including the small, red-labelled \u2018romance\u2019 paperbacks a lot of people don\u2019t like being caught with (you know the ones I mean). On some weekends, I\u2019d stick around from nine in the morning until three in the afternoon helping the staff with community events.<\/span><\/p>\n

Eventually, I ran out of time and effort to continue with volunteering. Although I enjoyed my time there, sometimes through casual conversation outside of its walls, if I was asked when I\u2019d go to the library or told to go and help them by anyone other than the staff, my strength of will would throw its hands up, decry any attempts to muster any sort of willpower, and let all the energy I had to simply run loose.<\/span><\/p>\n

It seemed like an innocent enough response: \u2018don\u2019t tell me what to do, because then I won\u2019t want to do it\u2019. But that was when leaving the house wasn\u2019t a taboo can of worms, when a physical presence didn\u2019t make people nervous. Recently I received a call from the new team manager, to notify me that the library would be closed until just after the Easter weekend \u2013 no doubt due to the virus.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

But as someone who grew up being what you might call an \u2018introvert\u2019 and a \u2018dork\u2019, I can tell you now that just because your weekend might look<\/i> a bit more boring, that doesn\u2019t mean it has to be. <\/span><\/h1>\n<\/blockquote>\n

My time volunteering at my local library and working at Wakefield Press has taught me the value of a single thought born in silence, that words can resonate stronger if the people reading the words put in front of them are the same to have that silent voice in their heads. In a profoundly quiet way, you are not alone in these trying times.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, as I try to write this blog entry, I\u2019d like to put to you a challenge. Write your own diaries. Record your own thoughts each day. Whether or not you share them is at your discretion (although I will say it\u2019d make me happy if you did \u2013 even if it\u2019s just with us), but the power of the typed word, now more than ever, has the ability to shape the course of socialisation, for months \u2013 even years \u2013 to come.<\/span><\/p>\n

Support Wakefield Press by buying our beautiful books!\u00a0 Visit our website<\/a> or contact us on 08 8352 4455 for more information, or to purchase a book (or three!). We can post your purchase to your doorstep!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The next entry into our staff diary series on working in publishing in the time of coronavirus features\u00a0junior typesetter\u00a0Jesse Pollard, talking about the technicalities of typesetting and the value of silence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[553,792,879],"tags":[884,881,882,883],"class_list":["post-3242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adelaide","category-australian","category-publishing-in-the-time-of-coronavirus","tag-buy-books","tag-coronavirus","tag-publishing-in-the-time-of-cornavirus","tag-support-publishers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4v1Of-Qi","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3242"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3416,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3242\/revisions\/3416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wakefieldpress.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}