Book Artists With a Backup Plan

I hope I won't be spoiling the surprise by announcing plans for the zine Book Artists With a Backup Plan, which is to be put into action by Katie Baldwin and myself--and some credit goes to Helen, as well, for incubating the idea. While packing up the last bits of Katie's house for a move, we were thinking of that gap between our training and the realities of the job market, and the backup plans we contemplate and enact when at a loss about how to put our skills to use in a way that will also pay the rent.

Katie mentions her undergrad senior class theme of, "would you like fries with that?"
I think of my successors at UArts and their plans for a book arts pin up calendar.
As for me, every time I'm at a loss I think about how many pastry chef jobs are on Craig's List. However, I can't seem to get anyone to hire me to bake cupcakes, so I guess it's back to teaching.

The zine is scheduled to coincide with the Hybrid Book Conference in Philadelphia in 2009. Watch for our call for entries, and in the meanwhile, be thinking about which back up plans you'd like to share.