| Site Map | | Photos | | About Us | | Links | |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Brian leaves Xlibris for
E-Publishing job at Kluwer Academic
There are milestones in your life that you will never forget. On April 20, 2001 I had one: I left my first real job. I always knew that it would one day happen, but I always thought it would be at least another few years down the road. I had visions of working my way through a successful internet start-up, learning the ins and outs of that particularly difficult venture, and leaving a seasoned veteran, ready to take on my next career building challenge.
Well, life doesn't always work that way.
Leaving a company that you started with, a company that you saw grow from four people in a basement office in Trenton to a 115 person organization occupying the 11th floor of 12 floor building... it's a tough thing. But given the chance, it would be my honor to do it all again.
I walked into the office of my boss, John Feldcamp the CEO, and before my behind had fully flattened the chair cushion he looked at me and stated, "You're moving on."
"Am I that transparent?"
"Call it intuition."
I had never had an easier break up in my life. And I didn't know how to feel about that.
In some ways, I couldn't believe that I was actually doing it. Xlibris was all I had ever known. I loved Xlibris. I was the only Xlibrian remaining from the original team. I had outlasted everyone else, I won Xlibris 'Survivor', and my prize was to walk around the office and see the faces of people whose names I didn't know and, worse, didn't care to find out. And I knew it was time to go.
Kluwer Academic is an established publisher of high quality academic books and journals. In some ways, they are the exact opposite of where I had just spent three years of my life. They built their reputation on rigorous selection of the best writings, and Xlibris' mission in life was to publish everyone. Kluwer had barely any web functionality while all the critical systems of Xlibris were online. Kluwer large, Xlibris small. Kluwer international, Xlibris not. (Hey, we tried.)
Part of me looked around the Kluwer office and wondered, "What the hell am I doing here?" But I was happy with myself for the answer: I'm helping a traditional company go digital using the invaluable experience from my e-publishing background. And that I can live with.
To me, it was important getting up every morning and believing that I was going to work to do something noble. And I still believe that. And that gets me out of bed in the morning.
One day I'll leave Kluwer as well, and I can only hope when that time comes my boss will say, "You're moving on," before my ass even hits the chair, and I will. Be moving on.
Leaving Xlibris was like going through graduation again. I walked around, knowing I wouldn't be seeing most of the people again. I was sad. I was happy. I wrote a poetic farewell email, and I left proud of what I had accomplished.
I hope it's always that way.
