Well, this has been a crazy week so far. I figure I'd better tell you all now because you'll all hear about it anyway... For those of you who don't know, Random House got a new CEO a few months ago and he seems obsessed with the bottom line, and in the middle of a recession mandated that every division add 20 million to their usual profits by the end of the year. Or something crazy like that, reports vary. So unfortunately Doubleday, and I suspect a lot of the other divisions, have been mandated to lose 10% of people right off the top.
So yes, I was in that 10%. The compliment the company gave me by creating a brand new position for me when I became a new cover Art Director unfortunately had to be the first to go. They'll be cutting down on paperbacks entirely, I suspect, which is backward thinking to me, as people will be buying more paperbacks when times are financially tough, and they are cheaper to make, but I have learned these kinds of decisions don't seem to follow any kind of logic I can discern. So as of Monday, 2pm-ish I got laid off with 15 other people. Friday's my last day at Doubleday.
That said, they were very nice to me, my boss feels horrible and I suspect the publisher must too, because I got a very decent severance package. Between that, and Ryan's job, and the freelance I can start pumping out now that I'd have free time, we should be fine. Although if anyone has a friend who needs a logo, feel free to send him my way. Or a really sweet design job.
Also, I have an interview thursday at another publisher already. (I work fast, what can I say) Everybody cross their fingers on that one because it seems like an awesome gig. Hopefully this will turn out to be a big blessing in a big pink disguise. Ok, no there was no actual PINK slip - it was more of a manilla envelope. But still.
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