the tech industry has taken some hard falls recently, as i'm sure the media has drilled into your head, & the computer book industry wasn't exactly blooming before this recent downturn. so it was inevitable. the rumors had been flying for years, ever since we were bought by pearson (& they only bought us because the original buyers, hicks muse & tate, backed out of the deal at the last minute!). finally, we were downsized.

oops, i mean "right-sized" (which basically means that the way we were was apparently all wrong).

it started a month or 2 ago when we received an urgent email that there would be a mandatory meeting that very afternoon, & even the telecommuters were expected to come in to the office for it. right away i knew something was wrong, but i didn't really grasp until i was straining to hear them tell us over the air conditioning. i was out of a job.

they informed us that all proofreading, copyediting, & formatting positions were being eliminated. they were being replaced with an amalgam of most of the duties of all three, a content-owner extraordinaire who, with the help of project editors & freelance proofreaders, escorts a book from all the way from development through layout. we would be allowed to apply for that new job, but there were fewer positions than potential applicants.

i was never all that worried, to be honest, because i knew i was as good or better than most of the competition (call me cocky if you must; i'm only calling it as i see it), & even if i lost the job i wouldn't suddenly fall into debt or become homeless or anything. then again, you never know what could happen with these wacky bureaucracies.

in the end i never did quite understand why some people were picked & why others weren't. we managed to shake off some of the dead weight, but some of it still clings & a few talented people were shaken off in the process. it was a month of rock-bottom morale, topped off with some awkward goodbyes & the mixed blessing of learning you have a job while so-and-so whom you talk to every day has already gone home.

but that part's all over now, & we begin the awkward transition into this new job that has never existed before at this company, all of us learning or relearning new responsibilities. in effect, for me, it basically forced the company into giving me a promotion. i had applied to become a copyeditor years ago, but there had been an open position since. my new job title is "production editor". i get more money, & i get an office, with a real door! that door is quite the status symbol, you betcha. the best part is the location, way up in the ass of the building, right in a corner by the windows where you wouldn't even think there was an office unless you get up close enough to see it. so if i leave my door open i kind of have a window looking over the parking lot toward the interstate, & reflected in it i can see glimpses of the new riders interns working in their cubicles.

i wish i could find the time to decorate it. i only moved in yesterday!