Xlibris Names Senior Executives

Calvin Reid |

Aug 21, 2000

News
Xlibris Names Senior Executives Calvin Reid -- 8/21/00 *Management team includes veterans of both the book publishing and technology industries.* Xlibris, an online writers and print-on-demand publishing services Web site, announced the members of its senior management team, which includes veterans of both the book publishing and technology industries. Xlibris CEO Jon Feldcamp told PW that the new appointments represent an effort to "balance the team with a mix of skills, big company expertise, classical marketing experience and technology. We wanted young, aggressive, entrepreneurial types in IT and in finance to build a full online publishing environment." In April, Random House Ventures, RH's electronic initiatives unit, took a 49% stake in Xlibris, which is based in Philadelphia. Feldcamp was still smarting a bit over a joking comment he made to a reporter for the Industry Standard that "only eight people in the country are buying e-books and they're all the CEOs of e-book companies." Xlibris, of course, specializes in print-on-demand paper books. Wired News reporter and e-book author M.J. Rose used the comment as the basis for an article surveying e-publishers that found, unsurprisingly, that tens of thousands of people are downloading e-books. Feldcamp said, "It was a joke--I believe in e-books, but I'm a little tired of all the hype." The following have joined management at Xlibris. Markus Malik has been named chief strategy officer, in charge of directing business and technology strategies. He was most recently chief information officer at Penguin Putnam, where he developed corporate strategies for the Internet and e-commerce. Roland LaPlante was named senior v-p and chief marketing officer earlier this year. He was formerly v-p of product management and marketing in the construction information group of the McGraw-Hill Companies. Emily Heckman was appointed v-p of marketing alliances and works as a liaison between Xlibris and the traditional publishing industry. She was most recently executive editor at Pocket Books, where she acquired fiction hardcovers and paperbacks for all the Pocket imprints. Richard Rubin has been named v-p of production, directing the processing of manuscripts submitted to Xlibris into digital book files. He was formerly with Matthew Bender/ Lexis Publishing. Reginald Branham has been named v-p of information technology and development. He was previously with CustomAuto.com and is a founder of New Media Associates, an Internet marketing firm, and Cyberlock Data Intelligence, a network technology firm. Thomas Grech was appointed v-p of operations. He was previously v-p of sales and marketing at Merrill Corp.

News

Xlibris Names Senior Executives
Calvin Reid -- 8/21/00
Management team includes veterans of both the book publishing and technology industries.

Xlibris, an online writers and print-on-demand publishing services Web site, announced the members of its senior management team, which includes veterans of both the book publishing and technology industries.

Xlibris CEO Jon Feldcamp told PW that the new appointments represent an effort to "balance the team with a mix of skills, big company expertise, classical marketing experience and technology. We wanted young, aggressive, entrepreneurial types in IT and in finance to build a full online publishing environment." In April, Random House Ventures, RH's electronic initiatives unit, took a 49% stake in Xlibris, which is based in Philadelphia.

Feldcamp was still smarting a bit over a joking comment he made to a reporter for the Industry Standard that "only eight people in the country are buying e-books and they're all the CEOs of e-book companies." Xlibris, of course, specializes in print-on-demand paper books. Wired News reporter and e-book author M.J. Rose used the comment as the basis for an article surveying e-publishers that found, unsurprisingly, that tens of thousands of people are downloading e-books. Feldcamp said, "It was a joke--I believe in e-books, but I'm a little tired of all the hype."

The following have joined management at Xlibris. Markus Malik has been named chief strategy officer, in charge of directing business and technology strategies. He was most recently chief information officer at Penguin Putnam, where he developed corporate strategies for the Internet and e-commerce.

Roland LaPlante was named senior v-p and chief marketing officer earlier this year. He was formerly v-p of product management and marketing in the construction information group of the McGraw-Hill Companies.

Emily Heckman was appointed v-p of marketing alliances and works as a liaison between Xlibris and the traditional publishing industry. She was most recently executive editor at Pocket Books, where she acquired fiction hardcovers and paperbacks for all the Pocket imprints.

Richard Rubin has been named v-p of production, directing the processing of manuscripts submitted to Xlibris into digital book files. He was formerly with Matthew Bender/ Lexis Publishing.

Reginald Branham has been named v-p of information technology and development. He was previously with CustomAuto.com and is a founder of New Media Associates, an Internet marketing firm, and Cyberlock Data Intelligence, a network technology firm.

Thomas Grech was appointed v-p of operations. He was previously v-p of sales and marketing at Merrill Corp.

A version of this article appeared in the 08/21/2000 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline: