THE BOOKSELLER SALARY AND BENEFITS SURVEY 2008
For the love of books, not cash
It is generally accepted that working in publishing, bookselling or libraries is unlikely to make you rich.
Victoria Arnstein introduces The Bookseller Salary & Benefits Survey 2008, and asks employment experts
about the risks and rewards of working with books
Few things ignite people’s passions
more than the issue of pay and benefits
and how much—or how little—
they earn for the hard work they put
in. While it is wrong to say that all
publishing, bookselling and library
sector roles pay badly, it is generally
accepted that the industry as a whole
does not pay as well as others.
To find out more about pay and
benefits in the sector, The Bookseller
conducted an online survey, the
results of which are shown over the
following six pages. We also asked
representatives from the industry
about our results and whether the
findings tally with their experiences.
A woman’s world
On a recent blog at www.thebook
seller.com, Bloomsbury boss Richard
Charkin referred to people in
the industry as “privately educated
Emmas”. The findings of our survey
do suggest that the industry is heavily
populated by women. Of the 411
respondents, 24% were male and 76%
were female. The average age was
33 years, and the majority described
their ethnicity as white (29%) or
white British (62%).
Emma Djonokusumo, senior consultant
at recruitment consultant JFL
Search & Selection, was not particularly
surprised by this. “The people
who come through the door here
are, in the majority, female graduates,”
she says. Donald Greig, m.d. of
travel publisher Bradt, agrees that he
has seen an influx of young women
in recent years, particularly on the
editorial side. “I’ve worked in many
[publishing] companies and there
has been a good mixture of ages and
men and women. Recently, however,
when recruiting on the editorial side,
the vast majority of applicants have
been young female graduates.”
The survey found it was not just
publishing where the majority of
respondents were female—the same
was also true in bookselling and
the library sector. Michael Martin,
adviser, qualifications and professional
development at the professional
body CILIP (the Chartered Institute
of Library & Information Professionals),
says that 85% of its membership
is female. He believes this is probably
because many library positions
are traditionally part-time, enabling
women to fit in childcare alongside
work. The organisation has been looking
at ways to increase the number
of ethnic minority employees in the
industry through an initiative called
Compass, while Claire Thomas, senior
HR and development manager at
Penguin, says the publisher has also
introduced diversity initiatives. “We
are about 76% female here,” she says.
It is generally accepted that unless
you are high up within the industry,
working as a salaried employee in
the publishing, bookselling or library
sector isn’t likely to make you overly
rich. Our survey suggests that there
is a general acceptance that pay is
never going to be enormously high,
but that this is a sacrifice worth making.
“I think for anyone working in
the book publishing industry, it is
not just about the money,” Thomas
says. “There is a conscious decision
to come and work with books.”
Penguin tries to keep in the “upper
quartile” in terms of salaries, she
says. “It is important that we pay a
fair and decent salary, especially for
entry level—ours is about £18,750 at
the moment, and we review that and
make sure it is possible for people to
live and work in central London.” One
thing our survey did not gauge, but
which can be a major factor in attracting
candidates, is the reputation of the
business. Thomas adds that, in her
experience, development opportunities
are also important in determining
“whether people stay or go”.
Djonokusumo agrees that brand
reputation is a massive influence
when it comes to attracting applicants.
“I have had interviews [with
candidates] where they say: ‘I have
Random House on my CV and HarperCollins,
so I need Penguin.’ ” She
adds that lack of career progression,
rather than pay or benefits, is a major
cause of people leaving their jobs.
A life in literature
Roger Parks, HR and training manager
at London bookseller Foyles,
agrees that for those working within
the world of books it is rarely
all about the money. “I think it is
a lifestyle choice, and people do
it because they find it interesting
and they like the fact that they are
working with like-minded people.
For those at an earlier stage in their
career, it is often something they
find interesting to do for a period
of time while they think about what
they would like to do longer term,
while for other people it is work
that they love and they like being
part of the whole world of literature
and ideas.”
The survey found that the average
bookseller pay is £17,500, but
Parks thinks that, in reality, it could
be lower. “Average pay is, I suspect,
more like £13,000 to £14,000.”
While Parks declined to reveal
the average salary at Foyles, he says
he likes to keep an eye on the package
being offered at competitors to
ensure that it is in line. “The slight
distortion with us is that [nearly] all
of our staff are working in London
and are on central London rates. Our
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