Section 2: publishing
respondents
When we look at the results
of the questionnaire broken
down by those in the
publishing sector, we find
that 78% (231) are female.
The average age is slightly
lower than those across the
whole sector at 31 years. The
majority are London-based
Percentage
Section 3: bookselling
respondents
When looking at the responses
of those who classed
themselves as working within
bookselling, the male/female
ratio decreases, with 37.5%
male respondents and 62.5%
female. The average age is
also slightly higher than the
industry average at 38 years.
The majority (96%) class
themselves as white or white
British. This is higher than the
91% of respondents who say
they are white or white British
when the whole survey sample
is analysed.
When asked about location
THE BOOKSELLER SALARY AND BENEFITS SURVEY 2008: THE RESULTS
Q1 HOW MUCH ARE YOU PAID?
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Average salary: £26,577
(Sample: those in publishing)
Q1) Which best describes
where you work (booksellers
only)?
East 4%
Ireland 6%
London 19%
North-east 2%
North-west 4%
Oxford 2%
South-east 19%
South-west 8%
Midlands 17%
Scotland 4%
Wales 4%
Yorkshire and the Humber 4%
International 6%
(Sample: booksellers only)
Up to £20,000
£20,000 to £40,000
£40,000 to £60,000
(173 respondents), although
reflecting the fact that Oxford
has a strong publishing sector,
19% (58) give this as their
employment location.
Participants said that they
worked in a variety of roles
within publishing, with the
majority (126) working within
editorial, while 44 said they
worked in marketing and 29
gave their area of expertise as
More than £60,000
of work, the responses given
are much more varied than
those given by respondents
classing themselves as
working within the publishing
sector, as might be expected.
Of those who participated
and described their role as
being within the bookselling
sector, the majority were
branch booksellers (25%),
closely followed by owners
(23%). Other respondents
included: assistant manager
(8%), category/section
manager (6%), head office
buyer (6%) and senior
manager/director (4%).
As might also be expected, a
larger range of answers were
Q2) What is your
employment status
(booksellers only)?
Freelance 2%
Full-time 67%
Part-time 16.5%
Self-employed 12.5%
Temporary contract 2%
(Sample: booksellers only)
Q3) How would you rate
your level of pay?
I am thinking of leaving the
book industry for a better
salary 16.5%
I am reasonably well
paid 12.5%
Q2) How would you
rate your level of pay?
I am thinking of leaving
the book industry for a
better salary 16%
I am reasonably well
paid 15%
It’s low, but I am the
owner-manager and I
am trying to build the
business 2%
It’s low and I struggle to
pay my bills 24%
The overall package is
adequate 13%
The pay is not great,
but I love working
sales. Other areas included:
production, rights, publicity,
design, IT and HR.
Of those asked, 106 gave
their level of seniority as
“general”, while 29% said they
were part of a management
team, 25% were at assistant
level and five said they were
the owners of the business.
The majority of respondents
(140) say they are in the career
with books 30%
(Sample: those in
publishing)
Q3) How important is
pay when considering
changing jobs?
Factors such as ethos
and location are just as
important 33%
I’d move for more pay,
even if there were other
drawbacks 12%
Pay is a medium or low
priority compared with
other factors 10%
given to employment status
than in other sectors, with
17% describing their hours as
part-time and 12.5% describing
themselves as self-employed.
At 5.4 years, the average time
spent in their current role is
slightly higher for booksellers
than the average for those
across all industry sectors
(3.5 years).
Perhaps also as expected,
at £17,500 the average salary
for those working within
bookselling was lower than
those working in publishing
(£26,577) and librarianship
(£24,090). Despite this, the
majority appear to believe
that it is worth sacrificing
It’s low, but I am the ownermanager
and I am trying to
build the business 12.5%
It’s low and I struggle to
pay my bills 12.5%
The overall package is
adequate 4%
The pay is not great, but
I love working with books 42%
(Sample: booksellers only)
Q4) How important is pay
when considering changing
jobs?
Factors such as ethos and
location are just as
important 29%
they always wanted, although
the second most popular
answer as to why respondents
chose their current role was
that they “fell into it” (115).
At £26,577, the average level
of pay is slightly above the
average when all respondents
are taken into account
(£25,328), and most report
that they have had a pay rise in
the past year (69%).
Pay is by far the
most significant
consideration 5%
Promotion and new
challenges motivate
me as much as pay 39%
(Sample: those in
publishing)
Q4) Have you had a pay
rise in the past year?
No 28%
Yes 69%
(Sample: 289 of 298
respondents)
potentially higher earnings in
other industries because they
enjoy working with books. In
fact, of those asked, only 16%
say that they are considering
leaving the industry for better
pay, while 41% report that the
“pay is not great, but I love
working with books”. Fewer
respondents in the bookselling
industry report receiving
a pay rise in the past year
compared with other parts
of the industry—while 62.5%
of booksellers say that they
haven’t had a pay rise in the
past year, this compares with
39% of those in the library
sector and just 28% in the
publishing sector.
I’d move for more pay, even if
there were other drawbacks 8%
Pay is a medium or low
priority compared with
other factors 17%
Pay is by far the most significant
consideration 8%
Promotion and new challenges
motivate me as much as pay 29%
(Sample: booksellers only)
Q5) Have you had a pay rise
in the past year?
No 62.5%
Yes 35.5%
(Sample: answered by 37 of 48)
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