Your Guide to Industry Salaries

About the Respondents

The survey results are based on responses from 406 executives.

Number of respondents from companies with 2008 revenues of:
• Less than $5 million: 147
• $5–$19.9 million: 69
• $20 million or more: 119

Number of respondents at companies with the following number of full-time employees:
• 1-9: 73
• 10-99: 131
• 100-999: 99
• 1,000+: 55

Number of respondents from each geographic location:
• Northeast: 132
• Midwest: 92
• South: 79
• West: 53

Percent of respondents from various types of publishing companies:
• Trade: 55%
• Educational: 42%
• University press: 18%
• Association, government or museum: 16%
• STM: 16%
• Religious: 14%
• Custom/special interest: 14%
• Other: 5%

Number of respondents in various age groups:
• Under 40: 86
• 40–54: 162
• 55+: 110

An old proverb states: “It will not always be summer”—in other words, be prepared for bad weather or bad times. Economically speaking, it is certainly not summer, and the book publishing industry has been no exception to those affected by the recession. The bottom line: If you didn’t get a raise this year, you’re not alone.
More than half the industry either received no raises (36 percent) or took pay cuts (15 percent) this year, according to Book Business’ third-annual “Book Industry Salary Study,” which reviews compensation trends at U.S. book publishing companies. Less than half (48 percent) of book publishing executives received an increase in their compensation this year over last year.

Last year, more than two-thirds of the industry had received pay increases, while few took cuts (4 percent).

Bonuses also declined this year, with 43 percent of respondents indicating they received a bonus this year versus 50 percent last year. There was little difference, however, in the size of bonuses this year (see the chart below) compared to last year.

For the third year in a row (as long as Book Business has been conducting the salary study), men are earning more than women—on average, $26,400 more. Men report an average total compensation (including bonuses) of $98,300, while the average for women is $71,900.

That statistic shows a slight change over last year, when men reported an average compensation of $100,800, while women made an average of $70,700 (or a difference of $30,100).

As for base salary (excluding bonuses), men reported earning an average of $22,600 more than women.

Study results are based on the responses of 194 women and 163 men.

Educational Publishing Pays the Most
According to the study, executives in educational publishing report the highest average total compensation ($92,800). Close behind are executives in scientific, technical and medical (STM) publishing—who report an average of $91,400 in total compensation. The third-highest-paying segment may come as a bit of a surprise, with nonprofit careers typically being known as lower-paying: Association, government and museum publishing executives report an average of $85,500 in total compensation.

Survey Methodology

The invitation to participate in the 2009 “Book Industry Salary Study” was sent by e-mail to recipients of Book Business who are classified as book publishing, directory publishing, corporate publishing department, association/society/nonprofit, university press, journal publishing or government publishing with e-mail addresses on file, as well as to subscribers of Book Business Extra, Book Business’ biweekly e-newsletter.

Data was collected via electronic mail survey from April 27 to May 11, 2009. The survey was closed for tabulation with 406 usable responses. As with any research, the results should be interpreted with the potential of non-response bias in mind. It is unknown how those who responded to the survey may be different from those who did not respond. In general, the higher the response rate, the lower the probability of estimation errors due to non-response, and thus, the more stable the results.

The margin of error for percentages based on 406 usable responses is ±4.8 percent at the 95-percent confidence level.That is, 95 percent of the time, Readex Research can be confident that percentages in the actual population would not vary by more than this in either direction. The margin of error for percentages based on smaller sample sizes will be larger.