Hi all
I’m really happy to start the new year writing about my heroes, book publicists. Any book PRs reading this are no doubt rolling their eyes by now, because they tend to get a lot of this – praise I mean, and rightly so. I started off in book PR but I couldn’t hack it, you have to have a head like an Excel spreadsheet, read everything, deal with (sometimes) lechy authors on endless book tours and put up with needy editors whining about lack of coverage, or the wrong kind of coverage, or the fact that one author is getting more action online or who got into which festival, or whether they got the wine for the launch . . . I’m tired just thinking about it.
Book publicists are usually extremely fun, and sometimes quite eccentric. But my favourite thing about them is that they tend to be pretty clear-sighted about the extent to which publishing is a game, and that you have to play it to win it. Editors like me tend to believe our own hype, publicists can’t afford to, they don’t have time. They also know the most about what’s actually going on and are often closer to the authors than anyone else. If Netflix ever do a series about publishing, the Peggy Olsen character should be a publicist.
Anyway, it’s cool my interviewee seemed to enjoy her time in publishing. Less cool that she had to leave because she couldn’t afford to stay in. The two experiences she describes as leading up to her decision to leave rang very true to my own short time in book PR. It’s kind of unbelievable that people on £22K per year were getting into short-term debt to pay company expenses, but I’m sure that’s not still happening, is it? You know where I am . . .
interview
How did you work in publishing and how much did you get paid?
I started working in publishing in 2012 and stuck with it for 5 years before leaving the industry entirely. My entry level salary at one of the main houses started at £22k, rising to about £27k by the time I left (if memory serves me correctly)! By all accounts, my starting salary was higher than most at the time because I'd come from a brief stint in another industry where the entry salaries were marginally higher. Interestingly when I was first hired, my manager said that entry salaries hadn't changed much since she started out (10+ years previously).
Tell us a bit about what your job entailed.
I worked in comms for the entirety of that time. I was responsible for creating and executing PR and marketing campaigns for authors – including organising book tours and the festival circuit. The actual job was a lot of fun. I worked with amazingly intelligent and creative people. For a long time, it really did seem like a dream job. As part of a comms team, I enjoyed some of the perks of publishing that other departments perhaps missed out on – the events I attended, the creative work I delivered, the people I met. I still think back to those days fondly, but unfortunately, I had to accept that it wasn't a financially sustainable career choice for me.
How do you feel about the amount of money you earn?
At first, it felt like I was in line with my friends/ peers in other industries, but the gap quickly started to widen. And every pay rise I received was preceded by a long and hard battle. There were always new objections or loopholes to contest whenever your salary was reviewed. A common objection was that your salary was the top of the band for your job level – although no one ever saw the salary bands and if you were persistent enough you could negotiate a little more. Going through this process every time you were promoted made the whole experience pretty joyless.
The other incredibly frustrating part about working in the comms team is the expenses you're expected to be responsible for on your personal card. For some reason there was a real reluctance to supply company cards. I'm not sure if this is still the case but I'd often be expected to pay for hotels, transport, dinners etc for myself and an author on my personal card whilst on the road. There was never any real urgency to get this back to you, so you'd often be hundreds of pounds out of pocket at a time. I actually took out my first credit card for this reason.
I really did love the job and saw the pay as the 'fly in the ointment' for a long time. But of course, it became more frustrating as time went on. Looking back, there were 2 events that were the 'aha' moments for me.
The first was the discovery of a document with everyone's salaries. There was a huge difference between men and women's salaries. I worked with amazingly talented male colleagues who definitely deserved to be paid well, but the (equally talented) women were left behind financially. The frustrating part was how much more visibility men (in all departments) seemed to have in the business. My (completely unproven/ speculative) theory is that perhaps it was easier to agree pay rises for men because on a very simple level, the people higher up who were making the decision knew who they were!
The second 'aha moment' was after a launch. A crowd of guests had ended up at a hotel bar nearby for drinks afterwards. The bartender announced that the bar was going to close for non-hotel guests, and so someone on the senior team bought a couple of rooms so the drinks could continue. Witnessing frivolous spending after a long and emotionally taxing battle for a minimal pay rise made it really hard to feel motivated.
Do you own property?
In a financial sense, the grass really was greener on the other side. I left publishing with £2k of debt on my credit card (which I'd spent mostly on rent and living expenses in London). Within 12 months, my salary had increased by £9k. In the years since, I've been able to save up a deposit and buy a flat with my partner. I don't know how I would have done this in publishing.
Do you have a pension?
The pension I had whilst in publishing was pretty decent - especially in a time before auto-enrolment when it wasn't guaranteed. I've mostly worked in small organisations since leaving the industry so the pension I have now is less generous. There are big financial advantages to working for a large organisation that smaller companies just can't compete with. The pension, maternity pay, and healthcare cover - these were all more generous when I worked for a big publishing house. But my monthly salary is far higher now than it would have been if I'd stuck around.
Have you made financial sacrifices for working in books? Do you think it’s been worth it?
Working in books definitely had an impact on my lifestyle. But I was at the start of my career so it wasn't as noticeable. I think if I was still working in books now, in my mid-thirties, I would feel very differently. The people I met, the things I learned, the fun I had - it was definitely worth it for those few years.
In a sense, the sacrifice I made is the other way round. I left a job and industry that I liked because it wasn't financially sustainable. Has that been worth it? Yes. Both in a financial sense and in a learning and development sense. I've built up far more technical skills outside of publishing that make me more employable for the future of work.
What would you change about the industry, to make it fairer, if you had the power to do so?
So many things! To start with, there is so much inequality when it comes to access to the industry. I went down the usual path of unpaid work experience in the summer before I graduated. I was hugely privileged to be able to easily commute from my parents' house into central London which made it much easier for me. But my travel costs were still £100/week as a student, plus the earnings I would have made from my summer job. Those internships made a difference when I started applying for jobs in the industry, but the costs were just about possible. If I'd had to commute from further away or pay for accommodation it would have been unachievable.
Salary transparency is another thing that would make it fairer. Being really clear about the bands for certain roles and making that knowledge public. And reporting on the pay gap based on gender and ethnicity. If you're not measuring it, you can't improve it!
This is just the tip of the iceberg though!
Do you think money is wisely spent and invested in the business?
From my experience in a comms department, no. Looking back, some of the budgets to promote certain books were astronomically high. And there was never really any meaningful tracking to analyse which tactics led to book sales. Although I would hope that things have improved in the years since I've left.
Any other comments?
It's always good to end on a positive. One thing I didn't appreciate enough at the time was how great the work/life balance was in publishing. Working in comms there were evening and weekend events, but it was a rare occasion that you'd see people at their desks past 6pm. I've never experienced that anywhere else I've worked since and it is hugely valuable.
Big thanks to our interviewee as ever.
Going forward
My New Years Resolution is to publish an In the Read interview every Tuesday afternoon. Let’s see how long I can stick to it! If you’d like to participate, email alwaysintheread@gmail.com and if you’d like to support me, you can do so here.
Links
A short story I published recently with the great Banshee Press is now online, you can have a read if you like, it is here