In an industry where 93% of the workforce holds college degrees, the average salary in publishing remains relatively meager compared to other professions, especially for women. According to PW’s annual salary survey, total compensation averaged $99,442 for men and $63,747 for women in 2006. The huge discrepancy is mainly because there are many more women on the editorial side of the business, while men dominate on the management side, where the highest-paying jobs are. (Seventy-four percent of editorial respondents were women, while 60% of those in management were men).

Indeed, if content is king, then the editors who help create it are being paid pauperly wages; no matter how you slice it, editorial spots tend to be the lowest-paying in publishing. Examples are everywhere: editors with less than three years in the business earn an average of $30,100, while newcomers in sales/marketing take home an average of $34,000, new managers earn $62,500 and operations employees make $40,350. Editorial personnel in the high-priced Mid-Atlantic region earn an average of $51,000, while management averages a much more respectable $140,000. Sales/marketing employees in the region average $69,000 and those in operations earn $60,000.

Given these figures, it’s not surprising that editorial employees were the least satisfied with their jobs (56% reported they were somewhat satisfied or not at all satisfied), and they overwhelmingly cited low pay (64%) as the primary reason. Managers, on the other hand, were the most satisfied with their positions, and only 48% complained about low salaries. Increased workload was a solid second choice among people’s complaints about their jobs, and the survey found employees worked one hour a week longer in 2006 than in 2005, averaging 48 hours per week last year. In response to a new survey question, 38% of employees said they did not use all of their vacation time in 2006, and only 19% received compensation for days not taken.

Another new question about professional development found that 36% of those surveyed took at least one training course over the last year. Nearly half of employees in operations reported taking a course in 2006, which makes sense given that 22% of operations employees said they felt unprepared for all the changes in technology. But technology is clearly publishing’s wave of the future, with 53% of survey respondents reporting that their company already offers digital products for sale and 10% expect to begin selling digital materials within the year. Seventy-nine percent of employees from educational publishers said their company already offers digital products, while only 42% of religious publishers do.

This edition of the salary survey yielded 1,770 useable responses, by far the largest ever. The number of responses permits the data to be analyzed in a variety of different categories. For example, while 77% of employees overall said they feel secure in their jobs, 87% of those at university presses said they feel secure while 75% of educational publishing employees believe they have job security. For the most part, it is people at the largest companies who believe layoffs are coming. At publishers with revenue over $500 million, 18% of respondents said they expect layoffs in 2007, while only 9% at companies with sales below $10 million expect job reductions. And it is the smaller companies that expect more staff to be added this year (35%), compared to only 15% of employees at the largest companies.

The higher number of responses also provides reliable data on specific job functions. There is a big difference, for instance, in the salary of a sales director compared to a marketing director working at a trade house. According to the survey, sales director salaries averaged $95,000, while a marketing director made $62,500. Sales reps at trade houses earned $70,000.

Despite the financial shortcomings of the industry, most employees—82%—would still recommend publishing as a career to college graduates.

To download the full results from this years Salary Survey, Click Here.

Audible
Don Katz, CEO $245,404 0 0 $245,404
Glenn Rogers, COO 225,000 0 0 225,000
No Audible executives received bonuses last year. In addition to his salary, Don Katz owns 881,089 Audible shares, 576,339 of which are issuable upon exercise of options.
Barnes & Noble
Steve Riggio, CEO 786,538 0 2,049,206 2,835,744
Marie Toulantis, CEO, B&N.com 636,538 1,000,000 1,309,603 2,946,141
Incentive bonuses for both Steve Riggio and Marie Toulantis consist of a combination of cash and stock. Toulantis received a $1 million cash retention bonus as part of her employment agreement following the purchase of B&N.com.
Books-A-Million
Sandy Cochran, Pres., CEO, SEC 430,000 0 385,000 815,000
Clyde Anderson, Chmn. 330,000 0 253,855 583,855
Sandy Cochran and Clyde Anderson received their incentive bonuses in cash.
Borders Group
George Jones, Pres., CEO 432,212 0 0 432,212
Ed Wilhelm, CFO 353,654 0 0 353,654
George Jones joined Borders July 17 and his 2006 salary reflects a base salary of $775,000. Former chairman Greg Josefowicz received a salary of $327,692 and a bonus of $568,000 last year.
Courier Corp.
Jim Conway, Chmn., Pres., CEO 458,500 358,797 0 817,297
George Nichols, SVP, Chmn., National Publishing 375,100 315,000 0 690,100
Total compensation for Jim Conway and George Nichols is for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2006, and represents a 35% increase over fiscal 2005 for Conway and a 7% increase for Nichols.
Educational Development Corp.
Randall White, Chmn., Pres., Treas. 150,000 22,000 0 172,000
Randall White is the only company officer whose total compensation exceeded $100,000 in the fiscal year ended Feb. 28, 2007. EDC had revenue of $34.4 million last year.
Pearson
John Makinson, Chmn. Penguin £490,000 £627,000 0 £1,326,000
In addition to salary and bonuses, John Makinson received £183,000 as a location and market premium in connection to overseeing Penguin USA. His total compensation of £1,326,000 ($2,519,400) also includes £26,000 in benefits.
Scholastic
Richard Robinson, Chmn., Pres., CEO 861,194 0 0 861,194
Lisa Holton, EVP, Pres., Book Fairs and Trade 600,000 75,300 0 675,300
Total compensation is for the year ended May 31, 2006. Lisa Holton received a $100,000 signing bonus when she joined the company in May 2005, just prior to the close of fiscal ’05. Richard Robinson earned a bonus of $419,905 in fiscal ’05.
John Wiley
Will Pesce, Pres., CEO 823,333 1,201,280 0 2,024,613
Stephen Kippur, EVP, Pres., Prof./Trade 436,667 462,334 0 899,001
Total compensation is for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2006. Will Pesce’s take-home pay rose 11% in the year and Stephen Kippur’s compensation increased 7%.