Publishers Weekly has unveiled results of a salary and jobs survey of publishing industry employees, the first such survey since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020.

Median compensation for all respondents was $72,500 in 2021, up from $67,300 in 2020. Of 577 total responses, 60% came from staff at trade book publishers.

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“Pay was up modestly since our last survey in 2019, but it is fair to say that publishing remains a very low-paying industry, as it has really always been,” notes Andrew AlbanesePW senior writer.

The gender makeup of respondents remained overwhelming female, at 77%. White employees made up 83% of all respondents, down one percentage point from 2019, according to PW.

“We have seen advances in diversity for published title, but in the publishing workplace, change is coming more slowly,” Albanese tells me.

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Author: Christopher Kenneally

Christopher Kenneally hosts CCC's Velocity of Content podcast series, which debuted in 2006 and is the longest continuously running podcast covering the publishing industry. As CCC's Senior Director, Marketing, he is responsible for organizing and hosting programs that address the business needs of all stakeholders in publishing and research. His reporting has appeared in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, The Independent (London), WBUR-FM, NPR, and WGBH-TV.
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