I still lurk in the r/publishing reddit to worn people not to go into publishing because it's an absolutely terrible industry. Even in 2023 starting salary can be as low as 20k… average now seems to be around 40k for the 'better jobs.' But overall, only a few at the top make all the money and they always seem to have million dollar advances for shitty books that don't earn out their advances and yet they don't pay the people on the bottom a living wage to live in NYC or LA where the publishers are.
Earlier this year there was a strike at the only union in publishing, Harper, for something like a 5k raise.. which to me is a pathetic demand but that just shows you how beaten down the publishing mice are. They also kept telling supporters of the strike to continue buying books because 'we don't want the authors to suffer' which is just utter bullshit because you need to hurt these fuckers in their wallets. The average author can't live off their advances and royalties anyway. I know – I used to draft contracts for authors and boy if you don't have a good agent you're just fucked up the ass with a rusty nail.
Anyway… I worked in the industry for 10 years… with an ending salary of 49k which was considered high when I quit. I got that salary by job hopping a bit.
I was diagnosed PTSD and I was in therapy for a bit, just to cope with my shit boss plus shit pay.
I remember having a gaslighting boss at one of the major publishers. She would scream at me daily, in an open office floor plan. She once told me to use my vacation days to look for a new job and then when I got back from vacation she pulled me into a conference room by myself and closed the door. She stood between me and the exit and asked me if I used my vacation days to find a new job. I told her I wasn't obligated to tell her how I spent my vacation which sent her into a rage. She refused to let me leave until I answered her. I said, “no. I am staying right here.” and she mumbled, “we'll see about that!!!” and stormed out. She hated me for no reason.
She was clever because she never emailed or wrote down anything when talking to me. It was always verbal. But I got her even better because I had the recording app on my phone at the ready and would start it anytime this nasty human would get near me.
I had a friend at the same company who was also abused by her boss. I remember being in the elevator with my friend and her boss. Her boss refused to even acknowledge her or make eye contact.
After that job, I got a job at another big publisher and worked for an incompetent VP who at first seemed ok. I would flinch when he walked by my office because of the past abuse from my previous boss.
He turned out to be a parasitic gaslighting douche who used me to do all of his work and then when he felt threatened by me he started to nitpick shit that made no sense.. he even lied about me in an email that he stupidly CC'd me on. One time I had surgery and he didn't even tell me I had the right to paid leave. I had surgery on Thursday (used my sick days) and went back to work on Monday completely unaware I was entitled to up to 8 weeks paid leave at full pay.
When I had jury duty this prick expected me to work remotely from my phone or a laptop. I was on a jury, mind you. So I was away for about a month and he expected me to work. I didn't. Honestly, jury duty was a wonderful escape. I was sad when it ended.
Eventually this dude started tracking my bathroom and lunch breaks. Mind you – I always did my work. I outperformed him. Everyone in the building knew I was doing his work for him. It was an open secret that he was utterly incompetent. He always loved to talk about the women in the building and how they weren't good at their jobs (I later learned these women who were in the same role as him were far better at their jobs and would promote their reports.. unlike my boss who would suck us dry and make us quit).
I decided he cared more about butt in seat time so I'd just stare at my computer, study for another career, or pretend I was in the bathroom when I suspected he was checking on me just so I could spook him in the hallway.
I quit with 2 days notice and it was just glorious.
I started to network with other 'publishing escapees' and I hear similar horror stories. The women break down into tears when telling me about their experiences. All of this suffering for 'passion'. Going into publishing is a great way to hate books.
I am in an entirely different industry right now and extremely happy. Although I still hate how I am making someone else rich and I'm at their mercy if the stock price goes down and some C level suit decides a layoff is necessary to satisfy greedy shareholders.
It's not that we don't want to work. We don't want to be abused. We deserve empathy and respect.
/rant