A hat tip to Jonathan Lyons of the Lyons Literary Agency for pointing out this somewhat amusing, yet sobering industry survey.
http://www.publishingtrends.com/Survey.html
Some intriguing facts come to light here, most of which could be told to you by anyone who works within this illustrious industry. The majority of the workforce is split up into the editorial departments and literary agencies, which is understandable considering those are the two areas that work the closest with the authors and manuscripts.
64.8% of all publishing employees live in NYC. I am somewhere in the decimal point, if you squint enough.
Publishing also proves to be one of the most social industries around, one of the most unpredictable, and, of course, the worst compensated as far as pay goes. I’m glad that the survey does note that the unexpected successes and breakthroughs can make all the toil and trouble worth it. Seeing a tiny book suddenly blast into bestsellerdom despite all expectations can send people waltzing through the offices. Plus there’s working with other literary-minded folks, the creative atmosphere and, as it says 63% of respondents listed, the intellectual challenge. (and free books! hooyah!)
Ahem. Anyways, I thought this might prove interesting, even for anyone already hiding out in the cubicle maze and shuffling lots and lots of manuscript papers. Sometimes it’s good to see how other people really feel about their jobs.
How do you feel about yours?
I see that smile.