A guide to average publishing salaries in the UK

If you’re interested in why people read the books they do or are passionate about sharing stories or information, the publishing sector may be for you.

Publishing refers to the creation, distribution, and sale of printed (and sometimes digital) reading materials, such as magazines, newspapers, journals, and books. Within the industry, there is a variety in roles.

In this piece, we'll dive into the average salaries for publishing jobs in the UK, including:

• Publisher
• Publishing sales representative
• Editorial team member
• Designer
• Publicity and marketing professional

We’ll also cover how salaries differ in specific publishing verticals.

A publisher is the person who prepares books and journals for sale.

Their job is varied and involves all stages of publishing. If you want to be a publisher, expect to read manuscripts, give feedback on ideas and plan release campaigns. Part of your role will also involve building relationships with authors. You’ll need to view the bigger picture, so it’s about seeing how all the pieces fit together rather than focusing on one book at a time (as an editor might).

Sometimes the term publisher is also used to refer to the publishing company or house that publishes books. So, “the publisher” is sometimes everyone in a publishing team. As a job title for an individual, it’s a role that requires someone who’s great at working across departments to get the best results.

How much does a publisher earn?

The average salary of a publisher ranges from £25,000 to £47,500. How much you could earn as a publisher will depend on the company you work for, your experience and your location.

Typically, you’ll earn the most if you’re working for a large publishing house in London with several years of experience under your belt. If you’re a junior publisher at a small firm outside of London, expect a smaller publisher salary.

Publishing sales representatives sell books. They’re the people who pitch books to chain retailers and individual stores. Like any sales rep, it’s their job to sell their employer’s products.

A publishing sales representative is a different role from a bookseller. While publishing sales reps sell books from their publishing company, booksellers buy from publishing companies and then sell the books to the public. So, booksellers are publishing sales reps’ customers.

How much does a publishing sales representative earn?

How much a publishing sales rep earns will depend on several factors including the scale of the business they work for, their seniority and experience. However, on average, a publishing sales representative is likely to have a salary of between £22,000 and £43,000.

Those who progress to become publishing sales managers will usually earn more, potentially up to £57,000. However, it depends on the company and location. Roles located in London are generally higher paying.

In the publishing industry, the editorial team includes everyone who commissions, edits and oversees what’s being published.

Roles range in seniority from editorial assistants to director, with the publisher then managing everything at an even higher level.

If you were to begin your publishing career as an editorial assistant, expect a lot of reading, collaborating with creatives, copyediting, consulting with the marketing team and updating spreadsheets. It’s a varied role with lots of opportunities to grow your skills.

The next step would usually be to become an assistant editor, where you’ll assist the editor (as your title suggests). Your day-to-day tasks will likely be a mix of admin, department coordination, proofreading, fact-checking and communicating with authors.

As you progress throughout the editorial team, you could go on to become an editor, commissioning editor, senior editor or editorial director. Each role comes with more responsibilities and (usually) a salary increase. Typically, you’ll work on more of the bigger picture (ie. managing your roster of book titles) and less of the finer details (ie. typos in a first draft) as you progress. Every role in the editorial team is essential, though, as the most senior editors rely on the accuracy of their junior colleagues.

How much does someone in an editorial team earn?

How much an editorial team member earns depends on their role, employer and location. Usually, the most senior members of the team (such as editorial directors) will have the highest salaries, while the entry-level position of editorial assistant will pay the least.

As a rough guide, the average salary for an editorial assistant is between £22,000 (when new to the role) and £30,000 (once experienced).

Moving up to an assistant editor would usually see a modest salary increase, with assistant editors typically paid between £24,000 and £34,000.

Senior editors earn an average of between £35,000 to £47,000, with the potential to earn more in larger publishing houses. So, if you progress in the editorial team, you’ll usually unlock a higher salary.

In publishing, designers and illustrators are responsible for creating the artwork in books and related materials.

While many people say to never judge a book by its cover, publishing houses know the importance of an eye-catching design, and that’s where designers come in.

Within each design team, there is usually a hierarchy.

In most cases, junior designers or design assistants will produce ideas that fit briefs set by senior staff or clients, create mood boards and edit new variations of past product designs.

The more senior designers will typically be the ones who set the briefs, illustrate original ideas and establish the guidelines that everyone needs to follow.

How much does a designer earn?

How much a designer will earn in the publishing industry will depend on who they work for, where they work, their seniority and experience.

On average, a junior designer or assistant’s salary will likely sit somewhere between £22,000 and £28,000.

Once you’ve got several years of experience, you could apply for roles as a designer. A designer’s salary typically ranges from £28,000 to £42,000. Smaller firms may pay less, while bigger publishing firms may offer higher salaries.

If you get to work for well-known authors as a book designer, your salary may jump up as you’ll build a name for yourself in the industry.

Within a publishing firm, the publicity and marketing team are responsible for promoting their publications (ie. books, journals, magazines). Their remit includes running advertising campaigns, liaising with influencers and developing marketing strategies. Their work can cover traditional marketing efforts (such as book signings and posters) and digital promotions (such as creating social media content).

As within any specialism, there are different roles with varying levels of seniority. Unless you’ve worked in a similar role in another industry, it’s most likely that you’d enter the sector as a publishing and marketing assistant. As an assistant, you’d support the team in running campaigns. To do the job well, you need an open mind, creativity, passion and the ability to work under pressure. If you’ve got all that, you’ll go far!

The next step up from an assistant is a publicity and marketing executive. In an exec role, you’ll run your campaigns (managing every aspect) and come up with ideas to promote your employer’s publications.

How much does a publicity and marketing professional earn?

How much you earn within publicity and marketing in the publishing industry will depend on your role, experience, location and employer.

As a publicity and marketing assistant, your salary will likely start around the £23,000 to £25,000 mark. However, it depends on the company and location. Some jobs will pay up to £41,000. While the higher salaries are usually reserved for marketing executives or managers, some publishing firms will financially reward assistants with extensive experience.

If you’re serious about a career in marketing, consider looking into professional marketing qualifications.

Your salary in the publishing industry will depend on several factors, including the type of publisher you work for.

For example, if you work at an academic publisher like a university press, your salary will likely be different from if you did a similar role at a big commercial publisher.

In every vertical, there will be junior, mid-level and senior roles with a range of wages. However, some areas usually pay more than others. So, a mid-level salary in one vertical may equal a senior wage slip in another.

Some example areas of publishing include:

If you work for an educational publisher, you’ll be involved in the publication of books for schools and students. It could include exam revision guides or fiction that helps children build up their reading skills.

There’s only a small number of educational publishers, so it can be a competitive specialism. However, salary-wise, it’s likely to be on the lower end of publishing firms due to its niche nature.

How much you’ll earn when working in fiction will depend on the size of the publisher.

A fiction publisher may be a small business printing a limited number of titles or one of the world’s biggest names in literature. Generally, you’ll earn more at a bigger publishing company because there will usually be more opportunities to progress. However, there will always be exceptions. You may have a great career at a small firm.

Salaries vary significantly across the non-fiction subsector. If you’re marketing megastar’s memoirs, you’ll likely earn more than if you’re copyediting local history guides.

How much you earn will largely depend on the scale of the publisher. Generally, the mainstream publishers that publish bestsellers can afford to pay their staff higher salaries than independent firms. As always though, there will be exceptions to the rule.

Although scientific, technical and medical guides have a smaller target audience, specialised publishing can pay well.

When a publisher needs someone who has a high level of specific knowledge in addition to publishing skills, it’s typical for the firm to offer a higher salary to attract desirable candidates. When a role requires two sets of skills, employers need to make the job attractive, as only a small number of people will have the skills they’re looking for.

Although academic publishing can also require specific knowledge, it doesn’t always pay as well as technical publishing. How much you earn in academic publishing will depend on the publisher.

While some university presses publish books with larger print runs, other academic publishers will exclusively publish journals, sometimes with small readerships. As with most publishing roles, you’ll typically earn more if you work on publications that will reach a wider audience.

Some of those who produce material for specific professions will earn higher wages because their specialist knowledge is in demand. For example, if an industry body is producing supporting guides for professional courses, the people working on the guides’ content will need to know their stuff – and that usually means a higher salary.

If you’re working in a role that doesn’t require knowledge of the professional sector, you may earn more or less than doing a similar job elsewhere. Your exact salary will depend on your employer.

The average publishing jobs salary in the UK varies depending on your job, employer and publishing vertical. For example, the average salary of a publisher in fiction is higher than a publicity assistant in academia. However, it’s important to remember that averages are only a rough guide. Some roles will pay more than the average; others will pay less.

While some specialisms within the publishing industry will typically pay more than others, it isn’t possible to guarantee you’ll always earn more in one area than another. There are lots of other factors that determine salaries beyond verticals. How much you’ll earn in the publishing sector will come down to your role, experience, seniority, employer, location and many other variables – with the type of publishing firm being just one of them.

Although knowing average publishing salaries won’t tell you exactly how much you’ll earn in the future, we hope that it’s given you an idea of the range of wages that exist in the sector. Knowing the kinds of roles available and a rough estimate of their associated salaries will help you make informed decisions. Good luck with whatever career path you follow!

This article was last updated in July, 2025.