The Demise of Book Publishing - Senior Acquisitions Editor Wiley Employee Review

1.0
Feb 21, 2015
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

At the staff level, there are a lot of great people there -- but fewer now because of downsizing. The HR department gave generous severance packages and is responsive and professional.

Cons

Sad to see what's happened to the trade business book group. Massive layoffs. Most books, believe it or not, receive zero marketing support. Wiley now puts the books on Amazon and gets a few copies into physical distribution outlets. That's it. Of course, they don't tell authors in the recruitment phase. I was told recently about a CEO of a huge company who published a book with Wiley. The book was a lead book in their catalog, so it merited actual marketing. However, the marketer was a new hire, just out of college with zero background in marketing. The CEO was astonished at the lack of professionalism. Of course, he was lucky. The vast majority of books don't even receive that minimum level of support. Senior managers are self-serving, disingenuous, bureaucrats with absolute no vision. They lie constantly and are a bit paranoid. They say they are "driving change and innovation," but in reality, they are simply protecting their own jobs.

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5.0
Jun 18, 2026
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Nice coworkers and managers, work-life balance, smart people and industry, opportunities to grow skillset. If you volunteer for opportunities, you will be supported and will learn a lot about the industry.

Cons

Pay and hybrid office work

2.0
Jun 3, 2026
Recommend
Business Outlook

Pros

Decent pay and benefits for publishing.

Cons

Once of the most toxic work environments I've ever worked at. Upper management tears editors down if you are not a favorite. Favorites are chosen by metrics that do not exist, and are subjective and arbitrary. Wiley is losing money because brilliant, young editors leave due to no support and toxic work environments. Wiley Trade is essentially a hybrid publisher. Author's put a lot of money into their book -- too much. There is very very little marketing and publicity support for authors. But they brand as more than there actually is. All in all a very sad place to work and sad for authors.

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