I’m scarred for life - Editorial Assistant Sourcebooks Employee Review

2.0
Jun 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I genuinely enjoyed the creative side of this work — getting to see manuscripts I helped write from start to finish. Getting to write back and jacket covers, see illustrations bring the words to life. I also loved other members of my team and still do!

Cons

Horribly, horrifically toxic. Me and everyone I know who worked there has suffered severe trauma since. We’ve all also suffered with our careers since leaving Sourcebooks — and a big reason for that is the work trauma we still carry.

Explore other reviews about Sourcebooks

5.0
Jun 20, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Incredible managers, great team, genuine openness to growth and learning, meaningful work

Cons

None to speak of at this moment

1.0
Apr 20, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

In hindsight, I'm not sure if there were any apart from some friendly coworkers.

Cons

I infuriatingly see promotions handed out left and right via LinkedIn, but just know that actually being someone to get to that level means literally grovelling and being lucky enough to be in the good graces of the egotistical CEO. Upper management brown-noses her as their main job, and they will prevent you from any upward mobility if you're not one of her favorites (which seems to be picked based on how much you kiss up to her, and if you keep your own opinions to yourself, and other factors entirely unrelated to your actual performance). Absolutely criminally high monthly healthcare premiums, paired with insanely high deductibles, bare-minimum PTO, and mat leave. HR is a joke and not one HR employee seems to last very long. Salaries are abysmal, even by publishing standards. Most books acquired are bottom-of-the-barrel since they don't pay most of their authors much, and they have to be edited within an inch of their lives to be readable and marketable. I left the industry after this company and have never been happier.

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