Pay Scale for Sales Reps With Textbook Publishing

Textbook sales reps work with school districts, libraries, colleges and universities.

Textbook sales reps sell books and related products to large institutional accounts, including school districts, or to individual instructors at colleges and universities. Textbook sales reps primarily work for a division of one of the four major U.S. textbook companies: McGraw-Hill, Pearson Education, Reed Elsevier, and Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that textbook sales account for nearly half of all publishing earnings in the United States.

National Average

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in 2009 that the average hourly wage of publishing sales representatives was $25.39, slightly higher than the average for sales representatives in all industries. The median annual salary for education sales representatives nationwide as of June, 2011 was $45,800 according to Glassdoor.com. The Bureau of Labor Statistics includes textbook sales reps in "professional and commercial equipment and supplies merchant wholesalers." Their average salary, including commission, was $49,750 in 2008 according to the BLS.

Major Companies

The American Textbook Council reported that by 2005, smaller, specialized or regional textbook publishers had all merged into four major U.S. textbook companies. Sales representatives for Cengage Learning, the higher education division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, earned $41,000 to $93,000 a year as of September, 2011, according to Glassdoor.com. Pearson Education sales reps reported salaries of $31,000 to $83,000 on Glassdoor.com as of April, 2011.

Bonuses

Similar to sales positions in other industries, textbook sales reps earn a base salary plus commission. Financial blogger and former college textbook sales rep David Weliver said that reps were pushed to exceed annual goals, receiving large annual bonuses for increased text adoptions. Sales reps for Cengage Learning reported bonuses ranging from $8,000 to $35,000 on Glassdoor.com. Pearson Education sales reps received bonuses of $400 to $25,000, according to their reports on Glassdoor.com.

Commission

Many textbook sales reps receive commission in addition to their base salary, which is accounted for separately from the year-end bonus. Cengage Learning sales reps reported commission of $6,000 to $15,000 on Glassdoor.com as of September, 2011. Houghton-Mifflin sales reps reported commissions of $7,000 to $20,000 as of June, 2011 on Glassdoor.com. Pearson Education sales reps reported commissions of $2,000 to $10,000 as of April, 2011 on Glassdoor.com.

References

• Bureau of Labor Statistics; Career Guide to Industries, 2010-11 Edition; Publishing Except Software; December 2009
• Bureau of Labor Statistics; Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition; Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing; December 2009
• Glassdoor.com; Sales Representative Salaries at Education Companies; June 2011
• Glassdoor.com; Pearson Education Sales Representative Salary; April 2011
• Glassdoor.com; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Sales Representative Salary; June 2011
• Glassdoor.com; McGraw-Hill Sales Salary; March 2011
• Glassdoor.com; Cengage Learning Sales Salary; September 2011
• American Textbook Council; Textbook Publishing; 2005
• "Money Under 30"; Confessions of a Textbook Salesman; David Weliver; 2011