Simply…the worst - Anonymous employee Sourcebooks Employee Review

1.0
May 21, 2023
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There are a few really amazing people working at Sourcebooks who also know how horrible of a place it is to work.

Cons

Everything. I found management to be abusive and allergic to positive feedback, instead wanting to keep employees “on their toes” by only focusing on the negative- that is, unless there’s an opportunity to praise the CEO and her fake benevolence then get ready for an all hands love fest. In my opinion, it is an impossible place to work and my job put me into a deep depression that ultimately led to physical maladies. Unless you are a pod person who lives to kiss … expect to be ostracized and spend your work life chasing after a constantly shifting goal post where regardless of your performance, leadership will never be satisfied until you also join the pod (if allowed). And the books? Take a quick look and judge for yourself before considering applying.

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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