Gary Stevenson, British economist and author of the bestseller The Trading Game, has long-since been a vocal critic of the class structure in the United Kingdom. Recently, he made this observation:

“Once you’re older than twenty-five, if you have any sort of visibility of people from different class backgrounds, you realise … everyone I know is exactly as rich as their dad.” (Stevenson, 2025)

Those involved at every point in the publication process of Gary’s book – published by Penguin in 2024 – likely had the same experience. But it was equally likely that this was to their advantage.

Class in publishing is not a new problem. Prominent industry figures such as Kit de Waal have been writing about it for almost a decade (Waal, 2016), and recent reporting shows that publishing professionals, more than any other creative industry, are aware of the issue (Creative Access, 2024). But overall, nothing seems to change – with the most recent reports showing that 65% of the industry were raised professional backgrounds (Publishers Association, 2024), far above the national target of 37% (Social Mobility Commission, 2020).

Within publishing, there is a huge expectation to take on unpaid work, often through internships and volunteering, and even paid entry-level work can often require braving London on an apprenticeship wage. Additionally, networking is a huge element of the publishing industry – from securing jobs, building careers, and gaining promotions – but it is uniquely difficult for those who come from working-class backgrounds (Carthew, 2022). And for those who do get in, they often feel the need to hide their background and blend in with their peers (Brown, 2022).

And the problem extends beyond publishing professionals. Writers also face significant class barriers, and when they are represented, their stories are edited by and for a middle-class audience (Waal, 2018). It’s a problem present in, and recognised by, one of the most prestigious prizes in the industry – the Booker Prize (Carthew, 2022).

Ultimately, this is all passed on to the consumer. If books are written by middle-class authors, edited by middle-class editors, marketed by middle-class marketers, is it really a surprise that middle-class people not only own more than double the amount of books as working-class people but also are more likely to enjoy reading in general? (Gleed, 2013).

But if the issue of class in publishing is already known, recognised, and quantified yet remains stubbornly stagnant – how can it be fixed?

The centralisation of the publishing industry in London is a huge issue. For many, their career depends on relocation. But there is a growing effort to move publishing out of London, with success stories such as the Northern Fiction Alliance – a network of publishing companies based in the North of England.

There are currently multiple initiatives, such as A Writing Chance,  that aim to promote working class writers. Most recently, there was the announcement of The Bee – a new literary magazine for working class writers that will also include a podcast and other outreach programmes (Brown, 2025). Additionally, Novelry are currently running their The Next Big Story competition – which, with an entry requirement of only three pages, significantly reduces the barriers to entry often faced by working-class writers. The more common these types of projects become, the more we can work to eliminate the divide.

Bibliography:

Brown, C. (2022) ‘Class chameleons: How working-class staff in publishing are fighting for change’, The Bookseller, 18 October. Available at: https://www.thebookseller.com/spotlight/class-chameleons-how-working-class-staff-in-publishing-are-fighting-for-change

Brown, M. (2025) ‘UK-wide initiative launched to tackle marginalisation of working-class writers’, The Guardian, 5 May. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/may/05/uk-wide-initiative-launched-to-tackle-marginalisation-of-working-class-writers

Carthew, N. (2022) ‘Bookseller’s working-class survey, three years on’, The Bookseller, 18 November. Available at: https://www.thebookseller.com/spotlight/booksellers-working-class-survey-three-years-on

Carthew, N. (2022) Our stories matter: why we need more working-class voices in quality fiction | The Booker Prizes. Available at: https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/features/our-stories-matter-why-we-need-more-working-class-voices-in-quality

Creative Access (2024) Class ceiling in the creative industries. Available at: https://creativeaccess.org.uk/new-research-the-class-ceiling-in-the-creative-industries/

Gleed, A. (2013) Booktrust Reading HabitsSurvey 2013: A national survey of reading habits & attitudes to books amongst adults in England. DJS Research for Booktrust, p. 53. Available at: https://www.djsresearch.co.uk/Free/published/1576-booktrust-reading-habits-report-final.pdf.

Stevenson, G. (2025) Immigration, the alt-right, the left and young men – Gary meets JimmyTheGiant Timestamp: 00:15:00. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCqfr91vFws

Publishers Association (2024) UK Publishing Workforce: Diversity, inclusion and belonging in 2024. Available at: https://www.publishers.org.uk/publications/uk-publishing-workforce-diversity-inclusion-and-belonging-in-2024/

Social Mobility Commission (2020) ‘Cross-industry toolkit’, Social Mobility Commission. Available at: https://socialmobility.independent-commission.uk/resources/socio-economic-diversity-and-inclusion-employers-toolkit/

Waal, K. de (2018) ‘Kit de Waal: “Make room for working class writers”’, The Guardian, 10 February. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/feb/10/kit-de-waal-where-are-all-the-working-class-writers-

Waal, K. de (2024) ‘Getting published is hard – even harder if you’re working class’, The i Paper, 29 November. Available at: https://inews.co.uk/opinion/getting-published-is-hard-even-harder-if-youre-working-class-3406477