Bullying, Toxic Workplace - Editor BAR Publishing Employee Review

It pains me to write this truth: I had read the damning 1-star review by the previous Editor on this website before signing the employment contract with BAR Publishing, and I ignored it. This mistake cost me 2 years of career development, untold amounts of stress and anxiety, and, ultimately, burnout. I am in my 40s and I have worked in several jobs on 4 continents, but this was the first time I was subjected to bullying – it was a disgusting, toxic experience. If you are reading this: do not make my mistake. Do not ignore these red flags, otherwise it may significantly damage you, your career, and your personal wellbeing. 1. Bullying. As the previous Editor complained in 2017, this is a serious problem with this company’s culture that still persists in 2024. The reason is simple: ‘The fish rots from the head down.’ The company only has 7 people, so there are absolutely no excuses – but management always has plenty to justify (and wilfully ignore) this rotten behaviour. For 22 of the 25 months I worked for the company, I experienced countless passive aggressive emails, insults over the phone, manipulative reports to management to get me in trouble, red-in-the-face meetings… It was emotionally taxing, sprit numbing, confidence crushing – and totally unnecessary. In meetings, I was promised that the bully – who had received complaints from at least 6 employees over 6 years – would be fired. I quit because I waited 10 months for the promised firing to occur, but they were still with the company, still causing disruptions. It was critical that this situation be managed promptly because it substantially affected my ability to be productive and prepare manuscripts in a timely manner; equally as important, it drained time away from my career development (see point #2). By the end of 2023, the situation was so dire that management arranged for my manuscripts to be ‘secretly’ handed over by my colleague in order to evade the bully’s notice. In addition, all author questions that required technical advice would be asked to the bully via management. This meant I had become denigrated lower than an unpaid intern. It was the nadir of my entire career, but I had to swallow this poison so the bully could continue to do her job. The previous Editor made a crucial point: ‘Management took a bullying approach towards anyone more knowledgeable than them.’ I cannot emphasise strongly enough the truth of this statement. Despite professional experience at 2 other publishers before joining BAR, my information and advice on better systems and procedures was routinely criticised and shot down. The worst incident occurred when I tried warning management about the drawbacks to a particular Accessibility function, based on 18 months of experience. In front of the company, management yelled at me: ‘I do not want to hear about your experience working with Accessibility! You are traumatised by the other publisher! 100% of our authors will comply and not one will complain!’ Management ignored my advice and – surprise, surprise – after a year of attempting to integrate this Accessibility function, they quietly terminated it. I expected an apology since I had been proven correct – but that would have required moral character. BAR Principle: The ends justify the means of getting books published, even bullying. 2. No Career Development. Over the course of 25 months, I spent exactly 0 minutes on commissioning. This bears repeating: 0 minutes! Despite the false impressions they may give you during the interview process, this is the truth: this is a dead-end job that offers no real career growth. Don’t be fooled by the job title of ‘Editor’. (The reason why they call it an ‘Editor’ is purely for recruitment purposes.) In the reality of day-to-day tasks, this is merely an Editorial Assistant role – but it is a bad Editorial Assistant position. I had previously worked for a multinational publishing house as an EA, and I can confirm that I was afforded more intellectually stimulating tasks and responsibilities; in addition, I had time for commissioning! Your days will be wasted sending out endless email templates and performing painstaking manuscript checks in a handover system that is humorously inefficient. Of the 3 publishing houses I have worked for, this system was, by far, the worst. If you try to improve it, you will be ostracised, if not bullied further. BAR Principle: This company loves marvelling at how fast and how perfectly its wheels are spinning. Your career will be sacrificed to spin the wheels. 3. Double Standards. In a Zoom meeting, management blamed me for not having the right computer equipment (even though the previous year I had purchased a new PC i5). I was therefore forced to spend £878 on a new MacBook (as well as £380 on a monitor). I was never offered compensation. When 2 new employees were hired – surprise, surprise – they were given free laptops and mobile phones, without even requesting them. When I discovered that management had done this months later, post factum, I was livid by their unethical unfairness. BAR Principle: Double standards are fine, as long as the other employees don’t find out. 4. Hypocritical Feminism. In a meeting with management, they twice commented that they thought the bully ‘might be sexist’, which, they believed, partially explained the animosity. I agreed with this assessment, as I had independently reached this conclusion in my 3rd month. However, management also apologised for the situation and added, ‘I hate to admit this, but I did not check in with you as much as I should have, because you are a man. I thought you could take it.’ I was later instructed to fill out a Grievance Form. This comment – in combination with this cute legal manoeuvre – was the most offensive incident in my 6.5 years in the publishing industry. Because I am a man, I was supposed to stoically accept toxic behaviour that was preventing me from doing my job effectively and ‘take it’? Because I am a man, I was expected to allow a bully to steal time away from career development and ‘take it’? Instead of deflecting blame and citing my gender as an excuse, I have a better idea: take responsibility and fire the troublesome employee who has received several complaints, long before I arrived at the company. Ironically, management also griped about the gender pay gap at other companies, but – surprise, surprise – it was discovered that there was a gender pay gap at BAR Publishing. When my female colleague learnt that I was being paid more than her (not due to The Patriarchy, but because of my female recruitment agent), she was upset and had to negotiate for a raise. BAR Principle: The Patriarchy is to blame. (But those same problems would never occur within a Matriarchy, of course.) What I have detailed here is merely the tip of the dumpster fire. As the previous Editor stated, ‘I learned to never again work for a company like this.’ It is a depressing life lesson that I, too, have learnt. For the sake of a good conscience, I felt compelled to warn potential applicants about the nature of this company. If you are an ambitious, intelligent, no-drama individual who strives for a long career in the publishing industry, then do yourself a favour: do not work at BAR Publishing. There are better publishing houses that are professionally managed that do not cause burnout, enable bullying, or damage your career. No job is worth this idiotic psychodrama. You deserve better.