How much should I be paid for copyediting a manuscript?

Robos A Go Go

Back in January, I got a job as a faculty aide through my university, which involved heavily editing an incomplete manuscript for a professor. The job was temporary , but it became longer term once the university stopped paying the tab (they only covered 100 hours of work at $12/hr) and the professor started paying me the same $12/hr wage out of his own pocket.

Come July 4th, I'd finished editing the four existing chapters of the manuscript in time for the professor to submit them to an editor. At that point he told me his dad had just died and he needed a break, and so I told him to just take however much time he'd need to get back to me about further work.

Now it's four months later, and he just sent me an e-mail asking for my address so that he can send me an advance for further editing work. It was a pretty curt message, and he seems to be assuming that I'll be comfortable resuming work at the same wage despite all the time that has passed since we last spoke.

Basically, my question is whether or not $12/hr is a fair wage for the work that I'm doing for him. Google reveals that it's actually quite a bit lower than most freelance editors charge, but I'm just a senior undergrad and my work probably isn't as prompt or as good as a professional's. Also, $12/hr for something I can do at home is a better arrangement than the kind that would be offered by any other job I may find right now.

That said, $12/hr is just the standard wage for all faculty aides regardless of the work they do. Since most faculty aides just research or scan documents, I think it's fair to say that I deserve to be paid a bit more than they do. Furthermore, since I've already proven that I can decipher and improve his complex academic writing, I imagine that I'm now more desirable as an employee than I was when he initially hired me without having a sense of whether or not I could really do the job.

So, should I return to the old arrangement or ask for more money. If the latter, how should I make the request and justify it to him?

Cultural Geek Girl

This is a tricky question, but I'll try to answer it from the POV of someone who has done some freelance writing and editing in the past. The first part of my answer is a series of questions:

Have you done copy editing before? Do you need more money badly? Are you still an undergrad and are you planning on grad school? Are you interested in hustling for a new job? And, if your job suddenly became the default "scan documents, do research" version of the job, would you be happier?

Normally I'm all for freelancers demanding market wages, but unless you have more experience than you've suggested here, I'm a bit hesitant in your case. You've also found a client who pays you promptly, and who, it sounds like, offers decent advances as well. That's pretty good; when I first started freelancing a few years ago, I often had problems getting paid on time, and sometimes getting paid at all.

If I get more information about your status in general, I can give more specific advice. In general, I'd say seek out some other writing or editing gigs that pay a bit more. Then you can hold one up and say "see, here's what I'm getting paid for this job, this is my usual rate. Since you're such a good customer, I'll only charge you [some number between your freelance rate and this $12]. Deal?" though if you do that, be prepared for him to walk away. The problem with university system student labor is that it is plentiful, skilled, and often desperate.

GenlyAi

Well, there are probably a lot of other undergrads willing to do the work for $12. On the other hand, your experience with this particular manuscript and the fact that you're a known quantity should be considered valuable to this guy. Therefore, I think you can ask for a bit more ... maybe $16-18/hr, which values your experience, but is still half to a third of what a professional would be charging, so it should seem like a good deal.

As for how to ask, do not put it in those terms. Make up a personal reason why you need to make a bit more and let him fill in for himself the reasons it's worth it from his perspective. That way he'll feel like it's his decision and he's being a nice guy.

Robos A Go Go

Cultural Geek Girl wrote:

This is a tricky question, but I'll try to answer it from the POV of someone who has done some freelance writing and editing in the past. The first part of my answer is a series of questions:

Have you done copy editing before? Do you need more money badly? Are you still an undergrad and are you planning on grad school? Are you interested in hustling for a new job? And, if your job suddenly became the default "scan documents, do research" version of the job, would you be happier?

I hadn't copyedited before, and my writing credits are limited to some online news articles, an article in a local newspaper, and something in the school's literary review. I don't need the money badly, and I'm not looking for an actual job right now. Also, while I am a senior undergrad who is applying to grad school, my field is different from the one this professor works in.

Finally, it's worth pointing out that I was planning to take a $12/hr paid internship at a local elementary school in time for the Spring semester. I might be able to juggle both that and copyediting, but I'm not sure that I'd want to.

Darkewolfe

If I were you, I'd accept that $12 is probably a fair market rate for this particular work. It's lower than any professional freelance stuff, but you aren't a professional freelancer, and the professor probably has access to a wide pool of workers willing to take the money. That said, you can be honest and say that you'd be willing to do it, but only for a certain rate, and leave it to him whether he wants to do that or find someone else to do it at the $12. Since you don't need the work and have a back-up, that seems to be a reasonable approach.

Cultural Geek Girl

Robos A Go Go wrote:

Cultural Geek Girl wrote:

This is a tricky question, but I'll try to answer it from the POV of someone who has done some freelance writing and editing in the past. The first part of my answer is a series of questions:

Have you done copy editing before? Do you need more money badly? Are you still an undergrad and are you planning on grad school? Are you interested in hustling for a new job? And, if your job suddenly became the default "scan documents, do research" version of the job, would you be happier?

I hadn't copyedited before, and my writing credits are limited to some online news articles, an article in a local newspaper, and something in the school's literary review. I don't need the money badly, and I'm not looking for an actual job right now. Also, while I am a senior undergrad who is applying to grad school, my field is different from the one this professor works in.

Finally, it's worth pointing out that I was planning to take a $12/hr paid internship at a local elementary school in time for the Spring semester. I might be able to juggle both that and copyediting, but I'm not sure that I'd want to.

I might use that as a negotiating point, then. Sort of a "I have this other opportunity lined up that pays just as well, so I might have to stop this job, unless {insert negotiation of hours and pay here.}"

I was asking about undergrad/grad school because how aggressively you need to be marketing yourself/looking for work/looking to get compensated relates directly to how quickly you're going to be entering the "real world," what careers you were looking at, etc. If you're going into grad school you can afford to humor previous professors by doing work for them for slightly lower pay. Also bear in mind recommendations... you can use them from people outside your specialty, after all, and a rec that praises your writing and editing skills might be valuable.

The one thing I wish I'd done more of in college is sucking up to professors. I wish I were joking.

ResidentSleepwalker

I have a degree in creative writing and journalism - have written a 508 page novel and have worked professionally as a copy editor.

A large-scale copy editor shouldn't be paid by the hour. They should be paid by the word. They provide both a service and a product, and should be paid accordingly. When you hire a locksmith to come fix your locks - they charge you for the new locks and the key they give you. If it takes them an extra hour because they're a little hung over, they don't get to charge more.

I think 1 cent per word is reasonable. Someone affiliated with Stephen King offers the same service, and though I'm having trouble locating their website I know it was less than 2 cents per word.

Robos A Go Go

Alright, I responded by asking saying that I'd only continue working if he increased my hourly rate by a few dollars. If he says no, then it'll just give me more time to prepare for finals and allow me to take an internship that pays the same amount anyway.

metaghost

ResidentSleepwalker wrote:

I have a degree in creative writing and journalism - have written a 508 page novel and have worked professionally as a copy editor.

A large-scale copy editor shouldn't be paid by the hour. They should be paid by the word. They provide both a service and a product, and should be paid accordingly. When you hire a locksmith to come fix your locks - they charge you for the new locks and the key they give you. If it takes them an extra hour because they're a little hung over, they don't get to charge more.

I think 1 cent per word is reasonable. Someone affiliated with Stephen King offers the same service, and though I'm having trouble locating their website I know it was less than 2 cents per word.

Yeah, I was going to say that when I've done copyediting in-house for the company I work for, I'm always paid on an itemized basis. Ultimately, it tends to come out to about $16-18 an hour, including various bonuses for efficiency. Man, do I ever hate formatting correction documents.

Robos A Go Go

He ended up agreeing to give me $15/hr from now on, so I guess that's resolved.

Thread can close now.