http://ask.metafilter.com/tags/ilikemoney Questions tagged with 'ilikemoney' at Ask MetaFilter. Sun, 03 Sep 2006 07:36:10 -0800 Sun, 03 Sep 2006 07:36:10 -0800 en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 60 http://ask.metafilter.com/45813/How%2Dmuch%2Ddo%2DI%2Dcharge%2Dfor%2Dcopy%2Dediting Freelance copy editing: what's the going rate, and how much should I charge? I'm currently a copy editor for a local magazine, which pays me $15 an hour for my freelance (not technically on staff) copy editing each month. The magazine's editor recommended me to a friend of hers who's writing her dissertation and needs a skilled copy editor to put it through the wringer. If this works out, the friend is going to recommend me to her other Ph.D.-candidate friends as well.<br> <br> It sounds very promising, and I'm looking forward to the work. I love copy editing. But since I'm just starting out with this, I'm really not sure what hourly rate I should charge. Here are my current thoughts:<br> <br> -I get the sense that the price the magazine is paying me is a steal, but since it's my first professional copy editing gig and I have a day job, I'm okay with that. It's worth it to me to gain the experience. What I'd like to know is this: what's the industry standard hourly rate for copy editing? (Or yearly salary, broken down.)<br> <br> -Should I give this woman a discount from my current "corporate" hourly rate, so to speak, because she's an individual (and a friend of my editor, who knows how much they're paying me at the magazine and might call foul if I charge this woman more)? Or should I charge her the same?<br> <br> -A factor: I don't yet know how long the dissertation is, nor how dense it is, nor how tight the writing is, so it's tough to estimate how many hours this will take. <a href="http://www.wendybelcher.com/pages/ccopyeditingrates.html">This site</a> says the rate is much higher for academic copy editors for exactly these reasons. <a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/bbs/cache/t20068_1.asp">This mediabistro thread</a> talks about going rates, as well—$30 seems to be about average for <i>book</i> copy editing, but that's not academic copy editing. Should these references be a factor in my decision?<br> <br> -Would it be better to charge a flat fee, plus a slightly lower hourly rate? That seems more complicated, but it could be an option.<br> <br> Thanks in advance for any light you can shed on this! tag:ask.metafilter.com,2006:site.45813 Sun, 03 Sep 2006 07:36:10 -0800 copyediting dissertation editing freelance hourlyrate ilikemoney resolved limeonaire