Completely lost here. An author I recently interviewed offered me a job editing her next manuscript, and I plan to accept, however, I'm lost on what to charge her. This isn't exactly academic; the woman has had two books before edited terribly, and is seeking a new publisher, so she's definitely wary of editors in general by now, so I don't want to jack up the price too high, but I also don't want her to put anymore books on the market that in some places, read like gibberish. I'm also considering her current financial situation; before the job offer, she'd mentioned to me in other emails that her husband was out of work and they live in California. I don't want to automatically assume she's doing badly, but I do want to be considerate with my pricing. I was thinking $3 per page; any suggestions?
I'm not new, and as I said before, I'm not trying to justify any job; I'm trying to arrange a deal that will be mutually beneficial.
You could also find out how many pages the manuscript has and work out a price that way. Agree upon a relatively reasonable price as this will perhaps bring you more work. I have edited some manuscripts myself and the poster before me responded with 5-10 bucks per page, no offense but I am wondering if he/she has found anyone that would pay that per page. If so kindly send them my way as well
offer to edit a few pages for her- and show her what it would be like to have you as an editor, and then ask her the ballpark of what she is thinking to spend. The weight out between, what you think is absolutely too low for you to work; with the above- and resolve on a price. Given the circumstances, and the fact that you seem to have alot of empathy for her and her situation, I would really stress the above, and stress to her how much is too low for you- and she may then suggest something that is suitable for both of you.
Don't do this. First, there is no need to do free work to prove yourself. You wouldn't advise any teenagers to go bag groceries for a few hours for free to show what it would be like to have them as a bagger--so you shouldn't do this either. Getting an idea of your client's budget is good--but it just means you adjust your services to match their budget, not that you reduce your price for the honor of the job. How long will it take you to edit a page? If it takes you 30 minutes, then charge half of your hourly rate. If it takes an hour, then charge your hourly rate. If it takes 15 minutes, charge 1/4 of your hourly rate.
3 $ per page is not worth the effort. As ppl said above atleast 5 $ should be demanded. Rest is obviously your choice.
When I edit business copy it varies from $25-100 per page (and that's not exactly the high end for copyediting). Book manuscripts usually do seem to be advertised much lower though, I'd guess because of the sheer volume of pages making those rates unaffordable for just about any author. I've never seen a book editing gig advertised for more than a few dollars per page, but then again I'd have to guess (like with most writing-related jobs) there are probably a lot that just don't get advertised. You might want to contact Anne Wayman through www.aboutfreelancewriting.com. I know she works as a ghostwriter, so it's possible she's done book editing as well. She might be able to give you some good thoughts on the topic.
It depends on whether you're offering proofreading which is light editing or copyediting which is rewriting. There is a difference. I've edited several books -- both ways -- and for proofreading, $3 a page is reasonable. That's finding typos and grammatical mistakes. Rewriting is often done on an hourly basis, and that varies. But if you go with a page rate to give her an estimate, I'd say $6 a page for that since not all pages will need copyediting. If they do, then go higher - even up to $10 a page. Again, it really depends on the level of editing you'll be doing, in my opinion.
I agree with this. If it needs to be completely rewritten then charge more. Basic proofreading should be fine at $3 per page.
3 dollars per page is fair , but always price yourself to make money , if you want to be successful you always have to think business, what will make you money nothing else. Who cares if her husband lost his job and blah blah what does that have to do with anything. Money talks and if you want to make money you got to think money . Its never anything personal its about making money ! I do not understand why people do not get that . If you want to give stuff away go ahead but you better have another job. If a client is not profitable or makes you a fair wage then fire that client. You are only in business to make money , never forget this. Otherwise you are not in business.