The great thing about avoiding work by surfing internet research is that occasionally you run across something that really brightens your day. I sometimes read manuscripts and offer constructive criticism for The Literary Consultancy, and today I found out some news about a writer called Rebecca King who had submitted a terrific YA story about a young ballerina in the 1920s. Frankly the ms was 95% there and just needed a bit of tweaking but the publishing world is such that an almost there manuscript might be turned down with a standard rejection slip by a harassed editor or maybe a few encouraging words scribbled on a complimentary slip. So I was thrilled to hear that Rebecca tweaked away and now has herself an agent who in turn has a tightly written and marketable story that doesn't need to be edited, pruned or altered. It just needs to be sold. I'm so pleased for Rebecca. It's made my day.
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
Friday, 17 August 2012
Recession + freelance = extra shit rates part 2
Just finished reading a very good blogpost by the writer Jenn Ashworth on writing for money, and she starts off by stating quite rightly in my opinion that it's not OK to write for free. Not only because it drives the price down for everyone but it adds to this toxic and patronising idea that writers do it for the love anyway. It's a very good piece which lists the bullshit reasons writers are given for not being paid and how you should respond to them.
Here's the other thing. The recession is being used as an excuse to pay writers - all writers - even less. Squat in many cases.
Anyway, to follow on from my first post on this subject, last week a friend of mine finished a book and recommended me as copy editor. I received a nice email from one of the editors at the publisher (and it was a perfectly respectable publisher) asking about my rates so I went to the Society of Proofreaders and Editors and learned that they suggest a rate of 24.25 per hour to copy edit a book which would work out at say 10 pages an hour for a 50 000 word book. So If I worked for 8 hours solid a day, that would work out at £194 per day. I reckon I could do a 50 000 work book, line by line in a week which would work out at about £900. So I offered to copy the whole book for £600 because given these stringent times I thought it would be fair to offer a flat rate but not one so low I would feel ripped off.
Back came an email saying they would use someone else. My friend later told me that they had offered the work to someone else and had suggested about £400 and he with great difficulty had pushed them up inch by inch to £500. £400 to copy edit a whole book? And I've heard of highly experienced copy editors being offered £250. Which works out - if you take a week to do a whole book at about £6.25 per hour. With tips you would get more for waiting tables.
The NUJ has a section where writers can post rates - the good, the bad and the ugly as sin. Perhaps writers should start up another - like that series of books on Crap Towns and Crap Jobs. We could add Crap Rates to that. So what's the worst rate you've been offered?
Here's the other thing. The recession is being used as an excuse to pay writers - all writers - even less. Squat in many cases.
Anyway, to follow on from my first post on this subject, last week a friend of mine finished a book and recommended me as copy editor. I received a nice email from one of the editors at the publisher (and it was a perfectly respectable publisher) asking about my rates so I went to the Society of Proofreaders and Editors and learned that they suggest a rate of 24.25 per hour to copy edit a book which would work out at say 10 pages an hour for a 50 000 word book. So If I worked for 8 hours solid a day, that would work out at £194 per day. I reckon I could do a 50 000 work book, line by line in a week which would work out at about £900. So I offered to copy the whole book for £600 because given these stringent times I thought it would be fair to offer a flat rate but not one so low I would feel ripped off.
Back came an email saying they would use someone else. My friend later told me that they had offered the work to someone else and had suggested about £400 and he with great difficulty had pushed them up inch by inch to £500. £400 to copy edit a whole book? And I've heard of highly experienced copy editors being offered £250. Which works out - if you take a week to do a whole book at about £6.25 per hour. With tips you would get more for waiting tables.
The NUJ has a section where writers can post rates - the good, the bad and the ugly as sin. Perhaps writers should start up another - like that series of books on Crap Towns and Crap Jobs. We could add Crap Rates to that. So what's the worst rate you've been offered?
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