contract editing (response summary)

[John Gough <john -at- ATRIUM -dot- COM>]

It's a few days later than 6/17, but here is the summary of responses I
got to the query about contract editing.  The challenge: justify contract
editing w/in a company too small to have a specialist.  Additional: what's
a good price? I had been quoted $25-$40/hr (Austin, TX).

A big 'thank-you' to all who responded.  I expect to deploy a proposal
this week, using the additional strategy of showing total book cost
per page (my labor only) to put the cost of editing in perspective.
--John

Total responses:  7

* Rates (4 responses):
     $18-35 (Pacific NW)
     $35-50/hr (Midwest and CO)
     "as high as $65" (CA)

* Use a different quoting method (1 response by professional editor):
     $4-$6 per *page* (working out to $800 to $1200 for a 200-pp book)
         Technical work commanded higher rates than general nonfiction,
         which drew $2.50 to $3.50 per page.

         The same person also said:

         "Of course, many of my clients (...) essentially get copyediting
         comments at no extra charge when they contract me to develop indexes
         for them.  [...]  And I've never said "no" to indexing clients who
         call to ask an editing question; I chalk it up to good PR."

* Try using in-house talent (1 response)
     "At the first co. I worked for, I had the same problem (but with no second
     writer).  Fortunately, I found out that there were some very good editors
     already in house, albeit doing other things.  I was able to simply include
     them on the routing I did for all my manuals.  These people were not
     formally and officially professional editors, but they knew their stuff."

* Selling techniques (2 responses):
     Summary:  "know thine audience and sell accordingly"
     Excerpts:

      "The only suggestion I can make is to try to find a way to explain
      the need for an outside editor in some terms your engineer/nerd
      can understand. This is harder with some people than others! But
      if the guy is a software engineer who knows that developers
      testing their own code just doesn't work, that would be a good
      analogy for writing and editing your own work -- "Not spending
      money for an outside editor is like not spending money for testers!"

      Of course it's always worthwhile to express your desire to turn out
      the best possible work for the company, and your concern that that's
      not possible under the conditions. Expect to explain your issues
      several times over before they see the light..."

      "Plan your approach.  What benefit of editing would be the most
 interesting
      to your boss?  What would benefit the group?  Would it save money in the
      long run?  Go for it!"

* Best Anecdote Award:

      "I once edited a proposal after I was told not to.  When I was done, I
 asked
       the writer "Are you really going to do all this work for $1.80?"  You
       guessed it - it should have been $1.8 million."

--
----------------------------------------------------------------
John Gough                                        john -at- atrium -dot- com
Principal Technical Writer                   voice (512) 328-6977
Atrium Technologies                            fax (512) 328-2789
5000 Plaza On The Lake, Suite 275                Austin, TX 78746