There will likely be a good deal of hype this week about a cool new multimedia option called the Vook.
What will this do to the self-publishing industry, and will yours be the first independently published piece available?
Tag: publishing
Q: Someone at my office inquired about the going rate for editors. His daughter was offered a chance to edit proposals seven to fifteen pages long. I did not know what to tell them to charge. Do you have any idea?
A: “The going rate” for editors won’t be the same rate as a person just starting into the business, and if editors do not know what to charge, they are definitely newcomers.
It’s unfair to start out charging an hourly rate, because inexperienced but conscientious editors spend more hours completing a job than experienced editors would spend. Under an hourly arrangement, clients would pay more money for a novice than a professional.
When it comes to setting rates, only the editors themselves can decide what they are willing to accept while they get their on-the-job training, but read on for some ideas.
For a project as short as seven to fifteen pages, I suggest beginning editors should charge a minimum of $25 for fifteen or fewer pages. If that price seems low, remember that editing is not a “get rich” plan, it’s simply another job, and if you don’t love it and enjoy delving into all the details and continuing to learn during your entire career, it’s best to find something else that you do love.
Once you land your first project, though, time yourself to see how long it takes to finish the project, to get an average of how long it takes you per page. From that starting point—also with the knowledge that you will get faster as your skills improve—you can decide what your time is worth. You can raise your rates gradually as you gain more experience”
Editing is a critical step in the self-publishing process to achieve credibility and success in the marketplace. Does your self-publishing option offer editing. What do they charge?
Bobbie Christmas, book doctor, author of Write In Style (Union Square Publishing), and owner of Zebra Communications, will answer your questions, too. Send them to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com. Read more “Ask the Book Doctor” questions and answers at www.zebraeditor.com.
“We knew there’d be a mix of self-publishing, of out of print and in-copyright books. But actually the bulk of it at the moment is the self-publishing which is more than we expected,” commented Gareth Hardy of the Espresso Book Machine.
The BBC Click featured a story late last week entitled, “Budding authors publish own work online and in print.” The write-up introduces a topical and promising perspective on the self-publishing industry. It’s worth checking out. If nothing else, consider the final quote in your self-publishing endeavors (but don’t be discouraged by Harris – self-publishing sees plenty of titles doing just fine).
Editorial Q&A from an established Self-publishing consulting source:
Q: I would like to know of a book or Web site that shows complete sentences in which a specified word is used. I have a good vocabulary and know how to use a thesaurus, but I’m fearful when it comes to promoting a word from my cognitive vocabulary to my active vocabulary; i.e., actually using a word I know in a sentence I write. (For example, I stepped out on a limb to use the word “cognitive.”)
A: First, never use a word in your writing that you wouldn’t use in casual conversation, and you’ll never go wrong.
Next, if you never stretch your own vocabulary, you won’t grow, so after the first caution, I’ll add my favorite source: American Heritage Dictionary. It often, but not always, uses words in a sentence.
A third warning: When you look something up in a thesaurus, be cautious, because each word has its own connotation, and choosing a word from a list does not ensure that the exact meaning you intend will be relayed to the reader. One of my clients for whom English was not a native language, for example, wanted to impart excitement, so after referring to a thesaurus, he wrote, “Oh, no!” he ejaculated. Yes, the sentence and word use are both technically correct, but Americans more often use ejaculate to mean something other than exclaim, so the word choice was less than ideal. It did give this editor a chuckle, however.
Bobbie Christmas, book doctor, author of Write In Style (Union Square Publishing), and owner of Zebra Communications, will answer your questions, too. Send them to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com. Read more “Ask the Book Doctor” questions and answers at http://www.zebraeditor.com.
Dave Eggers’ novel and screenplay adaptation of the timeless children’s book, Where the Wild Things Are saw its big screen debut last Friday, and with controversy tantamount to that created by Maurice Sendak’s original.
Eggers is the founding and managing editor of McSweeney’s an independent or self-publishing option based out of San Francisco. Eggers’ Wild Things is timely and worth of mention as an extraordinary testiment to the scope and cultural presence self-publishing authors bring to the us through unobstructed editorial voice.
Keep up the great work, writing, and contribution.
– Karl Schroeder
Self Publishing Advisor 