IF I WERE A RICH MAN...

A report on a PEG workshop to consider what fees editors should be earning, by Marion Boers. Reproduced from PEGboard, May 2004.

Most editors have accepted that they are unlikely to grow rich in this profession, but they do feel they deserve to make a decent living. Sixteen PEGgers and friends packed into my lounge on a chilly evening late in May ready to work out an answer to that perpetually vexed question: what should I be charging as a professional editor. They had done their homework, completed a questionnaire and were raring to go.

It was a most stimulating evening and the discussion ranged widely. Not only did we talk money, but a great deal of other useful information was exchanged as well. I'll let you in on that later on (see "The Diversions" below), but let's look at the nitty-gritty first.

I thought that the best way to look at fees was for everyone to edit the same text and then answer a series of questions based on their work on that text. This meant we would all be working on a common basis. Everyone participated enthusiastically and sent me their edited text and completed questionnaire in advance, enabling me to go through their replies and draw up a summary to start off the discussions.

Variety
As in all exercises of this sort, the variety in the answers was probably the most striking element. However, some trends were discernable. Fourteen people did the editing and submitted the questionnaire, which gave a good basis for comparison.

The first question in the questionnaire was aimed at establishing the types of clients for which people are working. Obviously one can work for clients in more than one category, but it was interesting - since PEG came into existence as a group to support editors in the book publishing field - to find that the vast majority (10 respondents) still work for publishers. Five do work for corporate clients and there was a mix of other types of clients: magazines, media, the academic world, NGOs, churches, market research organisations and government.

The text used for the exercise was just under 2 300 words (7,5 pages of 300 words). I did not go through the edited texts in any sort of depth - just glanced at them to see the extent of editing that had been done. In general the editing seemed to be competent, although in a few cases it was clearly inadequate. This was reflected in the length of time it took members to do the editing, which varied from one hour to two-and-a-half hours. The average was around two hours.

I then asked what the members would have charged a client for this particular piece of editing, bearing in mind that it was an extract from a longer document, not a stand-alone text. The charges varied between R120 and R450, with one person saying he charged a minimum fee of R500. The hourly charges varied between R120 and R230, those made on a word basis between 10c and 20c. The average charge for this particular piece of editingworked out to R310 = R155 per hour = 13,5c per word. The mean worked out to R360.

[A quick diversion: I recently undertook a survey for another organisation and consulted a statistician about the best way to present the results. In his view, one should give both the average and the mean. The average is the normal figure one sees, obtained by adding all the responses and dividing by the total number of responses. The mean is the middle value of all those received, indicating that in any sample 50% of people would charge more than that and 50% less. Together with the maximum and minimum value in each case, these two figures give readers a good overview of the results.]

I then tried to establish how many pages (of 250 to 300 words) one can generally edit in an hour. Once again, the range was extreme - from one to 15 pages! Obviously this figure is influenced by the quality of the manuscript and members felt that a good editor should be able to finalise between two and six pages an hour, depending on this quality. The aver- age here worked out to 3,5 pages at the lower end of the scale. As a matter of interest, we obtained figures from two institutions that employ full-time editors; the one works on a daily output rate of 15 pages of 250 words (470 words or about 2 pages an hour) and the other on 18 pages of 300 words a day (675 words or 2,25 pages an hour). I think it is important to bear in mind that these figures would cover work to final quality and do not indicate just your initial edit.

Another fact I tried to establish was the basis on which most editors charge their clients. Once again, the responses varied. Seven members said they charged on an hourly basis and two on a word basis, while four used both these methods, depending on who the client was.

Standard charges
Finally, we got down to brass tacks, with me asking what members' standard charges were and also how much they thought an editor should be earning, in view of their expertise and what the job involved. As always, the responses varied over a wide range. As to what an editor should be earning, the figures varied between R100 an hour and R500 an hour, with an average of R220 and a mean of R200. As regards what members are specifically charging, we looked at three categories.

For corporate clients, charges varied between R120 and R500 an hour, averaging R200-220. Charges on a word basis were between 10c and 20c, which works out to R60-120 per hour on the basis of two pages of editing an hour and R100-200 on the basis of 3,5 pages an hour.

In the case of work for publishers, many respondents said the publishers paid a set fee and that was what they worked for. Not many quoted that fee, but we did establish that one publisher pays R140 an hour for editing and R100 an hour for proofreading, and that another pays R35-40 per page of 250 words for editing (which works out to R70-80 an hour on the basis of two pages of editing an hour and R120-140 on the basis of 3,5 pages an hour). Editors who set their own charges gave figures of R130 to R500 an hour, with the average between R140 and R200.

The other major source of editing is academic work - generally theses for postgraduate students. Here many people used a reduced rate, on the basis that students simply cannot afford the same as other clients. The point was made, however, that one should establish the student's situation and not simply accept that this is the case with all students; often a company pays for an employee's studies and in this case a full rate can be charged. The same applies to NGOs; some appear to have limitless funding and can well afford to pay their editors a decent rate. For deserving cases, however, the trend seems to be to charge half to three-quarters of one's corporate rate. The range varied from R80 to R500 an hour, with an average of R130-150. Members felt that in this category it is a matter of deciding on one's personal charity level and what one could afford in "community service".

Different fees for different clients?
Certain members have a standard fee and charge it across the board. I asked whether members felt editors should have a differentiated scale of fees for different types of clients and this elicited some hot discussion, both at the meeting and in the questionnaires. Although I had based the questionnaire on the three categories above, the answer in principle to this question was a resounding "no". The feeling was that one should get paid the same for doing the same work, no matter who the client is. However, editors have to be pragmatic and so they accept that one generally does have to make a distinction. The distinction boiled down essentially to the three categories above, although further differentiation can occur within categories. One member commented as follows: "The distinction should be between profit-making and non-profit-making organisations. Some publishers, for instance university presses, have minute budgets and struggle to break even. Others make huge profits. Some NGOs have unlimited funds to waste on endless conferences and trips and fancy hotels and can therefore be expected to pay commercial rates for professional work; others have limited funds and tightly controlled budgets but do enormously worthwhile work. In the end, for me it boils down to whether the job is worthwhile and whether I want to do it. If I feel it is important and the client can't afford to pay my usual fee, I will tailor my fee to the circumstances of the client." This is probably a good summary of most members' feelings.

One member told us that where she charges a reduced rate for editing theses, for example, she requires payment on delivery. Another comment was that short jobs should carry a minimum charge and urgency should carry a premium. In addition, the editor's expertise in a subject may be a factor in fee determination, particularly in technical subjects.

The final word
So what was the outcome of all this discussion? Probably the most important truths to emerge were that nothing is set in stone and that there will always be a range of charges. None the less, the final agreement of the evening was as follows:

• An editor should be earning around R200 an hour in the corporate market.
• Publishers that can afford this should be paying the same, but the average here is probably nearer R130-140 an hour for hard-copy editing and R150-160 an hour for electronic editing.
• Electronic editing should pay more, as the editor is doing a certain amount of the work normally required of the typesetter and so is saving the publisher money further down the line.
• As far as theses and academic editing are concerned, and also in the case of NGOs, a discounted rate can be offered in deserving cases, but it is a good idea to establish funding sources and capacities in advance.

The diversions
Discussion at the meeting was wide-ranging, going far beyond the evening's "official" topic. Below are some points that came up that may be of interest to members.

• Should editors be charging VAT? Only if you are registered for VAT, which you have to do only if you earn over R300 000 a year.
• Should clients be deducting tax from what they pay you? By rights they should, unless you have a tax directive from the Receiver of Revenue (which has to be obtained annually for each client) saying otherwise. Not all companies do this, however; some pay you your full fee as a contractor and leave you to sort out your tax affairs. They should issue you with an IRP5 form reflecting your earnings and any deductions at the end of each tax year, though.
• It would sometimes be useful for publishers to explain the whole production cycle to new editors, so that they gain an understanding of where they fit into the greater scheme of things and what may be expected of them. On the other hand, it is equally incumbent on a new editor to do some research and gather background information on the publishing industry and process before s/he enters the market.
• What come-back does a publisher have when an editor does not deliver on time? This is serious and the editor should be penalised in some way, possibly monetarily. An editor should receive a brief or memorandum up front from the publisher and this should stipulate elements such as deadlines and penal- ties. It is important for editors to understand their place in the production chain and why it is essential for them to deliver on time. By the same token, un- reasonable demands should not be made of editors. An editor should inform the publisher as soon as s/he sees things are starting to run behind schedule and not wait until the last minute.
• Related to the above point is the fact that freelancers are sometimes inclined to take on too much work or are unable to predict exactly when the work they have agreed to is going to be received. This sometimes creates time conflicts, but one has to sort things out and not leave clients in the lurch at the last minute. It is essential to keep any undertaking you make.
• Should publishers pay a higher rate if they expect an editor to deal with an art brief, sort out references and other tasks in addition to copy-editing? There was a resounding YES to this question, even though this seems to be fairly commonly expected of the editor. As with everything, all elements are negotiable, but should be spelled out and agreed on at the start of a job.
• How do you assess how long an editing assignment is likely to take? There is really no quick and easy solution here. Essentially you have to sit down with the text and look at it in detail to obtain an idea of how much work is going to be involved. It might be useful to edit a few pages to get a feel for how the text is written.
• Is it acceptable for publishers to ask an editor they have not worked with before to do a test piece? All the editors present felt this was completely acceptable and they would have no problem with doing such a test. It is, after all, almost the only way for a publisher to determine whether you can do the job.