Why do so many indie writers go to so much trouble to write a book and then skimp on editing?
Why do so many indie writers go to so much trouble to write a book and then skimp on editing?Just like most things that have to do with writing, if you ask three authors a question, you’ll get five answers.There are nearly as many reasons for this perceived problem as there are indie writers. There are also many indie writers who don’t skimp on editing.Here are some of the things that are going on:Editing is horribly expensive.Good editing is really hard to get, whether or not it was expensive.Many of the most voracious readers, who are the lifeblood of indie writers, easily forgive poor editing in exchange for getting the next story out quickly.Finishing a book is terribly exciting and it is really, really hard not to just publish it instantly if you know you can.It is really hard to learn to accept what editors say, especially when you paid them a thousand dollars or more to act like they didn’t understand a thing you wrote. Many writers, professional, indie, or whatever, never get over this. Some get the negative feedback a couple of times and then decide they are done with editors. Some get positive feedback for so long they decide they don’t need editors.There is no real right choice here. What do you do when your fans love your stories and an editor hates it? You stop paying the stupid editor and keep selling books to your fans, that’s what!Do I wish everyone would use an editor? Meh…Do I wish everyone would use a proofreader? Yeah…Do I wish everyone would at least run a spellcheck? That is a big YES.I also wish they would look over a proof copy to see the mistakes, but then, I’ve seen mistakes in proof copies that big publishers decided it wasn’t worth fixing.Many of the people who complain about skimpy editing on indie books (and I am not pointing to the asker of this question, I’m just making a general statement) overlook the skimpy editing on a large percentage of books put out by large publishers—those books are not perfect either. It’s really had to catch all of the mistakes even when you have a big production team.I try to be forgiving of the indies, not only because I often publish that way myself, but because I know how hard it is to catch all the problems. What I don’t tolerate well are those who really didn’t even try.
How much should I charge to edit my professor's dissertation?
Charge him professional rates only if you feel you have professional-level skills, not in Egyptology but in written English. It sounds to me as if you have good amateur skills, so you might want to discount the price structure I'm about to give you. Since his work requires an editor's understanding of technical terminology, insist that he provide you with written definitions from a native English speaker, including parts of speech and differentiating similar terms from one another. http://www.the-efa.org/res/rates.html listed these editing rates in 2007. They're based on the industry standard of 250 words per page, which is the average for double-spaced text if and only if it's in Courier 12 with one-inch margins on all four sides. If he is using another font, he's got more text per page and your rates should go up. "They [these rates] should be used only as a rough guideline; rates vary considerably depending on the nature of the work, the time frame of the assignment, the degree of special expertise required, and other factors." Type of Work ................Estimated Pace.......... Range of Fees Copyediting, basic ........5-10 ms pages/hour.. $20-35/hour Copyediting, heavy .......2-5 ms pages/hour.... $25-50/hour Developmental editing...1-5 pages/hour.......... $32-60/hour Proofreading .................3-10 ms pages/hour.. $20-35/hour It sounds to me like you would be doing heavy copy editing, since you will be correcting a lot of mistakes in his written English. Say you're fast, 5 pages an hour, and price yourself cheap, $20 an hour, because you are not a pro. 700 pages divided by 5 pages per hour comes to 140 hours, times $20 an hour, is $2800. But it's entirely possible that you won't be so fast, due to inexperience and the amount of correction required. 700 pages divided by 2 pages per hour comes to 350 hours, times $20 an hour, is $7000. Don't undervalue your services. Urge him to seek professional editors online. He will find the prices are both high and fair. As an academic, he understands knowledge has value, and he should be willing to pay for others' knowledge of written English.
Is it free to sign up for this barefoot writer thing?
Here's the link to the website i recently visited http://www.thebarefootwriter.com/free/ge... I want to know if it's free. Please answer this question!
My English teacher calls me a "brilliant" writer, but tells me not to pursue English... Advice please?
Why not ask her for some other suggestions, or go back to her with more questions about some careers you're interested in? Or better yet, make an appointment at the career center, since they probably have more information about more careers than your professor does. It sounds like she is not discouraging you from majoring in English, but rather trying to get you to think about your career and plan for it. What did you have in mind when you told her you wanted to pursue a "career in English?" English professor? I think she may have been as puzzled as you are. I'd be puzzled too if someone told me they wanted a "career in English." It's very vague. Good English professor jobs are incredibly difficult to get, and it doesn't look like it will be getting much better in the near future. Again, risky time investment unless you love research so much that you don't mind spending 6 or so years doing it on subsistence wages without the promise of a job after getting your PhD. Making a living as a professional author is not easy. It's not just about writing talent, as you can probably guess by all the mediocre yet popular fiction out there; on the other side are plenty of very talented writers who never get published or don't sell enough copies to quit their day job. You need to know the business and people in the business. Journalism is also suffering. With your talent, you might be able to make it in one of these fields, but I think that what she is saying is that you need to know, realistically, what you're getting into and plan accordingly. In terms of salary and job security, you can probably do better, but that doesn't mean you should abandon them if it's what you really want to do. Follow your dreams, but not aimlessly. Have a plan and a solid backup plan. Get valuable work/volunteer/internship experience. Publish your work. Humanities majors are great for teaching you to write and think well, but they aren't meant to prepare you for a specific career, so it's up to you to make sure you're getting experiences outside the classroom (or in other disciplines) that will fill out your resume and qualify you for the kind of job you want.