The Write Way.

I get asked this question all the time and there are two answers: Yes. And maybe.If an author is serious about a book project, hiring a cheap editor at a few bucks per hour will get that author a bucket of frustration and not much forward progress toward putting the book in the hands of a publisher and getting it the respect and notice it deserves.

When the industry standard to write a quality book proposal that meets agent/publisher standards is $5000 – $10,000, getting a substantive edit for a couple hundred is not realistic. Hiring a professional editor to do a substantive, or developmental edit on a book project can often be the best route for an author who is unsure of her voice, or one who hasn’t had a book published yet.

Professionals – trained, experienced professionals, don’t come cheap. Most professional editors charge in excess of a thousand dollars for a full-length non-fiction book. Fiction costs 20% more than non. Ghosts’ fees will start at $20K for a 250 page novel. Both types of book doctors will create pay-over-time plans for their fees. Often the ghost and editor are the same person – it’s the same set of skills. Remember, we are not talking proof-reading here. If an author is serious about his work, and he makes the decision to seek out a high-quality editor/ghost, his novel, or her non-fiction book will end up with a better-than-typical shot at being published.

But for a few hundred or a grand, the author can get his book, and soul, ripped to shreds by a run-of-the-mill editor, whose goal is to prove how much better she is than the author is. The the author must put the manuscript in a drawer, happy that his neighbor loved it, but disappointed that it never got off an agent’s slush pile. With 190 books published per minute, and many times that submitted – you get what you pay for.

READ MORE:

Ghost writing and substantive editing

How to make money as a freelancer

Make $30K a year from your blog

Earn $30,000 daily from your blog. $30K from blogging? Well, Darren Rouse, the world’s most prolific blogger, says you can. Who’s going to argue with him? If you can manage to parley your blog into $30K a year, you should absolutely quit your day job and make your fortune with your imagination, but I’m not sure it will be in blogging.

Darren says you have to specialize. yeah. We know. Focus. OK, done. He says diversify – add revenue streams from different sources – at $80 some a day, you’ll hit $30 thousand a year. So you put up Googlee adsense, other click through ads, Amazon links, other affiliate programs and so on and so on.

I just took down Google adsense – I didn’t score a nickle in a year. Most bloggers will tell you adsense doesn’t bring in enough money to sneeze at unless you happen to be a content farm with tons of unique visitors.

Amazon – sure. I like Amazon. $30,000? Don’t think so.

Your own ebooks – another suggestion from Darren’s list.  Well, if you do some research, you’ll find many experts saying it’s highly unlikely that you will sell ebooks off a blog or personal website. I happen to have some consistent sales of mine off this site, OnText. Darren says you can do it. Try it.

And the list goes on. But, of course, the key is, as it has always been, developing a niche, developing outstanding content, and promoting the site effectively. It’s a full-time++ job to make a blog pay off. You can do it from home – working from home is an enviable situation. But you will work – make no mistake.

I think, if you are a capable writer, and want to spend a ton of time working, put your effort into submitting to regional and area-wide magazines and newspapers. Nationals are good, too, if you have a platform – like a well-established blog, perhaps. Have a look at Darren’s blog and see if his plan suits you. Good luck with it. Let me know how you do.

Want to read more?

Explore the OnText website – a resource for writers.

Writing for content mills - money there?

Make real money as a freelance writer

Do you know the difference between various self-publishing options available to authors? The following specific definitions of publishing options is attributed to the Writer Beware section of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. It bears repeating.

A commercial publisher purchases the right to publish a manuscript (usually together with other rights, known as subsidiary rights), and pays the author a royalty on sales. Most also pay an advance on royalties. Commercial publishers are highly selective, publishing only a tiny percentage of manuscripts submitted. They handle every aspect of editing, publication, distribution, and marketing. There are no costs to the author.

A vanity publisher prints and binds a book at the author’s sole expense. Costs include the publisher’s profit and overhead, so vanity publishing is usually a good deal more expensive than self-publishing. The completed books are the property of the author, and the author retains all proceeds from sales. Vanity publishers may exclude objectionable content such as pornography, but otherwise do not screen for quality.

A subsidy publisher also takes payment from the author to print and bind a book, but contributes a portion of the cost and/or adjunct services such as editing, distribution, warehousing, and marketing. Theoretically, subsidy publishers are selective. The completed books are the property of the publisher, and remain in the publisher’s possession until sold. Income to the writer comes in the form of a royalty.

Self-publishing, like vanity publishing, requires the author to bear the entire cost of publication, and also to handle all marketing, distribution, storage, etc. However, rather than paying for a pre-set package of services, the author puts those services together himself. Because every aspect of the process can be out to bid, self-publishing can be much more cost effective than vanity publishing; it can also result in a higher-quality product. Completed books are owned by the author, who keeps all proceeds from sales. –Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers

I listened to an 82 year-old woman author tell a horror story at a writers’ group meeting a few months back. She got talked into publishing her World War II memoir, a very good one, in fact, with a company that charged her various fees for a ton of services. She ended up spending big bucks per book, even though her book sold well through the marketing she did with it.

Pay attention to what you are signing when you sign an agreement. Consider hiring a certified ghost writer if your book can truly become agentable. Take care of yourself, your intellectual properties, and your pocketbook. NO one else will.

Read more about publishing your work:

A contest for books self published

Strange publishing trends (vampires and little women??)

Advice from book agent Chip MacGregor

The 4th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards (NIEA) announces a call for submissions for their book competition. Excellence in independent publishing is the focus.

The award program is coordinated by Beverly Hills, California based book shepherd Ellen Reid, who says,

“The goal is to recognize excellence in independent- and self-published books, a rapidly growing segment of a publishing industry that is going through constant growth and transformation.”

Books published from 2007 to the present by self-published authors, small press, and independent publishers can be submitted for consideration in categories of their choice. Winners and finalists will be announced nationally in mid May 2009.

Winners and finalists are promised extensive media coverage, and top award recipients are eligible to win prizes valued in excess of $12,000. Prizes include sessions with outstanding media and PR consultants, marketing experts, and others in a position to assist authors and publishers in creating greater success with their books.

Last years’ grand prize winner was the book Global Warming Is Good for Business: How Savvy Entrepreneurs, Large Corporations, and Others are Making Money While Saving the Planet by Kimberley B. Keilbach.

For information about the contest and to learn how to make a submission, visit Indie Excellence web site. The deadline for entries is March 31, 2010.

What to charge for the writing and editorial work you do is a puzzlement for many writers, especially those beginning their career or transitioning to another kind of writing or editorial service. Bookmark the Editorial Freelancers Association rates and fees page and you’ll never have to sweat what to charge.

Spend some time reading and digesting the suggested fees from EFA.

Don’t just latch onto a fee and adapt it to your work. Think about where you work — if you work from a home office, you’ll look at where your customers are. For example. If I’m writing for a national publication out of New York, my rate might be higher than something I create for a regional publication in Mississippi.

Consider how much competition you have in a particular market. If every job posting for entertainment copywriters nets hundreds of replies, you might moderate your rate for that kind of writing. It’s your choice.

If you work more slowly than average or even senior copywriters, seriously think about softening your rate so your customer feels a true sense of value when they pay you. On the other hand, if you are as swift as a hummingbird shoot for the high end of the range.

It’s sometimes difficult to set a flat rate for your writing. Recently, I contracted with a small agency.  They required, against my instinct, a flat rate for a project. Later, they wanted me to convert to an hourly, and then decided the flat was better, after all. I might have done better to set a flat rate for the bulk of the project and include an hourly rate for work that went beyond the agreed upon scope and volume. Like this: $2500 for three agreed upon deliverables and two rounds of revisions. Add $75 per hour for anything additional.

The best idea is to study the EFA chart and create one of your own after considering your variables. Once you have your chart keep it up-to-date, based on your markets and skills. That’s a simple way to quote a reasonable and profitable rate for any project.

Make Real Money as a Freelance Writer Need help selling your writing or services? How about a writing coach?