Q: I’ve got a client who’s hired me to do several straight copywriting projects, along with editing of some lengthy manuals. They want to tighten up the copy in advance of reprinting them. There’s also some brochure copy they’ve already written that needs cleaning up. Do I charge less for editing than for copywriting?
A: In the larger writing world, editing does command lower rates than copywriting, usually $25-45 an hour, depending on one’s experience (vs. $50-125 an hour for copywriting). That said, if I’m being hired to do various copywriting projects and editing is part of the mix, I don’t charge less than my normal rate. And, more importantly, I’ve never been asked to. Chances are as well, that while they say it’s just editing, you’ll be doing a bit of restructuring also, and then you’re back in copywriting territory. In my experience, once I’ve established my value with a client, they’re happy to pay my rate across the board, and never, NOT once, has the issue come up of charging less for different writing-related activities.