Guild Member Rate Survey

The ten-question survey was conducted in April 2007, with members typically reporting on rates and income from 2006. Seventy-nine members participated in the survey. For highlights from the survey, see below. Or, view the raw data from the survey (PDF).

Highlights

1. Do you edit part-time or full-time?

57% part-time
43% full-time

2. Annual gross income from all forms of editing:

Part-timers:
0-$9,000: 36%
$10,000-$19,000: 29%
$20,000-$29,000: 12%
$30,000-$39,000: 7%
$40,000 or more: 5%

Full-timers:
$10,000-$19,000: 7%
$20,000-$29,000: 27%
$30,000-$39,000: 23%
$40,000 or more: 37%

3-5. Rates charged for various services

Proofreading:
Corporate/tech/Web: $30 and $45 were most frequent responses
Books/journalism/indiv/nonprofit: $25 was by far the most frequent response (cited by about half of respondents)

Copyediting:
Corporate/tech/Web: There was a cluster around $30-$40, and another at $50+
Books/journalism/indiv/nonprofit: $35 was most frequent response, though substantial numbers said $25, $30, and $50+

Developmental/substantive editing:
Corporate/tech/Web: About a third charge $60+; 20% charge $45
Books/journalism/indiv/nonprofit: There was a cluster around $40-$50, and a smaller group at $60+

6. Rush fee

None:  66% of respondents
25%:   18% of respondents
50%:   15% of respondents
100%: 1 respondent

7. Number of editing-related clients in 2006

1-5:  44%
5-9:  34%
10+: 19%

8. Methods of obtaining new clients

Referrals from other clients/editors: 84%
Guild website (member dir/job board/listserv): 40%
Cold-calling: 21%
Networking event: 19%
Own website: 18%
Advertising: 4%

9. What kind of work we do

At least 75% of respondents are entirely freelancers (do no staff editing). Most are at least somewhat diversified; few respondents reported doing 75-100% of any one kind of editing.

Copyediting was the most popular type of editing, with 90% of respondents doing at least some, followed by developmental/substantive editing (81%), proofreading (78%), writing (73%), and teaching (41%).

The vast majority of those doing proofreading said it was 0-24% of their work. A smaller percentage said 25-49%; no one said 75-100%.

For the exact distribution of who does how much of what kind of work, see the raw results: 2006 Rate Survey (PDF).

10. Comments

We got thirty-three comments, which will help us design an even better survey next year -- thank you, everyone!  Read the comments at the end of the complete survey results (PDF).