Landed two more small jobs today. The first is to copy-edit (in-line, no reorganization or major rewriting) 13 articles. The other is to write the copy for a tri-fold brochure.
The tri-fold is done–at least for tonight. I’ll look at it again tomorrow to make sure I’m still happy with it and that I can’t tweak it to make it better before I send it along to the client to review.
After that, I’ll tackle the thirteen 500-word copy-editing pieces. Copy-editing isn’t as lucrative as copy-writing, so I’ll spend about three hours on this project.
The last-mentioned client is auditioning two copy-editors. Whoever does the best job will get a slew more to do. (February 20 update: I did the best job and will get all of this client’s future editing work. WOO HOO!)
I prefer writing copy from scratch but having a steady weekly editing job would be a nice way to earn additional income during the hours I’m not writing from scratch.
When editing (in-line) I have to be more reined-in and traditional (more school teacher-like) because the copy is usually written in that way to begin with. (Yawn.) Most copy I get to edit isn’t as musical or compelling as it can be when it gets to me, and I’m rarely paid enough to make that kind of magic happen unless I’m writing from scratch. Most clients don’t want to pay copy writing rates for copy-editing and enhancement. They figure they already paid to have it written once so they consider tweaking (at less cost) “good enough”. And I’m there to please them within their budgets, so I do that. It never feels as good as delivering something a-may-zing, but it is what it is.
He asked what I’d charge to do an extreme makeover on them (to bring them up to my own standards) and I said, “If you want them A-1 quality, I’d have to rewrite them completely. They’d be $100 each.”
He decided to wait and see what happens with the in-line copy-edit instead. Fortunately, what he has isn’t irredeemable; I will be able to improve it noticeably for a lot less than I would charge to write it again from scratch. His writing betrays the reality that he learned English later in life–it’s filled with problematic issues–but it’s nothing that can’t be remedied. The trajectory is there, the talking points are there; they just need to be massaged so the copy reads as though a native wrote it.
I’m getting to this blog very late tonight, so this is all I’ll write for now. I’ll come up with something more noteworthy tomorrow later in the day, God willing and the creeks don’t rise…
