An Insider’s Guide to Copy Editors

Copy editing is an unusual field. Its practitioners carry no credentials. The better publications hire better copy editors, as a rule, but they also hire better writers. So what does the copy editor add? And what should a copy editor’s services cost?

Let’s begin with cost. Freelance copy editors for major publishing companies earn about $23 an hour. Production editors, who farm out the work and review the results, expect copy editors to complete eight or nine pages an hour, on average. Some copy takes more time, some takes less.

Along with editing for correct grammar, usage, and syntax, the copy editor’s services include “coding” the manuscript so that the graphic designer can tell, for instance, which are the primary subheadings and which are secondary. In addition, the copy editor prepares a style guide, often several pages long, that explains treatment of spellings (“advisor” vs. “adviser”), numbers (spell out one through nine; use numerals for higher), usage (no comma before a terminal “too”), and all sorts of details (“Ukraine” not “the Ukraine”) that make a text consistent. For his or her troubles, a freelance copy editor might take home $750 for a 300-page book.

(Having worked as a copy editor, I’ll encapsulate how that rate of compensation makes copy editors feel: Paranoid (a) that their skills aren’t truly appreciated; (b) that other publishing professionals doing less intellectually demanding work are better compensated; (c) that they won’t be able to get by as a copy editor without moving to a smaller apartment.)

Occasionally, a copy editor gets an opportunity to earn a little extra cash. A rush job comes in, for which big publishing houses pay as much as double (and as little as $2 extra per hour).

But lucrative assignments are rare enough that many copy editors look for opportunities to leave commercial publishing and take on their own clients, one at a time. At that point, they charge from $30 to $55 an hour, or even higher. How can they command such rates? Because an editor who truly scrutinizes text, and has an understanding of the rules, is difficult to find and helps publications maintain high standards. (One day, Web sites will hire copy editors, and then they will have high standards.)

Qualities to look for in a copy editor’s work:

• Brevity. Notes on a copy edited manuscript—whether in tracked changes or on the page itself—should be taut. Look for “insider” copy editor catchphrases: “Ok as set?”; “Cut to fix redundancy”; “Text rearranged for flow”; “Recast for sense.” Such notes tell you (the editor) exactly what was done and why.
• Attribution. If a copy editor is making a debatable call on, say, a spelling, scan for a reference: “Per Web 11” refers to Webster’s abridged dictionary (eleventh ed.), “WIT” to the classic Words into Type, and so on.
• Common sense. Copy editors read in a different way from ordinary readers—i.e., they’re fault-finders. Effective copy editors will query suspect facts, claims out of line with mainstream thought, and, of course, wordiness. But copy editors are not rewriters. They should not show too much zeal to recast sentences or split hairs on word choice.

As for the big publishing companies, a single term explains their appeal for copy editors: “rock star.” Getting an acknowledgement from an Ellen DeGeneres or a Dr. Phil is a fine feather in the editorial cap. But, as many copy editors come to realize, working for a manager who appreciates a conscientiously edited article, monograph, or report—and will pay for it—can be a more satisfying proposition in the long run.

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