on editing

butch dalisay, my favorite blogger, wrote a 2-part post on editing. i emailed him this pronto:

"thank you very much for that wonderful blogpost on editing. let me ask this question: what are the going rates for light, moderate, and heavy editing? or, is there a practical billing method you can suggest especially that clients here don't understand industry standards and would haggle until you're a centavo away from agreeing to do it for a song?"

within an hour, mr. dalisay emailed back, thus:


"hi, romel, thanks for your message. i knew someone was going to ask this, and my unfortunate and frustrating answer has to be, it depends--on the job, on who's contracting you for the job, on your own credentials, on the schedule, etc. within that range i've done everything from P5,000 for something almost token--a review of a document taking less than an hour--to P150,000 for editing a full-sized book.

again, there's no set system of rates for these things, not even for me. what i often do is to keep a personal goal in mind (i'd say, for example, that this particular job will cover all my credit card bills for the month, or take care of my next ticket to the US to visit my mother); that way i'm happy and motivated.

i try not to undersell myself, but i also try to understand the client's needs and capability. i have no compunction charging rich people and institutions top rates; sometimes i might also do jobs pro bono for something or some people i like."

another writer-friend, faye ilogon, said the same thing: it depends; you know, the more crooked the English, the higher the fees.

thank you, mr. dalisay for making it clear to me not to undersell myself!