What’s $1,000 a Month? (3/28/2010)

Even in a booming economy, $1,000 a month is a lot of money. It’s a respectable apartment. It’s a plane trip to Paris. It’s your student loan payment, your credit card payment, and your phone, internet, and cable bill all rolled into one. It’s paying back your dad. It’s fixing most of the things wrong with your car. It’s a wedding gown. It’s a root canal.

But in a recession, even $100 a month is a lot of money. It’s a cell phone bill, or a really good cable package with HBO and an internet bundle. It’s a couple great sushi dinners with top-shelf sake and tempura bananas for dessert. It’s leather boots. It’s car insurance. It’s gas. It’s a week of ordering in fancy, vegetarian artisan sandwiches for lunch instead of packing PB&J and an Activia.

But, what if you have a novel? What if your dream is to sell your novel? To have an agent sweep you up, polish you off, and present you to Random House or Penguin or Vintage and say, “We’ve found them! The person who will make the written page come alive again!”

And what if you couldn’t even get to step one (the agent sweeping you up part) unless you hired an editor first? You know that agents these days just don’t have the time to wade through a manuscript that isn’t already polished and cleaned and formatted to industry standards. And I’m talking about the kind of polished and cleaned that your college term papers never dreamed of being. Although I know they tried. No one is saying they didn’t try.

So, why are writers afraid to hire editors?

Because $1,000 a month is a Balenciaga handbag. And hiring an editor seems almost as indulgent.

The average freelance fiction editor charges over $30 an hour for their services. And why not? It’s a white-collar job. They have to pay their own healthcare. And it’s their livelihood. Most office jobs average that pay. So why shouldn’t they?

Well, that’s fine and good, but here you are, trying to make your own $30 an hour. Plus trying to pay the cable bill and student loans, buy your kids school clothes, maybe even eat a nice sushi dinner once in a while.

I mean, you want to write. Hell, you DO write! And you can admit you need a little professional guidance. But who can shell out $1,000 a month for a non-necessity? Who can even shell out $100 these days?

After all this build-up, can you guess the answer?

The answer is YOU.

You probably can and you probably should if you want to honor the time you’ve spent honing your craft, writing your book, and dreaming your dream of being a writer.

And here is the trick: if you are willing to take the process slowly, there are editors out there who will pace slowly and according to your budget, billing in small increments, even if your budget is $100 a month. Some even offer discounts to the deserving and/or interesting. After all, it’s in a editor’s best interest, if they like you and like your work, to take you on as a client. Even if it’s only for 4 or 5 hours of work every month. And it’s in your best interest to hire an editor, even if it’s on the layaway plan.

I have three clients right now: one who can afford 10 hours a week of my time, and two who can each only afford 5 hours a month. It is to be expected. Between editing and coaching the three of them, selling books online, and ghostwriting a book for a fourth client, I cobble together a living. It’s an old-fashioned way to do things, being a cobbler, but I love it. Keeps life interesting and feels real. Real people, real work. Hand to hand, eye to eye. I know what I do and for whom and why.

Freelance editors like me work and thrive in a village economy and should be aware of the lay of the land, making themselves accessible to writers. That doesn’t mean they should put themselves on sale or do work for free (besides the initial consultation and specifically chosen pro bono projects). A discount to a struggling writer is advisable, but only if the editor gets joy from the project itself. Working in small increments or offering discounts keeps writers encouraged and keeps editors in business.

At the end of the day, your dream is more important that cable, more important than boots, more important than sushi, maybe not more important than your kids not going to school naked, but if you drop cable for a month instead, they won’t have to.

WRITERS BILL OF RIGHTS:You have the right to sacrifice a couple transitory pleasures for the lasting knowledge that you took your book seriously.

Be good and write well,
Be well and write good,

Nina