Quote:
Originally Posted by Lemurion
I hope so; though I think our degree of disagreement can be quantified by the amount less than $50 an hour you think copyediting is worth.
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I'm not sure from where this $50 baseline has arisen. Copyeditor services in the United States range from $12/hour to $250/hour (and perhaps even higher) depending on what is being edited. For example, an experienced financial editor who copyedits SEC reports for Fortune 500 companies and an experienced medical editor who copyedits pharmaceutical inserts and FDA reports charge significantly more than the copyeditor who works on romance novels. The level of skills and knowledge required are significantly different, as are the levels of harm that can be incurred as a result of improper editing.
No one I know would sue a romance author or publisher because the copyeditor missed that the heroine had blue eyes on page 10 and now has gray eyes on page 12 or wore a size 4 on page 20 but suddenly wears a size 40 on page 31.
OTOH, an error in an SEC or FDA filing can have serious financial and other consequences for the client and for those who rely on the accuracy of the material.