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Originally Posted by BWinmill
It wouldn't surprise me if these steep fees hit many different types of publication. I think that many people seem to forget that there are many different types of publication, and the responsibilities of the copy editor will vary according to the type of publication. Copy editing for a novel is going to be fairly light weight compared to a non-fiction book for a general audience. Copy editing a non-fiction book for a general audience is going to require less effort and fewer specialized skills than an academic text. Clearly you aren't going to pay the same rates in those cases.
Is $10,000 reasonable? I don't know. I've only done copy editing once, was paid hourly, and it certainly cost the author in the thousands of dollars. That book was at the border of general non-fiction and academic.
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If you get away from fiction, yes, that can be very different. The most difficult editing jobs - we are in the middle of several now - are for annual reports for major public corporations - the financial reports in particular. The figures have to be exact, all director and senior management reports have to vetted from both a legal and an investor viewpoint. We have to carry much higher and more comprehensive insurance as an error - even if the client signs off on it - can result in a major lawsuit. That sort of editing can often go well over twenty-five, even thirty-five thousand dollars. Editing a novel, by comparison, is simplicity.