Ever Notice?
Interesting that while there are many insultingly low-paying gigs for writers–two dollars for an article, for example–and scammer sites aimed at freelancers, editors hardly seem to be on the radar.
There could be a number of reasons for this, but it is fascinating as a concept. Writers’ work is frequently seen as little more than a commodity. I remember one CEO asking what the difference between a product description and a blog was. He failed to understand even the most basic concept of blogging–that a blog is an entity and not an individual piece of work.
There’s nothing inherently wrong with that–until you presume to try and structure a company around things like blogs and social media. But I digress. It’s fascinating that editing isn’t the target of scam sites and low-payers. It seems that giving someone the ultimate responsibility for printed or online material getting completed in an accurate, readable fashion isn’t something you can simply throw a few pennies at.
Imagine a job ad where an editor was offered the same terms as some of these low-balling writing gigs. “Editor wanted for revisions. One dollar per article.” They’d be laughed out of court!
That said, I am sure some try–or have tried. Have you seen such laughable ads? If so, we’re dying to hear from you. Please post your experiences in the comments and share your favorite bad editor job story. Some of us think these are less plentiful than for writers…but what’s YOUR experience?
I’m going to completely disagree with you here. If you look at sites like GetaFreelancer and Craigslist, you’ll see tons of low or no price proofreading and editing gigs. Also, content mills like Demand Studios pay very small amounts to their editors–I believe they get $3.50 per 400-500 word article. Though I don’t know this for sure, I’d be willing to bet sites like Suite 101 and Bright Hub also offer piss poor pay (heh) to their editors.
Now I have to admit to TOTAL tunnelvision here-I had never really looked at those sites—I saw the rates for writers and ran away screaming. Never looked close enough to see what the editor gigs were going for. So there’s a whole new world of crap to discover out there? Care to write an article correcting my perception?
Call me evil…
Call me sucker…I think it’s just something you see less of because cheap editors aren’t as in-demand as cheap writers. Plus, you know me, trollin’ with the bottom-feeders every chance I get. I will work on a post…probably next week since I have some jerks on my butt for another deadline. Yeah, lookin’ at you…:D
There are plenty of scammers out there. I once got had by a small publisher who asked me to do a proofreading sample. Fair enough, but I should have realized that a proofreading sample *of the book I would be working on if I got the job* was a big red flag. She just farmed out chapters to everyone who applied for the job.
Hi Helen, thanks for posting this–so glad we’re having a dialog about scams for editors–I’ve honestly never encountered one unlike my work on the other side of the desk…this has been quite educational and I hope others chime in on editing scams as well…
I definitely see your point, though there is a lot of Craigslist junk out there. Right now editors aren’t more in demand than writers, though. They’re being completely cut out of the publishing process sometimes, at least for a lot of online content.