|
|
#96351 - 04/23/08 11:17 PM
What do i charge for a novel????
|
workn9to5
Junior Member
Registered: 10/18/07
Posts: 27
Loc: Dallas, tx
|
Hello everyone, I have a new dilema. I am an in-house radiology transcriptionist for one ESL doc. My doc came to me and said he is writing a book/novel and wanted to know if I could transcribe it from the microcassettes in my spare time. How should I charge him for this extra work? I have no clue how long it will be once we are done and frankly I wonder if I have bitten off more than I chew. I don't know how to figure out by the line so would it be better for to charge by the line or by the hour? The last time I had to transcribe his curriculum vitae and that was something like 33,000 lines.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#96367 - 04/24/08 09:46 AM
Re: What do i charge for a novel????
[Re: workn9to5]
|
Badfinger
Member
Registered: 11/07/07
Posts: 441
Loc: Grand Prairie, TX
|
Is this book/novel radiology related? If not, I wouldn't even waste my time.
_________________________
I've got something to say . . . . it's better to burn out than fade away.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#96369 - 04/24/08 09:59 AM
Re: What do i charge for a novel????
[Re: Badfinger]
|
14tonks
Member
Registered: 10/25/01
Posts: 6295
Loc: Only 3rd world country in US
|
If you decide to do it, charge by the line and charge more than your medical transcription rate because your templates, shortcuts, and expansions for that won't help you much with transcribing general narrative. He won't willingly pay you what you can make by the hour transcribing, so don't even get into hourly pay with him.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#96397 - 04/24/08 01:07 PM
Re: What do i charge for a novel????
[Re: 14tonks]
|
Badfinger
Member
Registered: 11/07/07
Posts: 441
Loc: Grand Prairie, TX
|
Have to agree with 14tonks there. If this is being done in your spare time, I'd charge top dollar!!
_________________________
I've got something to say . . . . it's better to burn out than fade away.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#96462 - 04/24/08 10:04 PM
Re: What do i charge for a novel????
[Re: Wordcraftr]
|
workn9to5
Junior Member
Registered: 10/18/07
Posts: 27
Loc: Dallas, tx
|
I am not sure what type of book it will be, but I don't think it is medical related. I get paid by the hour so I have considered just charging that rate (upper teens), but I want to make the most money possible (being that I am doing this in my "spare time". I consider myself to be slow at typing (I have tested consistantly at about 55 wpm).
Wordcraftr, how much did you charge by the word? By the page?
Thanks everyone.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#96464 - 04/24/08 10:13 PM
Re: What do i charge for a novel????
[Re: workn9to5]
|
tropsicleAfter
Member
Registered: 10/30/06
Posts: 2432
Loc: Vicksburg, MS
|
Think creatively.
Charge what you feel comfortable with for the typing AND get a percentage of gross sales.
_________________________
tropsicle
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#96465 - 04/24/08 10:24 PM
Re: What do i charge for a novel????
[Re: tropsicleAfter]
|
workn9to5
Junior Member
Registered: 10/18/07
Posts: 27
Loc: Dallas, tx
|
Thanks tropsicleAfter, I didn't even think about the % gross sales. I will keep everybody informed of how it goes and what kind of book it is.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#96467 - 04/24/08 10:37 PM
Re: What do i charge for a novel????
[Re: workn9to5]
|
14tonks
Member
Registered: 10/25/01
Posts: 6295
Loc: Only 3rd world country in US
|
Charge what you feel comfortable with for the typing AND get a percentage of gross sales.
Creative, but not too practical. First, she would have no way of ever verifying what gross sales were. Second, unless it a revision of a major medical text he is writing or editing by invitation, no percentage of a few dollars adds up to anything much, and that's about all that gross sales are likely to come to even if she could verify.
Get your money up front for your work and let the author worry about royalties. Charge a line rate that would give you a good personal secretary's hourly pay, because that is what he would ordinarily have to hire to do something like this.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#96469 - 04/24/08 10:53 PM
Re: What do i charge for a novel????
[Re: 14tonks]
|
tropsicleAfter
Member
Registered: 10/30/06
Posts: 2432
Loc: Vicksburg, MS
|
Most of the time, tonks, I am in awe of your insight and fund of knowledge.
However, this time, I think you are discouraging what MIGHT be an excellent opportunity for the OP. I did suggest that she charge what she is comfortable with AND attempt to get on the percentage train.
Once it's all contracted, there are excellent ways of verifying what the gross sales of this novel are. Is it common? No. Is it possible? You bet.
In fact, I am still getting substantial royalty checks from a very similar project I took on in the early 80s. I believe they call it thinking outside the box nowadays.
_________________________
tropsicle
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#96470 - 04/24/08 11:01 PM
Re: What do i charge for a novel????
[Re: tropsicleAfter]
|
AmBeck22
Member
Registered: 11/02/06
Posts: 326
Loc: WV
|
Everything I've seen for transcribing novels has been by the word. There was a website I was once a member of where novelists had ads for general transcribers and they paid by the word. On the other hand, some just offered a flat rate ($2000-4000). Just a thought. I think it would be interesting "reading."
_________________________
Amanda
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#96472 - 04/24/08 11:10 PM
Re: What do i charge for a novel????
[Re: AmBeck22]
|
workn9to5
Junior Member
Registered: 10/18/07
Posts: 27
Loc: Dallas, tx
|
If I were to charge by the word, does anyone have an estimate of what that rate should/could be?
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#96477 - 04/24/08 11:35 PM
Re: What do i charge for a novel????
[Re: tropsicleAfter]
|
14tonks
Member
Registered: 10/25/01
Posts: 6295
Loc: Only 3rd world country in US
|
However, this time, I think you are discouraging what MIGHT be an excellent opportunity for the OP. I did suggest that she charge what she is comfortable with AND attempt to get on the percentage train.
Once it's all contracted, there are excellent ways of verifying what the gross sales of this novel are. Is it common? No. Is it possible? You bet.
In fact, I am still getting substantial royalty checks from a very similar project I took on in the early 80s. I believe they call it thinking outside the box nowadays.
Then you were damn lucky in the unpublished novelist you chose to type for--unless you were working for an established author or typed a textbook or technical writing instead. As I said, if he has a contract for something like that, then it might make sense.
The number of wannabe novelists who ever get published by anyone except possibly themselves is small. The number who make any actual money on their book is minute.
The problem with charging what she is comfortable with and then asking for a percent is that the author is going to expect to pay less if she is asking for a percent. I expect he isn't planning on paying much now--that's why he's asked an MT to do it on the side rather than going to someone who routinely does that kind of manuscript typing.
I'm not trying to discourage her or putting down thinking outside the box. I am suggesting that if she isn't familiar with the odds against what she is typing ever making any money worth talking about, she should do some serious research before gambling any of her compensation on it.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#96480 - 04/24/08 11:53 PM
Re: What do i charge for a novel????
[Re: 14tonks]
|
workn9to5
Junior Member
Registered: 10/18/07
Posts: 27
Loc: Dallas, tx
|
I just went on Craig's list and found a recent (04/21)job posting for a transcriber to work from home. It states the pay as $10 for every 15 minutes of sound. This would mean $40 per hour!?! Does that sound right??
Edited by workn9to5 (04/24/08 11:54 PM)
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#96481 - 04/25/08 12:17 AM
Re: What do i charge for a novel????
[Re: workn9to5]
|
14tonks
Member
Registered: 10/25/01
Posts: 6295
Loc: Only 3rd world country in US
|
It states the pay as $10 for every 15 minutes of sound. This would mean $40 per hour!?!
Ummm, it would mean $40 per hour only if you can transcribe 15 minutes of dictation in 15 minutes flat. I don't know too many people who can churn it out at 1:1 speed. Average is more like 1:4, or possibly 1:3 if you have lots of expansions and canned text, so it would more likely be something less than $13 an hour. You might make $20 an hour if you could do 1:2, which would be way above average.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#96486 - 04/25/08 02:05 AM
Re: What do i charge for a novel????
[Re: 14tonks]
|
inkyfingers2
Member
Registered: 03/25/03
Posts: 604
Loc: southern California
|
I am a former novel editor and novel writer.
Likely, if he is having this "novel" typed out from dictation, it is going to be in a rough draft form, needing months to years of heavy editing (by whom - him? you? someone else?) and the likelihood that it will ever be something an editor won't immediately trash is wayyyyy less than 1%.
If you need the work, I say do it, but don't sell yourself short. Novel editors would charge by the page, typically.
Do your research, and find out what the current specifications are for novels. Ten years ago it was 1.25" margins, double-spaced, so that makes about 25 lines per page. Research preferred font type and size. I don't know if that has changed, so you have your work to do. Once you know those things, you will know better how to charge your doc for this "non-practice related" transcription.
_________________________
inkyfingers
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#96538 - 04/25/08 01:36 PM
Re: What do i charge for a novel????
[Re: inkyfingers2]
|
moaab
Member
Registered: 02/02/08
Posts: 430
Loc: Chicagoland
|
Inky is right about charging per page instead of per line. If you decide to do this, you could call a few secretarial services to find out what they would charge. It might help you get a feel for the going rate.
_________________________
Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.........Abraham Lincoln's mother
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
#96948 - 04/30/08 03:37 PM
Re: What do i charge for a novel????
[Re: inkyfingers2]
|
Mojeaux
Member
Registered: 09/21/03
Posts: 2127
Loc: Kansas City
|
Novel editors would charge by the page, typically.
By the word, MS Word count. Going rate right now is 1.1 to 1.25 cents per word.
Do your research, and find out what the current specifications are for novels. Ten years ago it was 1.25" margins, double-spaced, so that makes about 25 lines per page. Research preferred font type and size.
1 inch all the way around, 1.5 spaces, Times New Roman or Arial. Count is by MSWord now, not the old typesetting algorithm of 250 words per page.
Trops, I love you, I do, but what you're suggesting is just NOT DONE. Obviously, we don't know how well-versed the doctor/author is in the publishing industry and, as Tonks pointed out, you must have been incredibly lucky with yours, but no. Typists/transcribers, editors, cover artists, etc. are freelance (that's "independent contractors" to us MT types) and, unless you're setting up a publishing house, do not get royalties or any other residuals from sale of said book.
The economics of publishing v self-publishing are also in question here. If he sells the book to a traditional publishing house (and don't even get me started on the odds of that--most likely he won't), he'll get a very small advance and IF he gets any royalties, they'll be paltry. If he self-publishes the book, it won't have much exposure unless he goes out and actively markets it and then it's all up in the air.
If I were the one doing the typing, I'd ask for $90 per audio hour with a $180 up-front non-refundable retainer. That's going to be some heavy-duty dictation with lots of "uhm"s, "and"s, and "strike that"s, not to mention all the "oh, go back up to where I said..."s and "rearrange this and that"s. If you're going to give up your free time to do this, make it worth it. If you transcribe 1:4, that's $22.50 per hour, which isn't great, but sure as heck better than $10 per hour (at $40 per audio hour).
Also. Get a service agreement. Don't do anything off contract. I'll add more as I think of it.
ETA Already: What you need to ask about is if he also wants you to go back and make corrections he makes by hand so that you're also typing off copy, deleting, rearranging, etc. This you should charge by the page. He hands you a stack of printed pages, you count them, you say, "$X for this batch." I'd charge $3.50 per page to do that because it's a helluva nuisance and not at all easy, ESPECIALLY if his handwriting is crap.
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
Moderator: Annie
|
