A. James Editing, Inc.

By now we’ve all at least heard something about the last minute budget deal made by members of Congress that subsequently led to the downgrade of the Unites States’ credit rating.


What you may not have heard much about, however, is how the slumping stock market apparently lends itself to sloppy copy.


I was keeping abreast of the latest on this falling Dow situation with this MSN article, when I stumbled across this gem:

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index ($INX) and the Nasdaq Composite Index ($COMPX) fell as much as 4% before losses were trimmed to around 3%. Stocks in Asian and Europe also slumped.

Correct me if I’m wrong (no really, I want you to), but “Asian” is an adjective just like the words “European” and “American” would be. “Europe” in the second sentence, on the other hand, is a proper noun. It would appear that “Asian” was meant to be “Asia”, also a proper noun.


There are two ways this sentence could be corrected:

Stocks in Asia and Europe also slumped.

Or:

Asian and European stocks also slumped.

Neither sentence is necessarily better or worse than the other, but unlike the published sentence, both of these are grammatically correct.


Hey, it ain’t bragging if it’s true! (At least that’s what my teammates said about this.)


You could say that the writer should have known better or that the proofreader should have caught it, but the truth is, shit happens.


Sometimes you can stop it and sometimes you just have to suck up your mistakes and keep on keepin’ on.


Luckily we can all sleep sounder tonight knowing there’s people like me on the front lines of the Grammar Wars.

I sent out an email a little over a month ago about a client who, frustrated at having her resume consistently lost in the pile of the other hundreds (dare I say thousands?) of resumes for any given job she applied for, decided to get hers professionally written (by me). The email is entitled, “How One Jobseeker Took the Bull By the Horns.”


In this email.


Is a typo.


And I sent it to over 200 people.


Guess how many people noticed/noticed and told me about it?


Two. Dos. Zwei. Duo. Dua. Tveir.


In the first sentence of the second to last paragraph, this typo sleeps:

If you know someone whose unemployed or underemployed and looking to have their resume and cover letter professionally written…

Did you see it?!


I didn’t either.


The fifth word is “whose”. Well, it should be “who’s”, meaning “who is”.


The dirty truth is that even copywriters make mistakes. I’ve often found errors on the websites or in the literature of professional writers.


The lesson I’ve learned from my colleagues and my personal experience:


Every good writer needs a good editor.


Thank you, Colleen Miles (a graphic designer) and Jennifer Furl (a fellow freelance copywriter), for pointing this out to me.


If you ever find any typos or errors in something I write, I would absolutely appreciate you bringing it to my attention. I know there are some people who don’t appreciate this, but I for one, do.

It’s only happened to me twice in the five years I’ve been working as a freelance copywriter. But both times I struggled with how to handle it. One automatically assumes that professionalism demands punctuality and woe to those who do not harken to these standards. (“Woe” and “harken”? Amber, what’s up with the archaic-speak? I studied Latin and Old English in college, alright? Just let me have my moment.)

The first time it happened was a bit ridiculous. We were supposed to meet at Vita Cafe on Alberta Street in NE Portland, OR. I’d been there once before and the cafe I was sitting in seemed to be on the opposite side of the street from where I remembered it. 15 minutes went by with no word from my prospective client. Yes, my phone was on. No, I didn’t have any messages. And yes, I’d forgotten to bring his number with me (Being in Business 101, folks.)

I asked the server if he knew of the location of my client’s business, but he’d never heard of it. I explained my situation to him and he informed me that there was another cafe a few blocks down the street called Vitta Cafe. Seriously? On the same street? And on the same side of the street? Come on, Portland!

So I book it over there, I’m 25 minutes late at this point, and I burst into the cafe to find…that he’s not there. Well, that’s all I had. I lowered my head and drove home. (At this point in the narrative, you may be wondering what my lateness has to do with the title of this post. Wait for it…)

As soon as I got home, 10-15 minutes later, I call the client to express my desperate apologies. He doesn’t answer, I leave a message, he calls me back. He says, “Well, your message put me in a position where I could be honest or just let you take the fall for this…I’ll be honest: I was never there.”

My jaw dropped.

“I actually forgot we were meeting today.”

He was a no-show while I thought I was sitting in the wrong cafe. But it’s ok, now. We’re friends.

Though this situation was stressful while it was happening, I learned a valuable business lesson that I will now share with you:

The Moral of the Story

Send a confirmation email the day before you’re supposed to meet with a client. Something like, “Hi Jordan, I just wanted to make sure we’re still on for tomorrow morning at 11 at Vita Cafe at 3023 NE Alberta.” (I might take out one of the “at”s though.)

The second situation I mentioned would claim a post about this long and I’ve never really been a fan of long blog posts, or long emails for that matter. So, projecting my desires and dislikes onto you, I’ll save that story for another post that will be entitled something like: “When Random Things Happen and There’s Nothing You Can Do But Roll With It.”

Your homework:

What’s one of your late client stories? What did you learn from it that could help others?

So, I was at a networking event this morning and one of the attendees was a travel agent. She stood up and told us that she’s planning trips to Peru and Africa and that Africa is her specialty. She used to live there and, I quote,

“I know the language in Africa.”

…(clears throat) Now, I’m not a bad person and nor would I consider myself a snob, though I know a few people who would argue that, and I can’t help it if my right eye twitches involuntarily, just a little, every time someone says things like this. It doesn’t mean I’m judging them, but it does mean I’m mentally reconstructing their sentences into a form that is grammatically, socially, and literally correct.


Everyone in the room understood what she was trying to say, but that doesn’t make the statement any less inaccurate. Here’s a few things I’d like us all to review about Africa:


1) It is a continent
2) There are about 54 countries within it
3) An estimated 1500 languages are spoken on the continent that is Africa (According to Wikipedia.)


As a copywriter, these are the kinds of inconsistencies and falsities that I correct on a daily basis. Yes, it’s my job to correct such things when they are written, but I have no control over the way you speak. You’re on your own there, people.


So go forth, and for the love of all that is wonderful and wordy, speak good.

I’ve recently worked with a few clients who have been quite taken aback when they hear what my hourly or project rates are for a piece of copy. This has led to some instances of conflict and discomfort (not to mention drama) and I want to prevent such occurrences in the future.


The only way I could think to do that was by letting it be known what a copywriter charges for her work. It obviously varies based on experience and market, but the rates below come to this post by way of Writer’s Market, an invaluable resource for any writer. The rates are broken down by lows, averages and highs. I’ve included categories that I typically work under, but if you want a more extensive list you can probably find the latest edition of Writer’s Market in any library or bookstore.


The last thing you should do is take these rates as the literal word of the Freelance Copywriting Goddess, but they should give you a good idea of what you should charge (as a freelance copywriter) and what you should expect to pay (as a purchaser of copywriting services).

Advertising Copywriting

Low: $35-40/hour
Average: $77-92
High: $125-150

Per Project
Low: $150
Average: $2,278
High: $9,000


Copyediting for Advertising

Low: $20-25/hour
Average: $55-58
High: $100-125

Press/News Release

Low: $35-40/hour
Average: $58-97
High: $100-180

Per Project
Low: $125
Average: $479
High: $1,500

Brochures & Fliers for Business

Low: $30-50/hour
Average: $86-106
High: $150-200

Per Project
Low: $300
Average: $2,777
High: $15,000

Business & Sales Letters

Low: $36-40/hour
Average: $75-81
High: $125-150

Per Project
Low: $150
Average: $762
High: $1,500

Business Plan

Low: $35-50/hour
Average: $87-88
High: $125-150

Per Project
Low: $1,000
Average: $6,000
High: $15,000

Grant Proposal

Low: $30-43/hour
Average: $69-96
High: $125-150

Per Project
Low: $500
Average: $1,767
High: $3,000

Newsletter Writing

Low: $30-40/hour
Average: $82-90
High: $125

Per Project
Low: $800
Average: $2,000
High: $5,000

Web Page Writing

Low: $30-40/hour
Average: $66-83
High: $125-150

Per Project
Low: $100
Average: $1,251
High: $7,000