How much should I pay for someone to edit my pages?

realSean_Murphy 2016-07-21 01:58:33 UTC #1

If I were to start a monthly series with pages around 20 or so, could I hire someone to do some editing? Such as
Redrawing and small adjustments
Adding speech bubbles and fonts
Coloring
Screentones and such..

How much should I pay someone per page?

nessiefynn 2016-07-21 02:05:27 UTC #2

As a baseline, you should always pay at least minimum wage, and bring the rates up for higher quality. Take however long you think is a reasonable amount of time to work on one page, multiply that by minimum wage, and add a bit extra if you want high quality work, and that will give you how much to pay for a page.

realSean_Murphy 2016-07-21 02:07:16 UTC #3

Minimum wage can slightly vary though. Would $10 be a good starting point per page?

nessiefynn 2016-07-21 02:18:48 UTC #4

Yeah, that sounds fine to me.

Michelle 2016-07-21 05:14:08 UTC #5

That sounds like a lot more than just editing to me. Colouring/toning is a job in itself, as is lettering.

When you say "monthly series with pages around 20", do you mean 20 pages that come out once a month? Or 20 pages in one month, because that would be a huge difference. Either way, $10/page wouldn't cut it if you needed them to do 3 different jobs' worth of work.

Kayke 2016-07-21 14:40:05 UTC #6

I agree with @Michelle! To me editing is just spell checking and looking for any blaring art errors then telling the artist so they can correct them, not actually making those corrections themselves.

Coloring/toning and doing the Lettering really are two separate jobs from Editing. Asking someone to actually edit your drawings and fix them is also a lot of work and would probably make them something closer to a 'co-artist' than an 'editor'.

I would say absolutely no lower than 30 per page, that would probably make it worth it for a student or a hobbyist trying to make a little money. Then you just have to keep their schedule in mind though as your project won't be their main priority.

realSean_Murphy 2016-07-22 01:16:47 UTC #7

Yeah.

So it would have to be more..
What about $10 per page for coloring/toning (Or more for higher quality..)
$10 more for lettering..

Basically $10 dollars per page per individual task..

Dariru 2016-07-22 01:17:57 UTC #8

Yeah, it sounds like you want a mix of things done. Editing (in the traditional sense) is usually related to the script. Like adjusting dialog, refining the plot, checking for typos, ect. You can probably get away with paying someone to edit a whole script. Maybe $20 for 20 pages on a place like Upwork. But if you want a pro, it'd cost a lot more.

As for tone/color: you can find tons of people to do that on comic forums like Digital Webbing or Pencil Jack. Pro rate for coloring can be $100 a page, but I think you can find people willing to do it starting from $10-$20. Chances are you'll get a better colorist for more money tho.

Same for a letterer (speech bubbles), you can find them on Digital Webbing or Pencil Jack. But you can do that yourself really easily with software like Manga Studio. It costs less than $50 (and is really easy to letter things with) which costs less than hiring a letterer.

Anyway you go tho, I wish you luck with your comic!

realSean_Murphy 2016-07-22 01:24:20 UTC #9

Ok, and thanks!

That's.. a bit too much for me to pay..
$100 per page for 20 pages would roughly be $2,000... each month..

Yeah, hopefully..

I'll probably need some practice and okay.

Michelle 2016-07-22 01:50:38 UTC #10

Like @Dariru said, you're probably looking at around $75-100/page if you want professional colours.

I don't doubt you can find someone willing to work for you for $10/page, but there is a very strong chance they will be A. amateur quality (not great for fixing art mistakes) and B. flaky as hell.

At which point, you're likely better off learning how to do these tasks and saving yourself the headache until you can afford someone of a more professional level.