technical editor information requested

[Mary Howe <thunder -at- IDIR -dot- NET>]

A friend of mine has been copyediting scientific journals for the last
ten years.  The vast majority of her work is for one press.  Much of the
content she works with is medical.  She would like to find other
(better-paying) clients, but doesn't know how to begin.  On her behalf,
I'd like to ask list members these questions:

What kind of jobs do other contract technical editors do?

How do you find work?

What do you have in your portfolio?

Is a portfolio even relevant?

And (the big question) what's the going rate for technical editing, and
how do most clients pay?

My friend is usually paid by the page, so sometimes she makes $25 per
hour, and sometimes $5 per hour.  (One recent job involved editing
several articles by non-native speakers of English, and the client pays
the same rate regardless of content or difficulty of the job.)  I do
very few editing jobs, and I have been blithely asking (and getting) $50
per hour.  My feeling is that my friend is better at her work than I am,
and she should be getting paid more.  Is this unreasonable?

Thanks.

Mary

--
Mary Howe
Thunder Works, Inc.
Writing and Editing Services
thunder -at- idir -dot- net

 TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot-  Send commands
   to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
  Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/  or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html