My friend, who I had “hired” to type my “Just OK American Novel” No longer has time (teaching job). So if there are any Dopers typists with the time, PM here or, if we’re “friends” on Facebook, there. We’ll negotiate rate/payment.
I wish I had the time. I love to type. Good luck.
Yes please. My next days work is on the 4th of November, so I should be able to squeeze you in.
OK, an update:
The rates I’m considering
- 2 payments of $50
- $0.01/word
An offer I can’t quote off top of head! (sorry!)can anyone do better?
Are submissions actually typed anymore? I thought everything was electronic these days. If so, aren’t you good to go? You can obviously keyboard.
If Bam can’t help ya, I’m available.
Never saubmitted novel (or anything for that matter0 to a publisher. And I’m a lousy typer w/o printer.
Well, (and I really do hate to interfere with possible income for Dopers) the first thing I’d do is find out what format the publisher you intend to submit to requires your submission to be.
I could be wrong, and if so I expect to be corrected in short order, but I really do have the impression that even the slushpile is electronic today.
Not to say there wouldn’t still be work for someone who can clean up formatting and typos.
I assume the OP means he has a longhand written copy that needs to be typed into the computer.
Is that right? Are you going to mail a photocopy to the lucky typist?
Also, your two offers are way different. $0.01/word comes out to almost a thousand bucks for a 300 page novel (depending on spacing, etc.) A hundred bucks at that rate is only 10,000 words, or thirty pages.
How many pages have you written?
Erdo, I came here TO ASK THIS VERY QUESTION! (which is the better deal). I filled a 1 subject notebook with handwritten paragraphs/data. So: which is the better deal?
I’d suggest finding a single page in the middle of your manuscript that looks pretty average. Count how many words you’ve written on it. Count the number of pages and multiply. It sounds like it isn’t too long, but I’d say that it’s almost guaranteed to be longer than 10,000 words.
Also, how legible is your handwriting? That could be a serious obstacle to your potential amanuensis.
Sure. Just E-mail it to me and I’ll type it up. 
Rough estimate of word count: 35,000 (would only want the paragraphs, not charts)
Well, I have submitted stuff to a publisher (and even been paid for it on occasion!) and I have to say you REALLY need to find out what format the publisher wants it in. That means not only paper vs. electronic but even what software/format the electronic version is compatible with or uses. Last few things I submitted I certainly didn’t need a printer, just the right format and e-mail. If you DO need a paper copy it had better conform to the publisher’s desires in regards to line spacing, font, font size, page numbering, and labeling or else they won’t even read it. And I do mean that - if they open it up and it’s single-spaced instead of double, or in an unacceptable font, or whatever, they literally will not read even the first page. In a paper copy, retying is a pain in the ass, and expensive if you’re paying someone else to do the typing.
If you’re writing a novel you intend to publish you need to know about how to submit that, which is different than submitting a shorter work.
And your two payment offers are so widely divergent that I think you just didn’t give this much thought, and you aren’t aware of and aren’t thinking through how you’re going about this.
Thus, although I’m a screaming fast typist, and could use money, and make the time, I do not want to accept your offer because I think it could easily end in tears. I applaud your ambition in writing a novel, but if you have serious intentions of publication you need to do a little research in how the industry actually works.
What Broomstick said.
With some caveats. Changing font, line spacing and such should not be a problem with any reasonable word processor.
It almost sounds like you need a transcriber. Some one that can take your written material and type and organize it.
The only reason I know anything about this is because my cousin does it on the side. She transcribed recordings of doctors recordings, and also written notes for college students.
If you are serious about this, I would suggest contacting a local college. Perhaps student services and ask about transcribers. It would likely be pretty affordable.
I used to do that sort of transcription service (in college, I might add, and before the days when word processors were common - hence my comments about making changes in paper copies being a pain. Even with a word processor, you’d still need to reprint it which, for a novel, could easily be a ream or two of paper.)
His payment offers wouldn’t fly with anyone reputable. He needs to do some research and find out what the going rate locally is. I haven’t done such work in years, so I have no idea of what a reasonable rate is these days. I will say, however, that if I was transcribing form poor handwriting, or was expected to make spelling and/or grammar corrections, I’d charge extra. I don’t know if that’s the case with the OP - I have no idea of how his handwriting is and so forth - but I offer it as a warning.
And if he’s written it in cursive - there are young adults these days who can’t read it.
If he’s serious about doing a lot of writing but doesn’t type well he might even want to look into voice transcription software.
But really, if he wants to be an author basic word processing skills are a must these days.
Don’t disagree. Learn to type.
OpalCat is my transcriber.
Well then, thanks.
I have to admit, I was tempted to take this job just to get a peek at this novel that you’ve started several threads about. It sounds like a doozy. Maybe you can share some excerpts with us after Opal’s done typing it. May I ask what all the charts are in the text?
Also, remember to make a photocopy. You don’t want to lose it in the mail.