How to 4x Your Editing Rate without Learning a Single New Skill

You've been editing for an agency since 2020, and you're still making the same 1.5 cents a word you started with.

Meanwhile you're staring down another year of barely cracking $40K for work that's eating away all of your evenings and weekends.

In this episode of the Leaving Academia podcast, Paulina lays out the real numbers most editors never see—and the way out that nobody taught you.

She's not mincing words here. This is a raw look at what agencies pay, why so many talented PhDs stay stuck taking scraps, and how private clients pay 4-8 times more for the exact same skill set.

In this episode, you'll hear:

🎯 What a 50,000-word dissertation earns you at agency rates versus what a private client pays for the identical job

🎯 Why agencies have frozen their rates for six years and what that really tells you

🎯 The truth about AI in editing: why it's eating the bottom tier of the market, not the segment you should belong to

🎯 The two very different types of editing clients and which one you've never been shown

🎯 The three things standing between you and private clients who pay well and treat you like a professional (hint: it's not your skills)

If you've been convinced that agency rates are as good as it gets, it's time to stop believing that lie.

▶️ Watch, then hit subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. New episodes drop weekly.