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Researching Sylvia Plath

In addition to conducting my own research and writing on Sylvia Plath, one of the things I enjoy most is helping others with their research. I am truly flattered that so many people write to ask questions about Sylvia Plath. It means very much to me that I am a person to whom increasing numbers of scholars and readers come to for answers. However, because these reference queries take anywhere from one hour to several days, and because this is increasingly causing disruption to my own work, as of today I will charge a standard research associate rate for all Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes queries that come my way. The minimum will be for one hour's work at a fee of $30 per hour.

In the last few years, I have hired research by proxy help for various Plath-related projects. I truly appreciate this assistance from others, but I do not expect them to give their time, knowledge and research findings for free. It seems that if I am to be used for similar purposes, then I too should get recompense for my time and for the services that I am providing for others.

Thank you all for your anticipated understanding with this decision I have had to make.

In the meantime, please look forward to some new blog posts in July.
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Comments

  1. Amy Rea25 June, 2016 10:38

    I think you're undervaluing your services. You have a high level of Plath knowledge. Don't be afraid to charge a fair price for it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Peter K Steinberg26 June, 2016 14:48

    Amy! Thank you for your comment and for your compliment! We'll see how it all works out.
    ~pks

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous26 June, 2016 15:57

    Peter - your services are worth a lot more than that, but I know that people contacting you are probably struggling writers themselves. Still, I would charge $50 an hour, especially given that academic tutors can charge 2-3 times that amount per hour. Just a thought!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Peter K Steinberg29 June, 2016 08:24

    Thank you Shaun, too, for your thoughts on this. I've had also some emails from people to this effect, that the fee is too low. So..., might have to do like the Pittsburgh Pirates do to their Jolly Roger flag after a victory and #RaiseIt.

    ~pks

    ReplyDelete

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