Thanks for your insights, Sean. For some context, academic copyediting is very tricky with respect to pricing: almost nobody makes big money on any given academic publication, and at the stage in the project where clients need a copyeditor (rather than, say, a translator), the budget is tiny because it hasn't even been published or therefore earned them any money yet.

I'm still making 65/hr. (unless expedited), and it's so hard to survive on this. Part of my "problem" is that I give every project my all, regardless of my pay; some editors charge by the project and start to half-ass it when they notice their budget is running thin, but this is not my way. So I doubt I'd give more by earning more; I'm already giving everything. That's just my personal ethics.

I know there's a popular academic who sells copyediting services via her blog for 3x my price — and does less work on the documents too. Namely, she just gives suggestions, doesn't dive into the nitty-gritty of rewriting stuff for clients who can't trust themselves to rewrite on their own. But part of the reason she can charge so much is because she has 1) a Ph.D. and thus more direct experience with the research job market and 2) a gigantic following, so people are willing to pay for her brand. I'm torn because I don't have any intentions of trying to "stand out" as a public-figure intellectual; copyediting is meant to supplement my life, not become the whole focus. But anyway, I'm not here to complain, just thinking out loud...

I need to figure out better marketing, though, for sure. Then I could keep my current rates for my current clients and earn more from new ones.

If you want to share more about what you're doing to diversify your income, I'd love to hear it!