What should I charge for professional proofreading?
August 2, 2009 10:03 AM Subscribe
I have been doing proofreading for people for free for a while now, with the aim of building up some business doing it paid in addition to my (fairly undemanding) day job. I am in the UK and it is really hard to work out what to charge / quote. More variables inside.
I am UK based so need prices in the UK as my customer base would intially be here, gained word of mouth.
I am not qualified though I will be doing the Publishers' Association qualification in the next 6 months. I have proofread 2 novels and 2 editions of a scholarly journal to a standard high enough for the people I did them for to give me good references.
I have looked for "proofreading prices" online but they are often a) qualified people, b) big companies that seem to charge very little.
What I have now is one thesis plus checking their bibliography (they mentioned this as a separate thing); one 30,000 word thesis, and proofreading and editing a novel including running a launch party for it.
I don't at the moment need advice on the course/ setting up the business (I will do this properly with tax etc) / how to do it, thanks.
I just need a list of prices I should quote! Many thanks!
I am UK based so need prices in the UK as my customer base would intially be here, gained word of mouth.
I am not qualified though I will be doing the Publishers' Association qualification in the next 6 months. I have proofread 2 novels and 2 editions of a scholarly journal to a standard high enough for the people I did them for to give me good references.
I have looked for "proofreading prices" online but they are often a) qualified people, b) big companies that seem to charge very little.
What I have now is one thesis plus checking their bibliography (they mentioned this as a separate thing); one 30,000 word thesis, and proofreading and editing a novel including running a launch party for it.
I don't at the moment need advice on the course/ setting up the business (I will do this properly with tax etc) / how to do it, thanks.
I just need a list of prices I should quote! Many thanks!
At the magazine publishing company I work at, the standard rate for freelance production staff - i.e. proof reading, entering changes into InDesign, managing workflow (giving proofs to the right person, checking pages are getting first and second proofed) - is £130 a day (10 till 6).
posted by Sifter at 11:05 AM on August 2, 2009
posted by Sifter at 11:05 AM on August 2, 2009
Response by poster: Thanks Static Vagabond - as I said I already have a job and this is additional income (hopefully) which I would never think would pay enough to survive full time; also I am pretty sure that you are meant to quote by the page / 1,000 words etc rather than for time. Although I might be wrong there. Thanks for your input anyway.
posted by LyzzyBee at 11:05 AM on August 2, 2009
posted by LyzzyBee at 11:05 AM on August 2, 2009
Response by poster: Thank you sifter, that's exactly the kind of info I was looking for!
posted by LyzzyBee at 1:18 PM on August 2, 2009
posted by LyzzyBee at 1:18 PM on August 2, 2009
Best answer: Hi LyzzyBee, my experience with this in Australia is that you charge what the market can bear, sadly! This is a long 'un, hope it helps.
Different clients will be prepared/able to pay certain amounts. Generally speaking, the client falls into three categories: Small business, large enterprise, and govt. Govt and large business will typically be used to dealing with companies that pay their own armies ofwinged monkeys copywriters typically quite poorly, but will charge the department hiring quite a lot - in AU, usually somewhere between $70-$150 an hour (so call it 30-75 quid), dependent on experience.
You, too, will be able to charge that much for that kind of work should you go for it. As you've noticed, getting this kind of work is really heavily based around word of mouth, and typically the person spending the money is not responsible for it.
Small business category is trickier, the shadowland where a lot of freelancers of various hues and colours live, eking out an existence. Pay rates tend to vary quite dramatically; the only constant is they're consistently lower than govt/business! I have both hired, and been hired in this category. People tend to be less experienced, but you also tend to pay them directly without anyone mediating.
Rates are guaranteed to be higher than minimum wage, and again, varying by experience and client ability to pay, will go up, but I would say no more than three times the minimum wage. (E.G in Australia minimum wage is just under 20 bucks an hour [10 quid]. Many young, hungry freelancers of highly variable quality can be had for 25 bucks an hour [13 quid]. Experienced, small business freelancers can be had for around50/60 bucks an hour [25/30 quid an hours]. You can find people charging more than that, up to 80 bucks an hour [40 quid], but they will be very experienced and typically very specialised.)
Interstingly, in the small business sphere (at least here) those prices don't just hold for writing/editing/copywriting, but also layout, web design, advertising, event co-ordination, basically everything a small business might pay for!
As for setting rates - again having been on both sides of this fence, it pays to be flexible, but don't be exploited. Give people a sense of value, by telling them how much you *could* charge, or how much you charged a govt dept or big company etc, and then knock it down from there. If someone complains they can get it cheaper, or it's too much, you should feel comfortable in knocking the work back - people almost never know what they're talking about in this area; their sense of value is frequently based entirely around assumptions and vague ideas. If they say they can get it cheaper, you can say you can guarantee them high quality, referenced work, and that comes at a price blah blah blah.
I hope this helps, feel free to memail if you want to talk more. :)
posted by smoke at 5:12 PM on August 2, 2009
Different clients will be prepared/able to pay certain amounts. Generally speaking, the client falls into three categories: Small business, large enterprise, and govt. Govt and large business will typically be used to dealing with companies that pay their own armies of
You, too, will be able to charge that much for that kind of work should you go for it. As you've noticed, getting this kind of work is really heavily based around word of mouth, and typically the person spending the money is not responsible for it.
Small business category is trickier, the shadowland where a lot of freelancers of various hues and colours live, eking out an existence. Pay rates tend to vary quite dramatically; the only constant is they're consistently lower than govt/business! I have both hired, and been hired in this category. People tend to be less experienced, but you also tend to pay them directly without anyone mediating.
Rates are guaranteed to be higher than minimum wage, and again, varying by experience and client ability to pay, will go up, but I would say no more than three times the minimum wage. (E.G in Australia minimum wage is just under 20 bucks an hour [10 quid]. Many young, hungry freelancers of highly variable quality can be had for 25 bucks an hour [13 quid]. Experienced, small business freelancers can be had for around50/60 bucks an hour [25/30 quid an hours]. You can find people charging more than that, up to 80 bucks an hour [40 quid], but they will be very experienced and typically very specialised.)
Interstingly, in the small business sphere (at least here) those prices don't just hold for writing/editing/copywriting, but also layout, web design, advertising, event co-ordination, basically everything a small business might pay for!
As for setting rates - again having been on both sides of this fence, it pays to be flexible, but don't be exploited. Give people a sense of value, by telling them how much you *could* charge, or how much you charged a govt dept or big company etc, and then knock it down from there. If someone complains they can get it cheaper, or it's too much, you should feel comfortable in knocking the work back - people almost never know what they're talking about in this area; their sense of value is frequently based entirely around assumptions and vague ideas. If they say they can get it cheaper, you can say you can guarantee them high quality, referenced work, and that comes at a price blah blah blah.
I hope this helps, feel free to memail if you want to talk more. :)
posted by smoke at 5:12 PM on August 2, 2009
The Society for Editors and Proofreaders has a "Suggested Minimum Rates" page, which might be helpful.
If SfEP works the same as the US equivalent (The Editorial Freelancers Association), joining the organization gives you access to assignment postings, etc.
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:53 PM on August 2, 2009
If SfEP works the same as the US equivalent (The Editorial Freelancers Association), joining the organization gives you access to assignment postings, etc.
posted by Sidhedevil at 5:53 PM on August 2, 2009
Best answer: Sidhedevil: The Society for Editors and Proofreaders has a "Suggested Minimum Rates" page, which might be helpful.
Working off of that, I might suggest £16.50 an hour if you have no professional qualifications.
However, I have to say that every freelance proofreader I am familiar with charges by the page, where the number of pages is calculated against the total number of words, like this.
posted by DarlingBri at 7:30 PM on August 2, 2009
Working off of that, I might suggest £16.50 an hour if you have no professional qualifications.
However, I have to say that every freelance proofreader I am familiar with charges by the page, where the number of pages is calculated against the total number of words, like this.
posted by DarlingBri at 7:30 PM on August 2, 2009
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So take your yearly amount, divide by 250 and that's your day rate to base quotes on.
If you are dependant on that job the calculation changes, you'll never work 250 days solid, unless you're very lucky. So you'd have to also subtract away days spent looking for work to allow you to survive.
posted by Static Vagabond at 10:53 AM on August 2, 2009