How much should I charge for casual academic proofreading?
November 26, 2010 6:14 AM
What rate should I charge as a casual native English academic proofreader in the Netherlands?
I am currently working my way through my MA in Amsterdam, and I am looking for a side job to earn some spending money. Given that I am English, and that I have already had a handful of requests from friends on courses to go over their work looking for simple grammar/spelling mistakes, I am now considering sticking up a few posters advertising my services.
I am fully aware that you can't really just waltz into a profession like this and expect to be able to do it instantly, but I consider myself somewhat naturally capable with words and such, and I have spent the past couple of years checking my foreign friend's work on occasion with no complaints.
So, what should I charge given that I am not a professional proofreader? I was thinking of something like €5 per 1000 words, as that seems reasonable to me, I want to attract fellow broke students, and I don't want to overcharge when I do not necessarily have the optimum experience and qualifications.
Unless I am unbelievably misguided in doing this, please try not to tell me about all the reasons that this isn't the best idea. I know, but I really need the money.
I am currently working my way through my MA in Amsterdam, and I am looking for a side job to earn some spending money. Given that I am English, and that I have already had a handful of requests from friends on courses to go over their work looking for simple grammar/spelling mistakes, I am now considering sticking up a few posters advertising my services.
I am fully aware that you can't really just waltz into a profession like this and expect to be able to do it instantly, but I consider myself somewhat naturally capable with words and such, and I have spent the past couple of years checking my foreign friend's work on occasion with no complaints.
So, what should I charge given that I am not a professional proofreader? I was thinking of something like €5 per 1000 words, as that seems reasonable to me, I want to attract fellow broke students, and I don't want to overcharge when I do not necessarily have the optimum experience and qualifications.
Unless I am unbelievably misguided in doing this, please try not to tell me about all the reasons that this isn't the best idea. I know, but I really need the money.
You always have to anticipate the ability of your core client group to pay. If you clients are students, they are not going to have any money. You also need to consider how much value your services will add to their work. Is your proofreading their copy a strategic advantage for them? Are they going to get into law school or snatch a great job post-grad because of your services? Or, instead of getting 80% on a paper, are your services going to help them get 85%?
If you're comfortable with 5 euros per 1000 words, why not charge that? What would happen if you charged 10 euros? Would anyone knock on your door?
posted by KokuRyu at 8:00 AM on November 26, 2010
If you're comfortable with 5 euros per 1000 words, why not charge that? What would happen if you charged 10 euros? Would anyone knock on your door?
posted by KokuRyu at 8:00 AM on November 26, 2010
I can't help thinking that your time would be better spent doing some other job, you would get a better hourly rate.
I had the same thought.
posted by KokuRyu at 8:06 AM on November 26, 2010
I had the same thought.
posted by KokuRyu at 8:06 AM on November 26, 2010
Do you have a sense of how many words you can comfortably proofread in an hour? I'm an experienced, speedy proofreader and editor, but when dealing with non-native speakers of English I wouldn't expect to exceed 2,500 words an hour. Of course, that involves more than just fixing spelling/simple grammar mistakes, but also fixing entire phrases and sentences that are poorly written and sound like crap. Now, perhaps you could work more quickly and charge less if you just ignored the question of writing style, but ask yourself this: is your clients' actual goal to have a paper that is merely free from typos, or to have a paper that reads well?
With this in mind, set your hourly rate based on how much you would like to earn per hour divided by how many 1k words you can handle per hour, making sure to account for any taxes you might owe. As a broke college student, your expected hourly will probably be lower than the expected hourly for a full-time professional freelancer, so that will make yours services relatively more affordable to your target broke student clientele, without forcing you to sacrifice your time for less than you could be making in some other work.
posted by SomeTrickPony at 12:08 PM on November 26, 2010
With this in mind, set your hourly rate based on how much you would like to earn per hour divided by how many 1k words you can handle per hour, making sure to account for any taxes you might owe. As a broke college student, your expected hourly will probably be lower than the expected hourly for a full-time professional freelancer, so that will make yours services relatively more affordable to your target broke student clientele, without forcing you to sacrifice your time for less than you could be making in some other work.
posted by SomeTrickPony at 12:08 PM on November 26, 2010
making sure to account for any taxes you might owe
If you are going to go down that route then remember that you need to charge 19% BTW on top of your fees, and register with the KvK as a freelancer.
posted by rubbish bin night at 12:45 AM on November 27, 2010
If you are going to go down that route then remember that you need to charge 19% BTW on top of your fees, and register with the KvK as a freelancer.
posted by rubbish bin night at 12:45 AM on November 27, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
That said, €5 per thousand words is an absolute joke if you ask me, you would do better asking your friends to buy your coffees for the time you spend checking over their work! I can't help thinking that your time would be better spent doing some other job, you would get a better hourly rate.
Feel free to PM me, and we can discuss general proofreading matters other than rates!
posted by rubbish bin night at 6:26 AM on November 26, 2010