English copyediting rates in the EU
August 26, 2012 7:46 AM Subscribe
What is the going rate for freelance English copyediting in the EU (specifically the Netherlands)?
I've been contracted to edit a business plan written in decent (but far from perfect) English. It is rather technical and scientific in nature and is a complex endeavor because of the competing ideas involved. Accordingly, I'm charging by the hour.
The trouble is, when I try to find a standard rate online, I see most businesses charge by word, not by hour.
Does anyone there know of an hourly rate? Ideally something provided by an editor's association or something semi-official online so I can charge correctly. In the US, the editor freelancing association charges $35-45 per hour, but as I'm in Europe I think the rate should be higher.
I've been contracted to edit a business plan written in decent (but far from perfect) English. It is rather technical and scientific in nature and is a complex endeavor because of the competing ideas involved. Accordingly, I'm charging by the hour.
The trouble is, when I try to find a standard rate online, I see most businesses charge by word, not by hour.
Does anyone there know of an hourly rate? Ideally something provided by an editor's association or something semi-official online so I can charge correctly. In the US, the editor freelancing association charges $35-45 per hour, but as I'm in Europe I think the rate should be higher.
Best answer: (Background: I live and work in France, where I was a freelance translator and copyeditor for eight years.)
It's relatively easy to convert per-word to per-hour. Take how many words you edit per day on average (don't bother with exceptions as any will be covered by the per-hour figure you end up with), multiply it by your per-word rate, and then divide that by how ever many hours you work per day.
I did 8000 words/day on average for 8-hour days, for instance, and agencies here are pretty set on .02 or .03 per word, which works out to 20 or 30/hour. You can charge a bit more for non-agency (private) clients; 45-50 is common.
You could also check Proz.com, there are pretty active discussions there and many providers list their rates by word and by hour.
posted by fraula at 10:27 AM on August 26, 2012 [1 favorite]
It's relatively easy to convert per-word to per-hour. Take how many words you edit per day on average (don't bother with exceptions as any will be covered by the per-hour figure you end up with), multiply it by your per-word rate, and then divide that by how ever many hours you work per day.
I did 8000 words/day on average for 8-hour days, for instance, and agencies here are pretty set on .02 or .03 per word, which works out to 20 or 30/hour. You can charge a bit more for non-agency (private) clients; 45-50 is common.
You could also check Proz.com, there are pretty active discussions there and many providers list their rates by word and by hour.
posted by fraula at 10:27 AM on August 26, 2012 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
And then of course there's the question of how many other people your potential client has contacted and how keen they are to engage you - specifically you - for this job. Those factors will influence how tough you can be in your negotiations.
I'm an Amsterdam-based freelance copywriter, by the way.
posted by ZipRibbons at 9:19 AM on August 26, 2012