proofreading

How to Establish Proofreading Rates

A short guide to proofreading rates and the methods for determining them

A question that weighs heavily on the minds of novice freelance proofreaders is how to set a fair rate schedule for their services.

There is no short answer to this question. In theory, as a freelance proofreader, you can set your own hourly rates which, according to the 2013 guidelines of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP) in the UK, should be a minimum of £21.40 (US$33.29) for proofreading. Copyright restrictions prohibit any further disclosure of SfEP guidelines here, but you can view them online. However, theory does not always correspond with practice. Proofreading rates vary from company to company. Most publishers have their own set rates for freelance work, and it’s up to you to accept the rates or simply decline the job.

Experience is key

When you’re first starting out, gaining valuable proofreading experience is the most important factor. You should think about landing proofreading jobs to beef up your portfolio, even doing volunteer jobs or working for free. Experience and good references are important to potential clients and will allow you to reasonably ask more for your services. This is not the time to be concerned about whether you’re getting the recommended proofreading rates. Charging lower rates now will pay off in the future; it will allow you to attract new clients and eventually be more particular about who you want to work for, what type of work you would like to do, and what rates you’re prepared to accept.

Some special considerations

Before signing a contract or agreeing to a rate or fee for a job, make sure your client is clear about what a proofreader does; you don’t want to agree to proofreading rates only to find out the work actually requires copyediting. Many proofreaders offer per-word or per-page fees, as well as options for hourly or flat rates. You can offer higher rates for weekend work or a faster turnaround time, or you can offer discounts for lower income groups, such as students or people on benefits.

How much?

Most people prefer to know exactly what proofreading services will cost before making a commitment. Base your per-page or per-word proofreading rates on earnings of $15.00 to $40.00 per hour. (Calculate how many pages or words you can read per hour.) Charging by the page is often preferred. The established industry standard for a “page” is 250 words. To figure out your exact page count, divide your word count by 250. Remember that hourly proofreading rates do not include expenses such as postage and telephone charges, which you should figure into your expenses.

Pricing a job depends on several factors: the breadth of the assignment; the type of work to be done; the discipline (general, scientific, legal, etc.); the type of employer (magazine, tech firm, nonprofit, etc.); and your experience with the topic. These factors will determine where your fee for a particular job will fit within the $15.00 to $40.00 proofreading rate range mentioned above. Clients submitting science, technical, or medical material prefer proofreaders with backgrounds in these fields, and the level of technical expertise required drives proofreading rates for these types of documents to the higher end of the spectrum. Social sciences documents tend to draw lower proofreading rates, and work from the trade publishing sector rarely returns the standard recommended rates (however interesting these jobs may be).

Your own business

As a freelance proofreader, you are effectively a small business owner. The proofreading rates you choose to accept or the jobs you turn down are up to you. Think about your goals and how important a particular client is to you and your business. Negotiation is always an option. But remember that accepting a lower rate for a client who promises regular work in the future might be more profitable in the long run than holding out for top dollar on a single job. Think about what you might earn from this client over the course of time or the value of the experience you might acquire. Remember that repeat work also means you won’t have to spend time and money marketing yourself; repeat work makes for a sustainable business.

So there you have it—the many components you need to consider when establishing freelance proofreading rates.

Do I Need to Take a Proofreading Course?

Who would benefit from a proofreading course?

Anyone who aims for a career in proofreading would be expected to take a proofreading course in one form or another. The traditional path to any job in publishing begins with a university degree in an English-related discipline, such as English literature, journalism, or communications. However, times are changing, and there are many other routes into publishing. Writing and editing are two other jobs that require proofreading skills. You would be unlikely to get far if your finished work in either of these fields failed to meet expected standards in spelling and grammar. So proofreaders are not the only ones who should consider taking a proofreading course.

Proofreaders

The Internet has opened up the possibility of a proofreading career to people from many different backgrounds. For example, many teachers, who are used to correcting their students’ work, find it easy to do proofreading work to supplement their income. Some become so comfortable with the role that they end up quitting their day job to take on proofreading as a full-time career. Anyone edging into proofreading from another profession would need to take a short proofreading course to understand the demands of the job.

Copywriters

Like proofreading, copywriting is a career that is available to people who did not study English in college or university. Websites specializing in advice on medicine, engineering, or technology need writers with knowledge and experience in those fields. Anyone switching from a non-publishing background to a writing career would need to take a proofreading course to ensure that his or her English skills are up to scratch.

Editors

Proofreading is an essential part of editing, so any trainee editor should take a proofreading course. Even editors who come from a university background may be expected to take a proofreading course at several points in their career. This is because the English language is constantly changing, and publishing industry standards change with it.

Academics

The reputation of budding scientists in academia is built on the number and quality of papers they have published in their chosen fields. A limited number of publications are seen as credible outlets for scientific papers in any discipline. Therefore, a young researcher seeking recognition cannot afford a reputation for poor spelling and sloppy grammar. A proofreading course is a good career move for those who hope to establish a name in their chosen academic field.

Take a proofreading course

You may feel that you cannot take time off from work to attend a proofreading course, or perhaps there is no proofreading course within commuting distance. Fortunately, you can take a proofreading course online so you don’t have to be in a particular place at a specific time. An online course lets you acquire proofreading skills without disrupting your daily schedule.

How to Learn Proofreading

You can learn proofreading from home with an online course

You don’t need to go to a university or community college to learn proofreading. Plenty of options are available online, which means you can fit your studies around your schedule. Not everyone can afford to take time off from work to take an intensive course, and that is probably the main benefit of the online method if you want to learn proofreading.

Home-based career

Proofreading is an ideal career choice for those who want to, or need to, work from home. You don’t need to commute to the big city to make a living in this career, and a training course that you can do at home to qualify for these home-based jobs is a natural choice. Just about everyone has an Internet connection these days; that, and a computer, are all you need to learn proofreading from home.

Who should learn proofreading

Proofreading skills are useful in many walks of life. You might be a teacher or a professor who needs better guidance on how to mark course work. Proofreading is an essential part of editing, and writers can benefit from learning ways to proofread their own work. Of course, if you learn proofreading, you’ll also open up the career path to becoming a professional proofreader.

How to learn proofreading

Taking a class in proofreading can be a little frustrating. People learn at their own pace, and that means that some want to race ahead while others learn slowly and steadily. You will find it easier to learn proofreading if you are able to learn at a pace that suits you. Online proofreading courses are faster to work through than correspondence courses because they offer quicker responses to queries and submissions than courses that rely on mail.

Backup

You could learn proofreading by buying a book on the subject, but then you would not have anyone to turn to for clarification on the parts of the book you don’t understand. An online training course is more than just class notes because you have access to a tutor who can explain sections of the course that might confuse you. This support is an essential element of any course you take to learn proofreading. You can better understand the material if you have the opportunity to seek explanations the moment you have questions, rather than waiting until the end of class or waiting for the mailman to bring a reply.

In your own time

If you want to learn proofreading, consider taking an online course so that you can study in your own time and at your own pace. The professionals who put these courses together have years of experience in proofreading and will make it as easy as possible for you to learn proofreading thoroughly.