I'm pleased to meet you all. I’ve been working as a proofreader/editor for almost four years. Just over a year ago, a client sent me a LitRPG to proofread. It was the first LitRPG I had ever read, and working on it it was the most enjoyable couple of weeks I had experienced in my professional life. Since then, I’ve worked on a couple of other books in this genre and have been reading others in my spare time. I wish I had what it takes to write one of these (or just to write something worth reading at all), but I don’t think I have it in me. I don’t have the imagination for it. Still, I’d like to help authors of this genre in any way I can. I’ve recently reached a point in my career where I can be picky about what I proofread. So, I’ve decided to focus my efforts on helping indie LitRPG authors produce books that are not only full of interesting stories and exciting battles but that also have their spelling, punctuation, and grammar stats maxed out. I thought I would mention quickly that my small company is giving all LitRPG authors 75% off their orders for the rest of 2018. As part of this promotion, one author will get up to 100,000 words proofread for free. (The winner of this prize will be the first author to place an order whose favorite Super Nintendo game is the same as mine.) It's a bit of fun, and it's a completely free shot at some free proofreading. You can have a crack at it here. Your book doesn't need to be ready right at the moment for you to place an order. Anyway, "spamminess" aside, I’m glad to be a part of this community. I’m not much of a talker in real life. Once in a while, I'll say something, but I really prefer listening. So, you might not hear from me a ton, but I will be reading a lot of your posts during my time as a member here. Cheers!
Again, welcome. Got you added to the @Editors group. Feel free to put a link to your site in your signature. Good to have you here.
Yo. Welcome to the forums - what’s your going rate for editing? I’m branching out into writing myself, and since I’ll not be doing the final edits on my own manuscript, I’m shopping around to find a, well, me.
Hi guys. Thanks for the warm welcome. Our rates vary depending on how much work needs to be done. A simple check for spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc. starts at 0.5¢/word. To also have advanced language issues resolved (e.g., changing the passive voice to the active voice where doing so makes a sentence stronger) starts at 0.8¢/word. We also have a service that includes rewording sentences in work that has been poorly translated, but this is aimed primarily at non-native English speakers. Full details are given at magnumproofreading.com/services. Also, if an author submits something that requires less work than average, I like to give them a discount instead of giving myself a higher hourly wage.
That seems quite the price... You get a lot of money REALLY quickly depending on how long the book is, I might go into that kind of business...
Hi Jake, welcome to the forum and the genre. I hope you stay awhile! I submitted a quote form on your website! Look out for something from Justin Lincoln
Funnily enough, I've been doing research on this for an article I'm writing. However, this information is for proofreading, not editing (editors charge even more). According to the Society for Editors and Proofreaders and the Editorial Freelancers Association, a proofreader should charge enough that they make $30-$35/hour, and a proofreader should be able to get through 2,250-3,250 words per hour. (This is an accurate estimation; I can do straight proofreading, with no editing involved, at a speed of about 3,000 words/hour). This works out to 0.9-1.5¢ per word. However, when I did a Google search for "affordable proofreading services," seven of the top ten results were for companies that charge 1.4-2.0¢ per word (my company and two others ranged from 0.5-0.7¢ per word), so the recommended rates aren't exactly being adhered to. Independent freelancers tend to state that their rates vary from project to project, so it's difficult to tell what is considered standard among them. So, in short, 0.5¢/word is significantly less than average. But at 3,000 words/hour, and with this rate being about 0.65¢ in my currency (CAD), it's not a bad living.
The Editors Associations generally recommend their rates because that's around the same that in-house editors for major publishers usually make. Freelancers set their own, based on what they think their services and qualifications are worth and what they think they can charge in order to keep work coming in. When I was setting my prices, I started at what I figured indie authors could afford rather than what I thought my services were worth - the latter is much higher than the former. Much higher. .005-.008 is about the entire scale when looking for average per-word prices for services. From what I've found, prices vary depending on the type of editing - substantive/developmental usually ranges from .005-.009, proof/copy ranges from .004-.007, and traditional line edits range from around .006-.009, while formatting/typesetting is usually a fixed rate around $40-$60. That's based on the cheap freelancers, which I call anyone who charges less than .01/word. Some editors charge substantially more than that and I have to wonder exactly how much work they get, and for whom. Localization services are hardly ever charged at a per-word rate, but rather a per-ms (manuscript) page rate. Those typically range anywhere from $20-$50 per manuscript page. At .008, that's around $2 per manuscript page, so take that as you will (it's the exact same price I charge, coincidentally enough). It also generally includes translation services. And yes, there are quite a few shops that will add surcharges based on how "clean" the copy is that gets submitted to them. I generally don't, but it's something that most folks do in order to keep their advertised prices low and drive business to them. As far as speed goes, it's not so much an hourly wage thing as it is an industry standard. Editors are expected to be able to do acceptable quality work on 8-10 manuscript pages per hour. A manuscript page is standardized at 250 words, so that's anywhere from 2000-2500 words per hour. This also depends on the type of editing you're looking for, with the more in-depth and involved stuff taking longer than something like proofing, which can be done comparatively fast. It also presupposes an eight hour workday, so it's a marathon pace, not a sprint.
