Rates and cost estimates
There is no simple answer to how much your project will cost. It depends on:
Depth of service (more tasks = more cost)
Word count (more words = more cost)
Content complexity (more complexity = more cost)
Non-editing time (meetings, research, project management)
That said, I keep metrics on all my projects, and after many years and millions of words I can make the following useful estimates:
Proofreading: about 4-6 cents per word
Standard copyediting: about 8-10 cents per word
Complex editing: about 12+ cents per word
Based on your project’s word count and type you can calculate a ballpark estimate, which is the first step in seeing if I’m right for you.
Deeply impressed – you’ve done a lot in a short time … thank you for an extraordinary effort.
A range of outcomes
Every job is different and line-by-line editing is labour-intensive. Most projects also contain devil in the detail, in that everything that needs to be done is not apparent during scoping.
For these reasons, I normally provide a cost estimate range. Usually this is expressed in cents per word (e.g. ‘your project should cost from 8 to 10 cents per word’).
Some tasks are instead charged by the hour at $150 per hour + GST. This is in line with the recommended rates for a highly experienced generalist editor like me.
Finally, here are some further considerations:
If your budget is limited or fixed, we can adjust the depth of service, but we can’t escape the word count. More words equals more cost.
Remember that proofreading means finding the final few mistakes. If I’m doing anything beyond detecting mistakes (which is almost always the case), then I’m editing (which is more time-consuming).
If a project turns out to be substantially different (i.e. some elements are out of scope), we’ll revise our expectations and I’ll do what I can for the amount quoted, or we’ll agree on a new estimate based on a revised scope. I’ll never surprise you with a final cost that is substantially above the quoted range.