Rates and cost estimates
There is no simple answer to how much your project will cost. It depends on:
how many words you have (more words, more time, more cost)
how complex your content is
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:
Style checking: about 6 cents per word
Style and sense checking: about 12 cents per word
Doing both on very complex material: upwards of 15 cents per word
Fact checking is different, and we can assess it as we go
Based on your own project’s word count and complexity, you can calculate a ballpark estimate, which is the first step in seeing if I’m right for you.
I charge some activities by the hour at $150 per hour + GST. This is in line with the recommended rates for a highly experienced editor like me.
A range of outcomes
Checking content properly is labour-intensive. There is always devil in the detail. For these reasons, I normally provide a cost estimate range rather than pretend I can predict every problem before I start.
If your budget is fixed, we can adjust the depth of checking. If the project turns out to be substantially different from what we expected, we’ll talk about it.
I won’t surprise you with a final cost substantially above the quoted range.