From time to time I’m asked how much I’d charge to edit someone’s book.
At present, I am not editing for individuals. As a freelancer for a national nonprofit organization, I stay as busy as I want to be just editing the assignments they send me.
Perhaps it will help some writers, however, if I quote the rate chart of the Editorial Freelancers Association:
Editorial Rates
Updated: June 2012
Common editorial rates —regardless of whether a project is flat rate or hourly— tend to fall within the ranges indicated below. These should be used only as a rough guideline; rates vary considerably depending on the nature of the work, the time frame of the assignment, the degree of special expertise required, and other factors. The industry standard for a manuscript page, however, is a firm 250 words.
| Type of Work | Estimated Pace | Range of Fees |
|---|---|---|
| EDITING | ||
| Editing, basic copyediting | 5-10 ms pgs/hr | $30-40/hr |
| Editing, heavy copyediting | 2–5 ms pgs/hr | $40–50/hr |
| Editing, website copyediting | $40-50/hr | |
| Editing, developmental | 1–5 pgs/hr | $45–55/hr |
| Editing, substantive or line | 1–6 ms pgs/hr | $40–60/hr |
| FACT CHECKING | $30-40/hr | |
| INDEXING | 8-20 pr pg/hr | $35-65/hr $5.50-12/pr ind pg |
| LAYOUT | ||
| Layout, books | 6-10 pgs/hr | $45-85/hr |
| Layout, newsletters | 1-4 pgs/hr | $40-100/hr |
| Layout, websites | $16-20/pg | |
| MANUSCRIPT EVALUATION | $45-55/hr | |
| PERMISSIONS | $40-50/hr | |
| PROJECT MANAGEMENT | $9-30/pr pg $40-90/hr |
|
| PROOFREADING | 9-13 ms pgs/hr | $30-35/hr |
| RESEARCHING | $40-75/hr | |
| TRANSCRIBING | variable | $3-5/pg |
| TRANSLATING | 300-500 wds/hr | $40-50/hr |
| WEB DESIGN | $50-75/hr | |
| WRITING | 1-3 ms pgs/hr | |
| Writing, fiction | $40-50/hr 20¢-25¢/wd |
|
| Writing, ghostwriting | $50-60/hr 26¢-50¢/wd |
|
| Writing, grants/proposals/sales/PR | $50-60/hr 30¢-95¢/wd |
|
| Writing, journalism | $40-50/hr 26¢-50¢/wd |
|
| Writing, medical | $60-70/hr 80¢-95¢/wd |
|
| Writing, nonspecified | $40-100/hr 20¢-$2/wd |
|
| Writing, technical/trade | $50-60/hr 45¢-55¢/wd |
|
| NOTE ind = indexable page, ms = manuscript, pr = printed, pg = page, hr = hour, wd = word | ||
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