I’m considering offering my various talents to those willing to pay me, but I have no idea how to assemble a fee schedule. I’ve talked with people I know, but they haven’t been able to give me more than vague ideas. So … Any ideas here what are common fees for services such as –
Copy writing (articles for publication, advertising copy, copy for slide presentations): I’ve been told $1/word or $90/hour are reasonable for these. But how do I present charges like these? If I’m writing a lot of text, such as in an article or a presentation, I’d be happy charging per word, but if I’m writing bits of copy to fit into ads, I’d rather charge per hour? How does this work?
Copy editing and proofreading: In my mind, the former is a little more involved. The latter is mostly spelling, grammar, etc., checking. Is $50/hour reasonable for this?
Typing: What’s a good measure for typing? Per word or per hour?
Not really. What most lay people call “proofreading” is really a simplified form of copyediting. Often each client has different ideas about the definitions, but in general this is the (simplified, I’m busy today) distinction:
COPYEDITING (nonfiction): You are working with the original manuscript after it has been through the larger levels of editing: developmental, substantive, etc., the “big picture” editing. The copyeditor does the final mechanical edit before the ms. goes to typesetting (by way of the author to answer queries, resolve any final problems, etc.). This consists of things like adjusting spelling/grammar/punctuation, usually according to some specified style guide such as Chicago, but also while preserving the author’s voice (IOW, you don’t get to impose your favorite rules willy-nilly); imposing consistency in heads, figures, tables, and other elements; checking things like cross-references, numbered/lettered items, chapter outlines/table of contents for accuracy (if author says we’re going to discuss five items, A, B, C, D, and E, check that there are five and that they are in the same order as listed); and all sorts of other nit-picky stuff like that. You may also be responsible for typemarking elements (identifying things such as head levels, figure captions, boxed elements, and so on so the typesetter knows how to set them). You will compile a style sheet for each ms. that records all of your editorial decisions, both as a guide for yourself as you work and for others later on in the pipeline. You change/query inconsistencies and potential problems as needed. My checklist for the ms. I have in front of me runs to three pages.
PROOFREADING: After the copyedited ms. has been to the author for review and resolution of queries, it goes to composition for typesetting. This produces a set of page proofs. These are sent along with the copyedited ms. to the proofreader (who is NOT the same person as the copyeditor). The proofreader compares the proofs against the ms. to make sure (1) that the comp followed all the instructions and edits on the ms. properly, and (2) that the copyeditor did not miss any obvious errors. Most clients do NOT want to the proofreader to do a bunch of second-guessing of the copyeditor. Changes are expensive at this stage and most of the time you are looking for outright errors only. In addition, you are checking the visual layout, usually against a set of sample design pages. Are the fonts correct? Is spacing around elements correct? Is art placed where it should be? Do spreads base-align; are they too deep? Are headers/footers in place and correct? Is pagination OK? You will check every hyphenated word to be sure it breaks correctly (the software is not infallible, and I usually find at least one or two rebreaks per chapter). You look for rivers, widows, orphans, ladders, bad kerning, and loose lines. Was that en dash supposed to be an em? Should that comma be italic?
This is how most of my clients (for textbook publishing) define the terms. Some people define proofreading as “light copyediting,” but not in my world; they are completely different tasks.
Not bloody likely for a novice, at least if you’re charging hourly rates, unless you find some corporate client with bottomless pockets. (I’ve topped it by using page/project rates, though, because then the faster you can work, the higher your hourly rate.)
I’ll get on one of my hobby horses and say that one of the skills you’ll need as a freelancer is the ability to find information on your own, and this is a good test. I Googled “freelance copyediting rates” and got hits/leads on the first page for the three resources I was going to suggest: McMurry, EFA, and BAEF (editorsforum.org).
Good basic references: Amy Einsohn, The Copyeditor’s Handbook, and Karen Judd, Copyediting: A Practical Guide.
Good luck. Let me know if you have any further questions. I know I’ve talked about this in the past, so a search might also turn up some more juicy worms.
As far as copywriting, a lot of what you can charge will depend on a number of factors. For instance:
where you live
your level of experience
the type of project. Catalogs pay very little, particularly those which do not call for creative descriptions. Ad work pays more, but you need to have a portfolio of ads to get that work, and the quality of your ads will dictate how much you can charge.
the type of client. Small mom and pop outfits are usually not prepared to pay for the level of talent that could really help them. Annual report work is a good area for a good writer outside the ad world. The company is usually looking for something that is straight-forward, clear, and concise. This, any many other types of work, is usually done on a project basis, not hourly.
Proofreading can be tricky. As a previous poster pointed out, it is not the same as copy editing. Copy editing improves legibility and flow. Proofreading ensures—hopefully—that the work will be free of typos, misspellings and gamatical errors. Now there are people who can do both, but I rarely use a copy editor, but almost always use a proofreader. The super-terrific, super-experienced proofreader I use is in LA and she charges $50 per hour. I wold balk at paying someone else that much though. Particularly an unknown entity.
I did proofreading for a small local typesetter back when it was a journeyman skill, checking type sizes/fonts, leading, line breaks, widows, fit against layout…I made about $14.50 plus benefits back in the 80s. I was working on many different projects in a single night, backing up and being backed up by at least one other proofreader. All this was possible because lots of different people (designers, mostly) needed type set and almost nobody did their own typesetting.
I’m in medical publishing now. Our typesetters are fairly big companies (general prepress rather than just typesetting) that for the most part hire their own freelance proofreaders if they hire proofreaders at all. Those freelancers get a per page rate that couldn’t possibly amount to $50/hour.
If you’re proofreading for a single publisher, you’ll likely be put on a large or repeating project, and you’ll likely be responsible for spelling, grammar, checking the typeset material against manuscript. Still a tall order, but a much smaller skill set.
I’ve done freelance writing for many years – almost 20 – and I think those rates are pretty high. It depends on your skill and who you’re writing for of course, but I’d suggest those represent the high end of the market.
Do a google search on “freelance writing rates” and you’ll find many examples of how other freelancers handle their pricing schedules.