What does professional editing cost?
Every proofreading or copyediting job is different: different writing styles, complexity, size and differing degrees of intervention needed.
This is why it’s impossible to give a set, one-size-fits-all price that’s going to work for every project.
But, I appreciate that you might need to know whether the cost of an edit or proofread fits your budget. So, I’m going to give you some guideline prices. These are only guides, and can all be tailored to fit most budgets.
Straightforward, full proofread
A full proofread includes one read through the manuscript to look for:
- errors in spelling
- errors in punctuation
- use of homophones and homonyms
- inconsistency of punctuation and spelling conventions (like commas, quote marks and UK alternative spellings)
- inconsistencies in style (like capitalisation and hyphenation)
- inconsistencies in the formatting of headings, titles, headers and footers
- layout issues like misalignment of text or illustrations
- any skips, jumps or repetitions in your chapter and page numbers
- hyperlinks that don’t go to the correct website or page
- missing or incorrect labels on illustrations.
And the cost?
For a manuscript of:
30,000 words, approximately £400
50,000 words, approximately £550
100,000 words, approximately £800
150,000 words would be almost £1000.
Proofediting
A proofedit is a little more expensive than a proofread. For a manuscript of:
30,000 words, approximately £550
50,000 words, approximately £750
100,000 words, approximately £1200
150,000 words would be almost £1500.
To get a firm quote, I would need you to send me a small sample from your manuscript, say, 1,000 words from somewhere in the middle. It needs to be pretty representative of what the rest of your manuscript looks like.
Or, give me a call to talk it over on 07827 919022.
Photo of police lamp by Bruno Martins on Unsplash
Clued Up Editing 