How Much Will It Cost? Average Freelance Editing Rates
October 10, 2007 by Lillie
We’ve talked about freelance writing and editing rates several times before (see Related Posts below). I found (rather found again – as I used to have the page bookmarked but lost it somewhere along the line) a simple, but excellent, chart of average rates.
The Editorial Freelancers Association, “the professional resource for editorial specialists and those who hire them,” publishes a chart of Common Rates for Editorial Services.
The chart gives an estimated pace and range of fees for various tasks.
Although the fees seem to be on the low side, the chart demonstrates the differences in time required between different levels of editing and the range of time required for different projects. The pace for developmental editing is 1-5 ms pages per hour while the pace for proofreading is 3-10 ms pages per hour. There are several levels of editing between these two extremes. The rates also reflect the degree of difficulty of the project – the low end of developmental editing is only a little more than the top rate for proofreading.
Clients don’t always recognize the differences. My rate sometimes shocks prospective clients: “So-and-so charges less than half that!” they say. But when I tell them what I intend to do for their manuscript, they have no idea if the editor offering a lower price will do the same. I have done proofreading only a couple of times … and I don’t like it. I get too wrapped up in how the story or article could be made better. I love developmental editing, and I love working with authors who need lots of help. But that doesn’t mean I won’t love working with you if you’re an excellent writer who needs just a little help. 
I think you’ll find this chart helpful whether you’re charging for editing or paying for it.
Related Posts:
Self-Publishing Primer: Part 11 – How Much Does Self-Publishing Cost?
What are your prices for writing and editing services … and how much value do you give?
Working with a Professional Editor: Part 1 – Finding the Right Editor
Working with a Professional Editor: Part 2 – How It Works
[tags]freelance editing rates[/tags]
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This is important information. Thanks for providing it so candidly. I am going to stumble this post so that it will get a wider audience.
nice writeup.. I’ll stumble this too
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I totally agree about differing rates because I am a freelance writer myself, and I feel that some people expect you to write for a lower rate, but they also have to realize that they will get so much less quality, especially since so many people outsource for quantity and not quality.
C,
Just like we’ve always heard: You get what you pay for.
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Hello, and thank you for posting the chart!
I followed your more recent posts to this one. I probably can’t afford an editor for my short stories, but if I ever get those novels through the workshop (and, you know, polished), I’ll definitely want them proofread by a pro.
Lindsay,
I haven’t read any of your writing, so I’m talking generally and not specifically your writing. Sometimes having a short story edited can be well worth the investment because the editor can point out things that will help you improve all of your writing.
I do a free sample edit of about five pages of a book-length manuscript so the writer can decide if she likes what I do and so I can estimate the time required to quote a price. Sometimes I suggest the writer use the comments I made in the free sample to make changes throughout the document. That will save me a lot of editing time and will thus cost less and be more affordable for the writer.
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Editing is to writing what icing is to the cake. Being an editor myself I’d like to assure all aspiring writers not to be bogged down by the complicatedness of the issue of hiring an editor at the right price and all…just let your word out, and you’ll find a lot of willing individuals answering your call. cheers…
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jen,
You’re right—there are plenty of editors around. You just need to find one that is a good match for you and your project. I wrote about that is Finding the Right Editor.
There is definately a huge range of pricing for free lance editing rates in the UK they are currently around £50 a hour.
James,
That seems to be higher than the average here in the US for copyediting, though typical for more substantive editing.
Haha, I don’t think I’d ever pay someone to edit one of my articles. Not unless it was like 10 cents.
CJ
Hahaha … I skimmed a couple of your articles, and it’s obvious that no one with any knowledge of grammar and spelling has been within a mile of them.
Seriously, while they weren’t the worst I’ve seen, your articles certainly could benefit from the services of an editor. Perhaps you are appealing to an illiterate audience, and the quality of your work doesn’t matter. I hope the errors don’t keep potential customers away from doing business with you.
Very nice & informative post. I totally agree that other editors charging lower fees can mean they will be providing lesser amount & quality of output. Excellent work comes at a price.
Claire,
A reasonable fee is one that compensates the editor adequately for their experience and knowledge and that provides commensurate value to the client.
Excellent Writeup , I am a first time visitor to your blog and found the article quite good.
There are lots of things here to learn from.
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Vinish,
Glad you found my blog and glad you found the post thought-provoking.
These rates are rather high. I mean, let’s assume I have 10 manuscript pages. It can cost me 1000 dollars. And I don’t know what will be the results. Do you know any articles like “before-after” (for example how sales changed after copyediting)?
Martin,
I’m not sure how you came up with $1000 for 10 pages. Basic copyediting is 5–10 ms pgs/hr at $25–40/hr, so the most expensive would be 5 pages per hour @ $40/hour, which would be 2 hours for 10 pages: $80, a long way from $1000. Developmental editing, which often involves a lot of rewriting, is 1–5 pgs/hr at $50–80/hr. One page per hour for 10 pages would be 10 hours at the highest rate of $80 would be $800. That’s not too far from $1000, but developmental editing is complex and specialized.
Most editors will provide samples and references. I can’t give you any information about sales improvement as I don’t edit sales materials. I primarily edit books.
There’s written that the rate is $50-100 for writing and $50-80 for developmental editing. I thought about complex editing or writing, not only proofreading.
“Most editors will provide samples and references. I can’t give you any information about sales improvement as I don’t edit sales materials. I primarily edit books” – okay, thanks anyway! And thanks for the “Editing Primer”. English isn’t my native language so it’s harder for me to edit my work. I hope that someday I won’t need a proofreader. Maybe “Editing Primer” will help hehe.
Martin,
Don’t count on reaching a point where you don’t need a proofreader. Editors say that we can catch everyone’s mistakes but our own. No one does a good job of editing/proofreading their own work, because we are too close to it. We know what we meant to say, and when we read it, we tend to read what we meant, not what we wrote. Also, everyone makes mistakes because they don’t know the correct way to do something—a word we misspell or misuse, for example. We can’t catch those mistakes because we don’t know any better. Even though I am a professional editor charging at the top end of the rate scale, I would never think of publishing a book without having it edited by another professional editor.
However, the better you become at editing your own work, the less help you will need. So a professional editor can edit your work much faster, saving you money. The Editing Primer will help you become a much better self-editor.
I’ve been looking into hiring freelance work recently and haven’t really known where to start. Thanks for taking the time to share the info.
Julie,
Good luck with your freelance work.
It’s hard to believe that the difference between a native speaker’s rate for writing can be 100 times more compared to non-native speakers from India and Philippines, who although do not write in perfect English, can still be competitive, especially when it comes to price.
Tatyana,
I guess part of it is the prevailing wage standards in the different countries and some of it is that non-native speakers generally don’t know the idioms and common expressions and sometimes write in an awkward style because they follow the structure of their native language.
You’re right, Lillie. And since English language is now a standard for Internet, it’s a lucky opportunity for those for whom this language is native.
Tatyana,
I certainly wouldn’t attempt to write in another language. I’ve never done well with learning another language, so I admire anyone who can write in more than one language.
Ah yeah, freelance charging rates. Mine is pretty low. It’s €50 per hour and some people STILL complain about that rate. While it isn’t that high though. Plus I’ll always let them know in advance what kind of quality work they can expect for that kind of money. After seeing my showcase, they’re convinced pretty quickly. Thankfully
.
Angela,
It helps when you can show potential clients what they expect for they will pay you.
I would love to try out editing but before that, I am going to learn more on editing.
Sarah Lam recently posted..Do You See Yourself as a Freelance Writer
Sarah,
As a writer, you probably already know a lot about self-editing. It’s not difficult to transfer those skills to editing for others if you are a meticulous, detail-oriented person who likes to make writing the best it can be. In fact, it’s usually much easier to edit someone else’s work because we can spot other people’s mistakes that we miss in our own work. We know what we meant to say; when we’re editing another writer’s work, we read what they actually say.
I probably would pay someone to edit an article, but not write an article.
Joe,
Everyone needs an editor; not everyone needs a ghostwriter.
Proof reading ourselves before writing plays a major to come up with a high quality articles. It also the key for not spending to much money for the editors.
Janet,
I often encourage authors to do more work on their writing before hiring me to edit. If the writer has done a good job of self-editing, my job is an editor is much easier and consequently will take less time and cost the author less.
There are many good editors with cheap rates that can find on freelancer sites..
Tony,
I don’t know any good editors who are cheap. I am very good, but I am definitely not cheap.
Fortunately, I have plenty of clients who think I’m worth what I charge.
Thanks for the link to the EFA. I’ve been looking for something like this for a while. I’ll definitely be sure to bookmark this page so I can come back to it later.
John@Free Article Site recently posted..The Bolted Steel Tank Your Most Economical Choice for Industrial Storage
John,
I refer to that chart periodically to make sure I’m not way out in left field with my pricing.
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Some professionnal freelance writer will ask munch more than newbies, there are a lot of cheap writer on freelance websites.
Lucy,
An experienced writer should earn more than a newbie. However, even newbies should earn a living wage.
Hi, Lillie!
I stumbled onto this page while doing some research on editing rates. What advice would you give to someone who’s just starting out in the business? I’ve already edited 5 books, 4 of which are still being shopped around to publishers, and the other has been published.
I’d like to be able to earn a living doing this work, but I’m not quite sure how to do it. Any advice you can give me & my fellow editing newbies would be fantastic.
Thanks so much, & I hope you have a great weekend.
Meagan,
I’ve written a three-part series on setting freelance rates, beginning at http://lillieammann.com/2010/04/28/determining-your-worth-as-a-freelancer/. You will find a lot of links in those posts to other articles both here on this blog and elsewhere on the Web. There is a lot more information available in those articles than I could possibly summarize in a response to a comment. Feel free to ask me a specific question after you’ve read the articles.
Best wishes on your editing career.
Cost of freelance editing will depend on the negotiation. Many rely on this because it really makes their task fast and they can also save enough money.
Jesica,
All the articles I’ve written here about freelance rates emphasize value. My rates are certainly not low, but my clients feel they get excellent value.
For me, it is usually like one cent per word for professional rewriting. That i like!
Joel,
Ouch! At that rate, I wouldn’t make enough to live on. The reason I don’t like a flat word or page rate for editing is that every manuscript is different. Many of the writers I work with need a lot of help, and a penny a word would come out below minimum wage. That’s why I always do a sample edit and quote a price based on the actual amount of time it takes me to do the sample. Also that gives the client a good idea of what to expect from my work. If you’re working with experienced, polished writers, a penny a word might work, but for people like me who work with less skilled writers, it would be an absolute disaster.
Hi Lillie,
I’ve been contemplating the idea of freelancing for a while now. But was somewhat put off by a university lecturer saying that freelancers start off as the new underclass. Do you think there is an element of truth in that?
Dave,
As a freelancer, you determine your income and lifestyle. Of course, it takes a little while to get your business going, so don’t expect to get rich overnight. That’s no different than starting any new business. You don’t have to work for peanuts, though. Although a newcomer to the business can’t effectively charge as much as someone like me who has been in the business for more than 14 years, you can charge a fair price that provides a decent income for you and value for your customer.
Thanks for the advice Lillie.
I’m just in one of those situations where having the income of a steady job is hindering my potential as a freelancer. The money right there is just too good.
Dave,
A lot of people start freelancing on the side while maintaining the good income from a regular job. They quit their job only when they see they can make a living wage as a freelancer. It would be difficult to match the income from a good-paying full-time job working only part-time as a freelancer, but it would be possible to develop a steady income stream and build a good base so that you could quickly increase your income when you went full-time.
But it really boils down to what is most important to you. I couldn’t work for someone else no matter how much the job paid. I’ve been a business owner or self-employed for more than 30 years, and I’m too old to conform to the requirements of a job. I don’t have to take orders from anyone else, and I work when I want (usually in the wee hours of the morning). However, other people prefer the security and comfort of a good steady income and don’t mind the things that I couldn’t handle: being locked into reporting to work at a certain time and place and not having complete independence but instead taking orders from an employer.
You are the only one who can decide what is best for you. I can tell you it’s possible for you to succeed as a freelancer, but I can’t tell you that you would be happy as a freelancer. Good luck with whatever you decide.
Sometimes it is difficult to concurate against all that high prices. Only with an high pricing your work is not yet the best or even the most exciting. Money does not tell anything. So i try to stay low in pricing and help those who can not affort the high price. But all services are the same of even better for them.
Marcel,
In other posts I have written about value. What is important to me is now how high or low the price, but how much value comes with that. I have a client who hires me to do work that she has in-house staff to do. But on the particular projects she hires me for, she knows that I am so much better and more efficient than her staff that it saves her money. She may pay me an hourly rate six or eight times as she pays her employees. However, I get the work done in about one-tenth of the time, and the quality is better. So for her it is good value. She uses her in-house staff for projects that they are better qualified to perform. As long as the freelancer has carefully calculated their prices so they are making a profit and not losing money and the client is getting value, the price is fair for both.
My friend is a part time writer and wants to take her writing business seriously now. So, she wanted to know about the rates and other things about the field. I guess your post will help her a lot for it. So, I have forwarded this link to her.
Jason,
Thanks for passing the link on to your friend. I hope she finds the post helpful.
Great post, thanks for the info. As English is not my mother tongue as well, sometimes I think about hiring someone to help me. Nice to know the facts about the costs (I had no idea). Thanks again.
Alexia
Alexia,
I’m glad the information helped. Sometimes when I’m buying a product or a service for the first time, I say I don’t know whether it will cost $5 or $5,000. It helps to get a closer range than that!
Thank you Lillie, Congratulations for your blog. I am coming back for sure!
Have a great 2011.
Wishing you a wonderful 2011, as well, Alexia.
Yes the blog is great. Crongratiolation, it is nice to see that you take freelancing serious.
Jack,
I’m glad you find my posts helpful.
I have do some writing myself, not editing just selling a few articles. People don’t realize what it takes to do a good job, the right way. I have also hired people before to do editing and writing and have found you get what you pay for.
Michael,
Thanks for the reinforcement.
Excellent post. Freelance editing opportunities are definitely available. I always recommend that people keep their day job until they can get their business going without the pressure of having to scramble to make ends meet.
Thanks for the post.
Michael,
I have written other posts about finding freelance work. In this post, I was primarily aiming to help potential clients and freelancers recognize the typical price ranges for various types of editing.
I started writing for profit 2 months ago and had a hard time with pricing because of the stiff competition. The rate list that is linked to this article gave me a basis.I really need to learn more about the business and this article and the thread of comments helped me a lot. Thank you very much
Carol,
You’ll find more articles about pricing if you search the archives of this blog. Best wishes in your writing career.
The date for this position in 2007, these prices are relevant to the present hour? Sorry for my English …
kabab,
I don’t know if the rates have been updated on the Editorial Freelancers Association site. The copyright date on the page is 2011, but that may be automatically updated. If there has been any change to their chart since 2007, it hasn’t been much. My own rates have increased since then, and I have always been at their high end or beyond. However, I imagine the rates are still fairly typical for someone with a few years of experience. Beginners should expect the low end or less and very experienced editors can command significantly higher rates than the standards.
Thank you for the chart this will help me
Steve,
Glad to be of help.
that chart helps in knowing the editing prices as I confuse a lot while dealing freelancers
larina,
Glad this is helpful. It’s good for freelancers and those who hire them have some point of reference for reasonable rates. My rates are higher than these; however, I can justify my rates based on my experience.
Wow, I had no idea it was so expensive to get a book reviewed by a professional. My uncle is in the process of writing a book and talks about critiquing other people’s writings online, but I’m not sure if that’s paid or just a hobby between aspiring writers.
Emily,
Reviewing, critiquing, and editing are different functions.
Reviewing is what is done to a published book so readers can decide whether they want to read it or not. Generally, reviews are free and when they are purchased, they are usually a relatively small amount.
Critiquing is reading an unpublished manuscript and giving input on the plot, characters, writing style and mechanics, and other elements. Often aspiring writers (and even published writers) critique each other’s manuscripts to help each other. Critiquing is often as helpful to the one doing the critique as to the one receiving it because it is much easier to see things in the work of other writers than in your own. As you develop critiquing skills, you are better able to evaluate your own work. When writers critique each other, it is generally with the agreement that if Author A critiques something for Author B, Author B will reciprocate and critique something for Author A. Professional editors also offer critique services for writers who aren’t ready or interested in a full-fledged edit but who want professional feedback on their work. While a critique doesn’t go into specific details, it will let the writer know where their strengths and weaknesses so they can work on the weak areas.
Editing is a professional service that involves much more than critiquing. There are various levels of editing with different degrees of complexity. You can learn about the different kinds of editing in my series on editing.
Although it can cost from several hundred to several thousand to have a qualified professional editor do a substantive edit of a manuscript, it can mean the difference between being published and not or between selling a lot of books and not.
Quotes can be all over the map depending on the piece you’re taking on. The chart itself seems fairly reasonable in terms of hourly ranges, but not every assignment is cut and dried. At some point, there’s going to be some serious overlap, e.g., substantive editing might be required whereas the client believes only basic proofreading is all that’s needed. How do you charge for that?
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Jan,
Personally, I charge for the hours required to do the job. If I give a quote for a project rate, I have a disclaimer that the price will be changed if I encounter unexpected problems, such as the rest of the manuscript not being self-edited as well as the sample. And I offer only substantive editing, so it’s easy for my clients to know what to expect.
This chart is helpful…I started my writing career in April 2010 and have been fortunate to find enough well paying clients to stay happy….However, the pricing model I use differs from that of some others…I really don’t see how some people work for such a small sum of money. ie: $2/500 words!
William,
Glad the chart is helpful. The hourly rates are a little low by my standards, but they’re average.
I am a freelance writer and I also do freelance editing at the same time for my clients. I felt the same way when I met certain clients who got shocked upon learning that I asked for higher pay. How can these clients ask for a better quality of service if they are not willing to pay you the substantial amount in the first place?
Anne,
I’m very blessed that I meet with very little price resistance. Most of my clients are word-of-mouth, and many of them have been with me for years. When I periodically ask for a price increase, they generally agree and say the work I do is worth the price. But that’s because I have a long track record with them.
You don’t always get what you pay for. With all the freelancing sites you can often find a cheaper option by hiring an editor from another country. It’s a bit more “iffy” but if you find someone who is good then you can continue working with them in the future.
thomas,
Hiring writers from other countries is something to be considered. The main disadvantages I have seen are lack of knowledge of syntax and idioms as well as unfamiliarity with the culture. If those things don’t matter—or if you can find a writer in a foreign country without those handicaps—then it make be right for you.
Thanks for the info. I’ve just started to outsource writing overseas. It’s good to see how competitive these jobs are. I’ve had writers quote for $1 per 100 words.
Ben,
I hope you’re getting some coherent writing for that price. Sometimes it’s difficult for writers for whom English is a second language to write smoothly with the correct syntax and idioms.
Thank you very much for the useful chart and your insight. However, I have a few questions. If these prices are the average (for experienced editors, I assume), what would be the price for someone who is just starting out? Is it even advisable to offer your services to someone if you have little to no credentials (college degrees, professional experience, etc)?
I was offered an editing job by an acquaintance from my husband’s business, but given that I’ve only edited for friends (never anything to be published professionally), I’d feel guilty charging ‘full price’. Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you for your time, Lillie!
Lori,
I think the chart is compiled from editors at a wide range of experience levels. Less experienced would be at the low end, and more experienced would be at the high end. So the lowest rate on the scale for the type of editing you are doing would be a good place to start.