Job Discussion Forums

[scottie1113]

I've been approached by some students about proofreading their masters theses. What's a fair price to ask per page?

[simon_porter00]

Whatever rate you do it for it'll end up costing them loads. You might consider agreeing an amount beforehand i.e. 2000zł/whatever based on the amount of pages or at the end (which of course carries an inherent risk that they might not cough up).

As a favour to very very very few people (and most of my work is proof reading) I do it for my hourly rate x however many hours I've worked. This always ends up being a fraction of what the actual cost will be.

[Infinite]

You can also go by the standard rates - 1800 characters with spaces included = to a single page of text.
Based on that, you can come up with a rate which could fit the bill. Don't sell yourself short however.
When it comes to translations for example, 50zl / page NET is the lowest that I'd go.
Proof reading, just like translations vary on what it is that you're working on.

[the_roads_of_poland]

I copyedit quite a bit. My standard rate is 25zl per 1800 characters with spaces (A4 page) in PL, which is then subject to a somewhat haphazard pricing policy of +/- 50% dependent on the client, what they want, the deadline, the subject matter and the level of English.

I would say the most important aspect here is to assess what the client really wants. Proofreading? Editing? Revision? A rewrite? A "language consultation"? Do they want feedback, i.e., you'll spend half your time sending emails back and forth? In addition, it also depends on how professional you are and what you think what work is necessary to produce a good text.

Oh yea, proofreading is something very very specific. Double check if that's what your client wants.

Anything machine translated and shot my way for "editing" as a way to save money is charged as my translation rate x2. Some individuals (not just Poles) really do try to do this.

[Master Shake]

I totally agree with the_roades.

It all depends on what the client wants.

The Easiest Way: Decide on an hourly rate and proofread/edit/rewrite a sample (whatever they want). Record how long this took you and be realistic. Send it back to the client and let them decide if they want you to do more.

I've charged 80zl/60 min. gross for this kind of service but I'd drop it for poor, starving students.

[scottie1113]

Thanks guys. Your suggestions are pretty much in line with what I had in mind but I wanted to bounce it off you first.

I've done some of this in the past, mostly gratis for friends or long time students and I'm OK with that because the texts weren't lengthy and didn't take me much time to finish. This time it's a different ballgame because they're a lot longer.

The next step is to talk to them about rates and see how serious they are about actually having me do the work.

Thanks again.

[Infinite]

[Infinite]