Job Discussion Forums

[slodziak]

Hi there,

I have been asked to proofread a book about the architecture of wooden churches built in Finland in the 17th to 19th centuries. Quite a specialised field.
After reading around it seems that I could charge anything from $10 a page to 11-13 yen a word.
I am new to this line of work (i.e. proofreading not TEFL) and would appreciate hearing what you have charged for similar jobs.

Many thanks.

[Glenski]

A book is a project and a half. Journal articles under 10-15 pages are pretty easy and straightforward assignments unless the English is horribly done.

Gotta ask yourself a few questions.

1. How much proofreading does the author want? That is, is it merely fixing up the grammar and spelling, or is it more like preserving the content, context, and flow of ideas? The latter is editing and should be charged more. Will you be expected to do the index, too (a considerable effort to make sure words are on the correct pages)?

2. What is the author's deadline? Less than a week for a whole book, and you should charge more. Far more.

3. Has the book already been reviewed, and you are just cleaning up his corrections? Would you have the reviewers' comments to follow from the original?

4. Are you familiar with the genre? If not, you can't be expected to do as thorough a job with editing, and if the jargon is too heavy, you may even have trouble with mere proofreading. (I ran into a guy who was a lit major with a journal article from one of his private lesson clients, a doctor. He admitted that he could barely make out the content, so he was just doing his best with spelling and grammar. I really felt sorry for the doctor.)

5. Have you seen a few sample pages so that you know how difficult it is going to be, whether with jargon or poor writing? If not, do it. Carpenters give estimates based on seeing the job site.

6. Have you any inkling as to how much the author would be willing to pay?

For something like a book, I wouldn't charge by the page. That would be overkill. Per word would even be difficult, IMO, but if you go that route, get an electronic copy so you can use Word's function to count for you. I'd say do it by the hour. Perhaps 4000-5000 yen/hour depending on difficulty. That figure comes from me, and I know the fields that I proofread (science), so I am very familiar with the jargon and styles of writing (yes, styles plural). I can rip through 4-7 pages in an hour in most cases.

[slodziak]

Thanks for that, Glenski.

Having read through one or two pages I would say that the work needs medium editing; his writing contains many mistakes but the logic is quite easy to follow. Of course, the subject matter is new to me but his work isn't overloaded with indecipherable jargon.

He seems to be quite flexible on the deadline. Also he is feeding me pages by the week rather than giving me the whole book (he seems to like this way) so I am unable to sit down and blast through it which makes charging by the hour difficult. Therefore, I guess I will have to charge by the word. I think I will offer him 12 yen a word and see what he thinks.

Once again, thanks for the informative post.

[Glenski]