Freelance Writing Rates: What to Charge for Proofreading, Copyediting, Writing, Etc.

February 28, 2008

Originally Titled: How to Determine What to Charge as an Editorial Freelancer

The following is an age-old question, “What/how do I charge?” Specifically, the inquirer writes:

I’ve recently left a staff job after a few years, and I’m now planning to stick to freelancing. But, I’m not sure of what the going rates are for writing, various types and levels of editing, proofreading, and other editorial work. I understand that different industries and types of organizations have varying rates, but can you give me any “sample ranges:\” for rates to charge, i.e., hourly rates, project rates, page rates, or word rates, or tell me where I can find current rates?

This question is too broad to answer because pricing a job depends on so many factors (breadth of assignment; type of work to be done; discipline (general, scientific, legal, etc.); field (magazine, tech firm, nonprofit, etc.); experience; etc. So, I will give a general answer.

Remember, this is a very general answer. Feel free to chime in and give the writer some feedback based on your experience.

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General proofreading/copyediting rates range from a low of $15/hour to a pretty standard $35-$40/hour. Usually, the more specialized the discipline, the more you can charge for these services. Also, your experience level will count here. I’ve rarely seen copyediting go beyond $50/hour though. And, that’s usually for highly specialized disciplines like medical and/or technical copyediting.

$35/hour is about the standard rate for general and $40 is the standard for more technical work.

Proofreading (just proofreading) usually tops out at $25/hour. The lines b/t proofreading and copyediting are so blurred though that most freelancers don’t differentiate between the two.

Editing and writing usually start at a low of $25 hour and can go up to $75 or $100+. Again, the more specialized the discipline, the more you can charge. The lines between editing and writing can sometimes be blurred, but they usually aren’t. A standard rate for editing is $40-$50/hour; for writing, most start at $45 and work their way up.

It’s hard to raise rates in the editorial industry, so I always advise freelancers, especially if they have more than 5 years experience, to start with what they plan to charge for the next 3 years or so because the industry just doesn’t accept too much movement in fees. At least, this was my experience with clients.

One client in my e-book, How to Really Make a Living as an Editorial Freelancer noted that rates hadn’t changed for copyediting at their firm in 5+ years (they were paying $25/hour). This is a well-respected financial firm that hires a lot of freelancers.

When you are working with companies, you will usually charge by the hour, or a job rate. When you are working with individuals, you might get away with a page rate, depending on what the job is. Again, this is just in my experience.

A note of caution: I would only charge a job rate if I had a lot of experience with the material at hand and knew that I could work through it pretty quickly. Most clients like job rates because they know up front what they will be paying; and, this can work in your favor if you are a fast, efficient worker.

Read more on setting your freelance rates for writing, editing, proofreading, etc. (these are firsthand accounts and discussions). Good luck!

Copyright © Originally published in 2008. Republished 2010: All material on this site is copyright protected and cannot be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without my written consent (linking to is fine).

5 Reasons Freelance Writing Websites & Blogs Don’t Make Money on Ads

February 5, 2008

Advice for Advertising on Freelance Writing Websites

Last month, for perhaps the first time since I started writing ebooks, I started to place ads to promote them – small ads on popular freelance writing sites.

On quite a few sites I ran across, I wanted to place an ad, but hated where the ads were placed, so I didn’t. I think a lot of website owners who are seeking to monetize their sites via ads are losing out.

As a potential advertiser, here a few things that would make me advertise with you – and a few others that turned me off.
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Things that Make Me Want to Spend Money to Advertise On A Site & Some That Don’t

1. Ad Placement: Many webmasters bury ads or give them inappropriate placement. For example, on some popular freelance writing blogs, I saw ads that were placed below the “About”, “Feeds” Categories” and “Archives sections.

If I’m spending money with a site I want my ad to be as prominent as possible. To me, this signals that you think your “Categories” section is more important than my ad.

The reason I was turned off when I saw this is that many sites have quite an extensive “Categories” section. This means in some cases that ads are near the bottom quarter of the page where it’s less likely to be seen.

So, if you’re seeking advertiser, give them the most prominent placement possible; after all, it’s what they’re paying for.

2. Traffic Generation Stats: I ran across one site that said something to the effect of “we’re growing; take advantage of low ad rates now.” But, there were no hard and fast stats.

Don’t make advertisers search for your traffic generation stats. If you’re seeking ad dollars, the most important reason advertisers are considering advertising with you is your traffic generation.

Many webmasters try to monetize their sites too soon – ie, when their traffic levels are not high enough to justify seeking advertisers. What should this standard be? I don’t know, every niche is different.

As for freelance writing sites, I did some poking around to find out traffic levels of some of the most popular sites to see how they all compared. And, you know what, even wildly popular freelance writing sites don’t get as much traffic as one would think. I’m not naming names because I don’t want to offend. But a couple of the most popular sites I checked get between 3K-10K/day.

I was surprised because I expected much more. Makes me feel good about the 1,000+ visitors/day my site gets.

Want to get a good handle on the traffic a site generates. Mosey on over to StatBrain.com. And, thanks to Paula Mooney over at PaulaMooney.blogspot.com for turning me on to StatBrain.com.

FYI, in case you’re interested in this kind of stuff, I get lots of helpful tech hints from Paula’s blog. She’s an online entrepreneur who was a techie in the corporate world. A non-techie myself, her occasional tips and hints come in handy.

3. Advertise Button: One major pet peeve I had with some blogs/websites who marketed for ad dollars is that they made it hard to find the information on their site.

This bowled me over. I mean, if I want somebody to buy something from me, the least I’m going to do is make it easy to find out what the requirements are. A simple universal “Advertise,” or “Advertise with Us” button will do.

4. Announce My Ad: Finally, one thing I would like to have seen more of is something along the lines of “Please Visit Our Sponsors” category.

While this is paid-for advertising and people will ignore it, many won’t. It calls attention to the fact that, “Hey, there are some products/services here that might interest you.”

5. Explaining Rate: A few websites/blogs I visited made it hard to understand exactly what their rate was. I hate it when things are explained in terms of “CPM” or “Ad Units.”

While this is standard Madison Avenue ad agency jargon, many don’t understand the jargon. I’ve been in publishing forever and should understand this terminology, but it still confuses me and I have to stop and figure it out. In most cases, this just seems ostentatious and unnecessary. A simple $30 for $30 days will do.

One of my sisters majored in Advertising & Communications at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and one of the rules of advertising she learned was, “If you confuse the customer, you lose the sale.” Sage advice.

For better or worse, these are the things that stood out to me as I actively went to spend some ad dollars. If your ad sales are not what you think they should be, perhaps some of the reasons listed here are why.

5 Reasons Freelance Writing Websites & Blogs Don’t Make Money on Ads

February 5, 2008

Last month, for perhaps the first time since I started writing ebooks, I started to place ads to promote them – small ads on popular freelance writing sites.

As a potential advertiser, here a few things that would make me advertise with you – and a few others that turned me off.