As you would expect, the nature of the work to be done will cause rates to vary considerably. Other influences on rates include the time in which the work has to be accomplished, special expertise that may be required, and other factors. The industry standard for a manuscript page, however, is a firm 250 words, according to The Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA). The EFA provides rough guidelines on the rates that are charged for various editorial services. These may be found at http://www.the-efa.org/res/rates.php.
EFA illustrates at least three ways to charge for editing services. One way is to charge by the hour at some specified rate. A second way is to charge by the page in a fashion similar to how we charge for manuscript reviews. The third way is to charge by the word for the type and level of difficulty for the editing required. The last method is to charge a fixed fee for the project. In our view, this last method is similar to calling a mechanic and asking for a fixed quote to repair a vehicle without ever seeing it. Not a good idea.
The first quote we will provide prior to reading the complete manuscript is the fee for a manuscript review and critique. If you know the word count of your manuscript, you can calculate this fee yourself, following the method described below.
The charge for a manuscript review and critique is the easiest to explain because it is based on a page count. Since 2009, we have broken out this charge as the first step in the editing process and show it as a separate cost.
We use EFA's recommended 250 words per page to determine page count. For example, a manuscript with 75,000 words has a page count of 300 pages for our calculations.
Formula: Word Count/250 words per page=Page Count
We charge $1 per page for the reading and assessment part of the review. Therefore, a 75,000-word manuscript will cost $300 for us to critically read it in its entirety and make notes on our debriefing with the author.
Formula: Page Count X $1 per page=Base Fee
We conduct either a face-to-face or telephone debriefing on our assessment. The debriefings typically take an hour. We charge a flat fee of $75 for the debriefing.
This brings the total fee for a 75,000-word manuscript review to $375. We ask for payment of the fee at the time a manuscript is submitted for review.
Formula: Base Fee + $75=Total Fee
Estimates for editing range from $0.025 per word to $0.06 per word, depending on the kinds of editing needed. Once a manuscript review and critique has been completed, we will provide an estimate of the fee associated with the types of editing needed. We will provide a written agreement that spells out the types of editing required, time frames for completion of tasks, and a payment schedule. The payment schedule typically is divided into three payments.
