As an author, you’ll need professional proofreaders with the necessary experience to proofread your work before publication. So, the first question you have to ask yourself is, how do I hire a proofreader for my book? You also need to understand what is included in proofreading a book and the budget you’ll need for this service*.
Unless you rely on your publisher’s in-house proofreaders to check your manuscripts for errors before publishing, you need to hire a proofreader. Fortunately, most freelance proofreaders charge less than their onsite counterparts. So, how much do proofreaders charge per hour? This article breaks down the cost of hiring a proofreader.
Average Rate for Proofreading Per Hour
Hourly rates for proofreading aren’t very common because proofreaders can’t predict the amount of time it’ll take to finish your manuscripts. Nevertheless, many freelance proofreaders usually charge between $10 and $100 per hour, depending on the factors mentioned above. But as a writer, you shouldn’t dwell so much on the hourly rates and focus on hiring an honest and reliable proofreader.
Some unscrupulous proofreaders will intentionally prolong the time they take to complete your work so they can charge you more. Plus, the time one puts into your project doesn’t always determine the quality of work one delivers. So, the most important thing that you should be concerned with is the proofreader’s qualifications, level of experience, and honesty. Luckily, you can find the best, most qualified proofreading experts on reliable platforms like Guru!
What Is a Proofreader?
A proofreader is a person who reads manuscripts to check for spelling and grammatical errors before they’re published. The proofreader does a final read-through of the edited copy to identify any errors that may have slipped through the cracks.
Like an editor, a proofreader can work for independent authors and publishers, newspapers, magazines, publishing companies, and websites. They can also find work in specific fields like business reporting and academic writing. Here are the main duties of a proofreader:
- Reviewing, proofing, and editing written content across various media channels and industries to make sure each copy is free of spelling and grammatical errors
- Checking copies for usage consistency, syntax, and alignment with the brand voice
- Checking copies for accuracy, proper punctuation, and referenced facts and materials, including dates, values, pages, websites, books, journals, and newspapers
- Making sure the page numbers, titles, and captions are used properly
- Highlighting the corrections that need to be made and revising them as required
How Much Do Proofreaders Charge?
Like in any other profession, the cost of hiring a proofreader depends on many factors. so, if you want to figure out how much to pay your proofreaders, you need to start by understanding these factors.
Level of Experience and Expertise Required
If you need a proofreader with ten years of experience, expect to pay them more than you’ll pay a proofreader with only one or two years of experience. A more experienced proofreader promises you high-quality services and can work faster than a less experienced one. They’ve also gained specialized skills over the years that they can use to handle your project quickly and successfully.
Most experienced proofreaders have already established large client bases, so their schedules are very tight. To fit your project into their busy schedule requires you to pay an extra dime–but this doesn’t mean that all highly experienced proofreaders are expensive.
With popular freelance sites like Guru, you can find experienced proofreaders with friendly rates. You just need to search patiently and review each proofreader’s work before making any decision.
Location of the Proofreader
With freelance sites like Guru, it’s now possible to hire highly qualified and experienced proofreaders from overseas where minimum wages are slightly lower and taxes more lenient. It’ll cost you more to hire a proofreader in the United States than to hire one from Asia or Africa because the cost of living in the latter regions is much lower than in the U.S.
Every proofreader will base their charges on the general cost of living regardless of their region. Therefore, if you’re looking for ways to cut down on the cost of proofreading your book before publication, consider hiring freelance proofreaders from overseas.
Amount of Work
Most experienced proofreaders will ask you to give them the copy you want them to work on before they give you a quote. This gives them a chance to review the work and assess its complexities and the amount of time it’s likely to take. If your manuscripts are poorly written with glaring errors, you’ll pay more per hour.
If you want them to proofread thousands of pages within a short time, then they’ll charge you more because they’re likely to spend more time working on your manuscripts. Understanding these factors will help you to figure out the befitting cost of proofreading your work.
