My rates are guided by surveys done by the Southern African Freelancers' Association (SAFREA), the Alliance for Language and Media Practitioners (LAMP) and the Professional Editors' Guild (PEG).
Every text is different, and a quote only serves as a guide of what you can expect to pay. I charge per word because fonts are different sizes, and margins and spacing varies. However, word counts can change between the initial quote and final product too.
Charges are between 0.20c and 0.35c per word, depending on whether you require a light, medium or heavy edit:
- a light edit (or proofread) only involves checking through your document after it has been formatted and copyedited, just before it is ready to be published;
- a medium edit (or copyedit) checks and ensures accuracy, consistency and completeness or your work; and
- a heavy edit (or substantive edit) looks at the structure, organisation and content of your document. It aims to clarify meaning, improve flow and language.
A comprehensive edit involves all three types.
The Editing process
- Send me an email containing your editing requirements and timeframes. We may need to have a telephonic discussion so I can fully understand the scope of work.
- I will send you a quote and Service Level Agreement.
- The signed SLA and a 50% deposit is required before I start editing your work.
- I will adhere to our contractual timeframes and I require you to, too. All draft work must be submitted to me by the agreed dates in order for me to meet the deadlines.
- According to our agreed timelines, I will send you a PDF of the document with all the tracked changes accepted and my final invoice.
- Once you have settled the final amount I will send you the edited document with tracked changes and comments for you to review. You will then work carefully through the Word document accepting (or rejecting) the tracked changes, taking note of my comments.
My turnaround time is usually quick, but please remember that editing done properly takes time, so send your manuscript to me as soon as possible. Please read this article on editing costs.
Please contact me a few weeks before you require editing, so that when the time for editing comes, I will be able to commit to it fully and complete your work quickly.
Jean Schafer over several months edited and provided an index for my book on African Foreign Policies for international publication with Routledge in 2020. Her dedicated and meticulous approach had her produce beautiful work and meant the project sailed past the publishers. Jean's quiet approach, made for an altogether pleasant and untroubled experience: Her working style is one of patience, wholehearted commitment, and positive helpfulness. Jean is proactive, able to remind and make valuable suggestions. As such, I wholeheartedly and only strongly recommend Jean to anyone in need of a civil set of interactions in executing exacting and careful work on a major writing project.
Professor Paul-Henri Bishoff, Professor Emeritus in International Relations, Rhodes University South Africa