Can you help a newbie?!

[LauraC]

Hi, I'm currently doing a Chapterhouse proofreading and copy-editing course which I've nearly completed. I'm also a qualified secondary English teacher and have an English degree. My sister is currently writing her thesis for her masters and has mentioned to some of her friends on the course that I'm training to be a proofreader and a few of them have shown an interest in having me proofread their assignments. They are non-English speakers so it seems it will be more a case of correcting spelling and grammatical errors rather than fact-checking or major structural changes. I've had enquiries about how long it will take and how much I charge and as I'm totally inexperienced in this area, I was wondering if anyone had any advice on how much to charge and how long I can expect to spend on a thesis of about 18,000 words/60 pages. As I mentioned, I'm a secondary school teacher, although not working in the profession at the moment as I'm bringing up my children and doing some freelance writing to get by, with the hope of starting out properly on my own and starting my own business, so I think this project would require many of the skills I've honed as a teacher as well as the proofreading material I've been working on. Any advice would be very gratefully received
Thanks in advance.

[Louise Harnby]

Hi Laura,

How long? Mmm. Depends on what state the m/s is in (esp. with non-native English speaking clients where you're more likely to be copy-editing than proofing). Also, you tend to get faster as you become more confident and experienced. And if there's a firm style guide provided by the university, that can speed things up because you don't have to spend time developing one; you can just enforce the given one. So there's a lot to consider. I don't really feel I can offer any more guidance on that front.

As for what to charge, why not trawl the web a little and see what others are posting. Many charge by the word, because page lengths, line spacing and font sizing differ so much. For proofreading you'll probably see from £5-9 per 1000 words, but it may be higher for editing. You might find it useful to make a table comparing all the rates that you find. That way you can decide where you want to slot yourself in.

One thing to take care over is what he university guidelines are for working with students. Some have little to say. Others want the student to have been referred by the tutor. Some have strong ideas about issues like "fact checking". I'm solely a proofreader so I state clearly on my website that I don't do fact-checking, restructuring or rewriting, though I will lightly edit poorly constructed sentences so that the sense is what the student intended. But that's as far as it goes. It's really a grammar, punctuation and spelling polish.

The following link is to an article that was written for my blog by a colleague of mine and it's about working with students - it won't guide you on the pricing and length issues but you might find it useful for thinking about the issues surrounding this market. http://www.louiseharnbyproofreader.com/ ... arket.html

And here's another article from the Journal of Second Language Writing that may be of interest: http://privatewww.essex.ac.uk/~nharwood ... 0Proof.pdf

There are probably others on here who have more experience of the student market than me, so perhaps you'll get some more substantive advice from them!

All best,
Louise

[Kateproof]

Dare I say how long is a piece of string?!
However, on average I would say that 18,000 words would take about 6 hours but to be honest, the reference section is the crucial make or break element timewise. If that's done well, you should be fine but if you have to do a lot of work on that section then it will take a LOT longer.

Most students like to have a set price so I charge by the 1,000 words but that varies according to size of thesis (e.g. when I do a PhD and it's 100,000 words, they get a discount, while if it's under 4,000 words I charge a minimum fee), level of English, and supply and demand. I have had some students demand that I do the work despite me being busy so this meant me working weekends to get it done and I therefore charged them more but they were happy with that.

A supervisor I know at a university suggested charging £7-£10 per 1,000 words though that may not apply if they want overnight/weekend turnarounds.

A few words of caution before you start:
Make sure the student is aware of the level of work you will be doing and that you won't be editing/paraphrasing/re-writing for them. If they're expecting heavy intervention and don't get it then they won't recommend you, but if you've managed their expectations they will refer you even if they'd secretly hoped you'd push the collusion boundaries.

I recommend making them aware that it's their responsibility to check that they are allowed to have the work proofread. That way if they then get into trouble for having external professional help, your back is covered. If the student is studying English, I would really press this matter and potentially ask for confirmation from the tutor.

Finally, if they are all on the same course at the same university with the same deadlines, don't take on more than you can manage. If you've not proofread a lot in the past, especially on-screen with track changes in Word (the usual method I use with students (those symbols you've been learning won't come in use for students)) then your eyes and concentration may not manage more than 4 hours of actual work per day. You should probably have some Ts and Cs saying if they don't send the work to you when they agreed they would, then you may not be able to do it (as it may clash with another thesis) and it's also sometimes worth putting some small print to say you reserve the right to decline the work upon receipt of the full manuscript as that way if someone sends you something that requires more than proofreading, you can back down and they can't demand you do it.

Hope that helps and good luck.

Kate

[LauraC]

Hi both, thank you very much for your advice, some really useful points that I may not have considered otherwise. As it's the first time I've done this I've asked a student to send me a copy of her work so I can get an idea of the amount of work it's going to be before I can commit to doing hers at least.

I've had a look around some of the websites on the internet and I notice that some proofreaders charge quite a lot of money for their services. I don't want to sell myself short but I don't think I'd feel comfortable charging them a huge amount as they are friends of my sister. Is a fee per 1,000 words better all round than an hourly rate would you say, or am I being naive about the whole thing?

Although I would uphold the highest of standards, as I always do in all work I undertake, as I'm just starting out I feel like I can't charge as much as more experienced folk. I think I'm getting myself a bit confused about everything as I realise how important it is to these students but I don't want to take on too much. Not very business-minded, I know!

[Kateproof]

'Undercutting' the going rate because you're new can work well though it is a contentious issue for many, and you risk those students telling all their friends that rate and if they then contact you in 6 or 12 months' time to have their work proofread, they will expect the same price.

I know some people who have struggled to raise their prices after starting low so can't say I would recommend it. Selling yourself 'cheap' can also backfire because it can make people question whether you're good enough.

I read this blog just the other day, and it may be worth you having a look -- it's not specifically related to proofreading but the principles are the same.
http://www.leavingworkbehind.com/freela ... ing-rates/

If you are new to the work, charging on a par with others by the 1,000 words will make you seem competitive, even if they don't realise it's taking you twice as long. Yes, that means your hourly wage will be lower, but you'll be able to speed up and increase the hourly wage without having to increase the cost to the client.

One final thought -- if the head of a huge multi-million pound business came to you asking for your proofreading services, what would you charge? And if that person was your sister's friend, would you charge less?! Personally, I'd steer clear of mates rates, and to coin a Kwik Fit phrase, just go with great rates all the time. You have your price, stick with it.

[gpuss]

Even today, after years of proofreading, I still sometimes charge for fewer hours if I think I've spent more time than I should have on a job. I think Kate is right about not undercutting; you're only undercutting yourself, really.

[LauraC]

Hi all,

thanks ever so much for all of your advice, it has really helped me and clarified the issues I was having. I'm going to start as I mean to go on and charge the going rate; I see what you mean about mates rates.
Thanks again and I'm looking forward to getting stuck into some work! I know where to come for advice in the future.
Laura.

[k_j_evans]

It always takes longer than you think, even when the person is a native English speaker (*sigh*, if only they would write how they spoke - or how anyone would speak - it would be a lot easier). For charging, the best thing is to look up how much others charge and what for. Generally, the fee is higher for non-native speakers.