: Re: How much per page? Is this a ripoff? I have a friend who has almost completed a book. She belongs to a local writer's group, and has told me a person in this group that bills themselves

@Odierno164

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Here is the data from the USA Bureau of Labor Statistics for the wages of a Proofreader, the median wage is .06 per hour. Their job description is:

Read transcript or proof type setup to detect and mark for correction any grammatical, typographical, or compositional errors.

For an Editor, the average wage is .77 per hour. Job description:

Plan, coordinate, or edit content of material for publication. May review proposals and drafts for possible publication. Includes technical editors.

Finally, here is a link that supports the industry rule of thumb in editing, that professionals can edit Six pages per hour.

I would bet proofreading is twice that rate. Put these figures together, and the COST of their proofreading is about .60 per page, and the COST of full professional editor work is about .30 per page.

How much profit they should earn beyond pay is a matter of opinion, but I generally think for a business owner you should about double the price of the salary. .20 per page for good professional proofreading, and .60 for good professional editing. I would not stray far from that.

Also, I would ask them if you can pay for perhaps the first 20 pages, unconditionally, in order to see the value of what you are buying. Before you drop 80 or 40 on it.

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