Why is proofreading so expensive?

Juel J M

Tadpole; already has thick skin
Registered
Joined
Jan 10, 2013
Messages
10
Reaction score
1
Location
Ireland
I've been doing research for rates for proofreaders ('examining...text carefully to find and correct typographical errors and mistakes in grammar, style, and spelling'), and I've discovered that the low end of how much they charge per hour is around 20$. Why is the job so lucrative? Is it really that difficult to do a good job at it?
 

cornflake

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 11, 2012
Messages
16,171
Reaction score
3,734
I've been doing research for rates for proofreaders ('examining...text carefully to find and correct typographical errors and mistakes in grammar, style, and spelling'), and I've discovered that the low end of how much they charge per hour is around 20$. Why is the job so lucrative? Is it really that difficult to do a good job at it?

That is the low end, though I'm not sure how you're considering that lucrative. It's a skilled position that requires a certain level of education, skill, intellect, attention to detail, and other things.
 

Sam Argent

Rygel XVI
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Aug 17, 2012
Messages
828
Reaction score
70
Because you get what you pay for and professional proofreading is something you want on a book that bears your name.
 

quicklime

all out of fucks to give
Banned
Joined
Jul 15, 2010
Messages
8,967
Reaction score
2,074
Location
wisconsin
I've been doing research for rates for proofreaders ('examining...text carefully to find and correct typographical errors and mistakes in grammar, style, and spelling'), and I've discovered that the low end of how much they charge per hour is around 20$. Why is the job so lucrative? Is it really that difficult to do a good job at it?


well, if it isn't that difficult, save yourself the cash. Clearly you feel somewhat differently or you wouldn't be searching them out, and it can suck to part with money, but I pay more than $20 an hour for labor when they change my oil.
 

shadowwalker

empty-nester!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 8, 2010
Messages
5,601
Reaction score
598
Location
SE Minnesota
Of course, if you learn to edit your own work, make use of betas and sites such as SYW here, the completed ms should be so clean and polished it wouldn't take that long to proofread. But yeah, you definitely get what you pay for. (Noting that cost is not the only thing you should look at when choosing a proofreader.)
 

Mutive

Blissfully Clueless
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 8, 2011
Messages
5,262
Reaction score
3,209
Location
Seattle, WA
$20/hr isn't that crazy. Engineers bill over $50/hr...and those are junior engineers. Project managers bill >$150/hr. Oh, and strategy consultants? You do not want to know.

You're hiring a skilled professional. Expect to pay for that. Also, most freelance jobs require that the person spend some time getting work...so they're working uncompensated hours. If they're freelancing, they're also not getting employer matches, medical insurance, and other little bonuses that invisibly puff up a paycheck.

So downgrade to the $10-15/hr or something the proof reader is actually making for all their work + lack of employer match and...yeah, for a skilled professional, you're getting a deal.
 

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
22,617
Reaction score
7,298
Location
Wash., D.C. area
To put it bluntly: it's a job, not a favor. I worked as a proofreader for a few years, mostly on scientific articles from non-native English speakers. It's not a fun job at all, and I'm glad I no longer need the money. I averaged about 1000 words an hour, and at the pay rate I was getting about $10/hour, which I had to report to the taxman on top of my regular salary, and the regular salary tax rate. An 80K novel would therefore take me 80 hours; not a fun way to spend weekends and evenings and the pay rate was lower, like 3/4 cents per word. Greeting at Wal-Mart would have paid as well and gotten me out of the house.

I have to respectfully disagree with the notion that beta readers and SYW are a sufficient substitute for professional proofreading. Both outlets are excellent for identifying larger plot, character, voice, etc issues, and some individuals are very good at the technical stuff. I'm not saying don't use betas or SYW; just use them for their strengths. Beta readers and SYW critters vary widely in their experience and expertise, and it should not be a requirement to identify when to use a spaced en dash (um, only as a minus sign, thankyouverymuch MS Word autocomplete; I'll never forgive you!) versus a non-spaced en dash. I don't do proofreading on SYW posts anymore, since I don't think that's the strength of SYW.

All that said, evaluate the costs of professional proofreading in the same way you'd evaluate any purchase of that size, such as a nice couch, a posh long weekend away at an upscale B&B, or the like. Most publishers will edit free of charge anyway, so I think unless you are self-publishing you're better off saving the money.
 

veinglory

volitare nequeo
Self-Ban
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
28,750
Reaction score
2,933
Location
right here
Website
www.veinglory.com
Labor costs money--try comparing it to the rate you pay to have a carpet steam cleaned, you dog walked or any other service. It will quickly slide top near the bottom of the list, expense-wise. Which is suprising given that it is a skilled job.

If you need to keep a tight rein on costs, go for a per page charge.
 

Deleted member 42

Proofreading is skilled labor. It requires native ability and training.

You get what you pay for.
 

shadowwalker

empty-nester!
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 8, 2010
Messages
5,601
Reaction score
598
Location
SE Minnesota
I have to respectfully disagree with the notion that beta readers and SYW are a sufficient substitute for professional proofreading. Both outlets are excellent for identifying larger plot, character, voice, etc issues, and some individuals are very good at the technical stuff. I'm not saying don't use betas or SYW; just use them for their strengths. Beta readers and SYW critters vary widely in their experience and expertise, and it should not be a requirement to identify when to use a spaced en dash (um, only as a minus sign, thankyouverymuch MS Word autocomplete; I'll never forgive you!) versus a non-spaced en dash. I don't do proofreading on SYW posts anymore, since I don't think that's the strength of SYW.

Please note I didn't say to use them as substitutes, but as a tool to make the ms as polished as possible before going to the pro. (And I'm also assuming that hiring a proofreader is for self-publishers. Using them when going the trade pub route seems overkill.)
 

wampuscat

Recovering adjective addict
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 5, 2011
Messages
3,130
Reaction score
410
Just FYI, the number you're quoting is $10 an hour below the Editorial Freelancers Association's rate list. http://www.the-efa.org/res/rates.php

Also, take into consideration that if someone's a freelance editor, he/she has to pay taxes. From freelancers I know who are self-employed, that can be nearly 50% of their earnings.

In my opinion, proofreading is a difficult, detail-oriented skill that requires a lot more than just knowing grammar and spelling.
 

Myrealana

I aim to misbehave
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 29, 2012
Messages
5,425
Reaction score
1,911
Location
Denver, CO
Website
www.badfoodie.com
Wait. I missed the part where the OP thinks proofing is a lucrative job.

:roll:

Not dissing the OP here. Merely speaking from experience.
Good point.

$20 sounds like a lot of money if you're the one paying, but when you look at it as free-lance income, it's only $40K per year if an editor has full time clients paying them for 40 hours per week on average. It could be much less. When you take into account all the benefits a free-lance contractor doesn't get, $20/hour is really pretty cheap.
 

Chris P

Likes metaphors mixed, not stirred
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 4, 2009
Messages
22,617
Reaction score
7,298
Location
Wash., D.C. area
Please note I didn't say to use them as substitutes, but as a tool to make the ms as polished as possible before going to the pro.

Fair enough, and I agree completely. I've seen in other threads where this very assertion has been made, though.
 

Roger J Carlson

Moderator In Name Only
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 19, 2005
Messages
12,799
Reaction score
2,499
Location
West Michigan
Proofreading is skilled labor. It requires native ability and training.

You get what you pay for.
My brother used to be the Editor In Chief at our local newspaper. Once in his office, I was complaining about the quality of editing and how I could do better. He handed me a full-page proof and said, "You've got ten minutes." I got the point.
 

Jamesaritchie

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
27,863
Reaction score
2,311
Even if the proofreader works full-time, twenty bucks per hour is only $41,600 per year. And if the proofreader is a freelancer, there is no vacation time and no benefits built into this. That may sound like a lot to someone earning less, but in many places it's barely enough to live on. It isn't lucrative unless you're a minimum wage worker in an area where you can buy a really nice house for fifty thousand bucks.

You do, of course, need to know roughly how many hours it will take whoever you hire to do the job. Some freelancers can drag it out a lot longer than others.

Having said this, I don't think proofreading is a tough job. There is no reason at all why a writer can't learn to proofread as well as anyone, and certainly as well as most freelance proofreaders. It isn't rocket science, and requires no more knowledge of grammar and punctuation than anyone wanting to be a writer should already have.

The rest is just learning to slow down and read for errors. I very seldom have an editor change anything because of a mistake.

If you're submitting to agents and editors, a proofreader certainly should not be necessary. They have editors who will correct any run of the mill mistakes you make. They do not expect manuscripts to be perfect. If you're self-publishing, the chances of recovering your money are pretty much nil.
 

Unimportant

No COVID yet. Still masking.
Staff member
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 8, 2005
Messages
19,533
Reaction score
22,767
Location
Aotearoa
I've been doing research for rates for proofreaders ('examining...text carefully to find and correct typographical errors and mistakes in grammar, style, and spelling'), and I've discovered that the low end of how much they charge per hour is around 20$. Why is the job so lucrative? Is it really that difficult to do a good job at it?

As others have said: it's not at all lucrative, but it's a rare skill and difficult to learn to do well and quickly. I don't know any editorproofreader who doesn't dearly wish she could charge the same hourly rates as an electrician, or a plumber, or a panel beater.
 
Last edited:

Juel J M

Tadpole; already has thick skin
Registered
Joined
Jan 10, 2013
Messages
10
Reaction score
1
Location
Ireland
:D I have been doing research and am not entirely unknowledgeable on the subject, however unfortunately I didn't know enough to ask the right question to get the right answer, so I played dumb and asked a couple of general, naive ones in hopes I'd get the information and perspective I wanted (oh, and lucrative was the wrong word, I agree...I realized that about ten seconds after walking away from the computer :p). Which I did. Y'all are great. :) (Just FYI, I'm coming at the subject more from the perspective of 'if I became a proofreader what should I charge?' rather than 'if I needed a proofreader what should I pay?') I'm a compulsive editor, but I'd never actually taken a certain amount of flawed text authored by someone else and put it all in order (I don't have a brother in editing like Roger, unfortunately :D), so I am drawing on y'all's experience instead.

Thankyou hugely.

I am guessing that a job like Chris had, proofreading scientific articles from non-native English speakers, would be considerably harder than just proofreading a book like one I'm beta-ing right now, which only has a plethora of misused semicolons, a few missing words, and a couple comma/period swaps. If someone only proofread for, say, self publishers after they've done all the editing they can and just want another pair of eyes to catch everything they missed, what would be the typical speed that a proofreader could do a good job at, and shouldn't the price reflect the relatively lighter work?
 

cornflake

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 11, 2012
Messages
16,171
Reaction score
3,734
:D I have been doing research and am not entirely unknowledgeable on the subject, however unfortunately I didn't know enough to ask the right question to get the right answer, so I played dumb and asked a couple of general, naive ones in hopes I'd get the information and perspective I wanted (oh, and lucrative was the wrong word, I agree...I realized that about ten seconds after walking away from the computer :p). Which I did. Y'all are great. :) (Just FYI, I'm coming at the subject more from the perspective of 'if I became a proofreader what should I charge?' rather than 'if I needed a proofreader what should I pay?') I'm a compulsive editor, but I'd never actually taken a certain amount of flawed text authored by someone else and put it all in order (I don't have a brother in editing like Roger, unfortunately :D), so I am drawing on y'all's experience instead.

Thankyou hugely.

I am guessing that a job like Chris had, proofreading scientific articles from non-native English speakers, would be considerably harder than just proofreading a book like one I'm beta-ing right now, which only has a plethora of misused semicolons, a few missing words, and a couple comma/period swaps. If someone only proofread for, say, self publishers after they've done all the editing they can and just want another pair of eyes to catch everything they missed, what would be the typical speed that a proofreader could do a good job at, and shouldn't the price reflect the relatively lighter work?

Is this another hilarious gag question to elicit some random response you desire?

Considering the errors in this post, sure.
 

absitinvidia

A bit of a wallflower
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 13, 2005
Messages
1,034
Reaction score
159
Location
Earth-that-was
I've been doing research for rates for proofreaders ('examining...text carefully to find and correct typographical errors and mistakes in grammar, style, and spelling'), and I've discovered that the low end of how much they charge per hour is around 20$. Why is the job so lucrative? Is it really that difficult to do a good job at it?

Indeed it is. And I too laughed out loud at the idea that it is a lucrative job.

Keep in mind, too, that not all proofreads are cold reads. I do a lot of comparison proofreads. This means I have to compare the marked-up copy with the copy-editor's changes to the page proofs, to make sure all the editing changes have been entered correctly and without adding new errors. I also look for any mistakes that have been made by the typesetter/compositor, as these are things that won't show up until page proofs: bad hyphenation, missing or misspelled page headers, problems with other design elements. Once this is done, I do a second read-through looking for anything that might have been missed by the copy editor.

Proofreaders don't just glance through a document looking for typos. Proofreading is a meticulous, detail-oriented job. The proofreader is everyone's safety net. It's an important job, and not a good place to try to cut corners.