“God
is in the details.” Ludwig Mies
van der Rohe (1886–1969)
Calculating My Fee
I choose to charge for my
services on a cost-per-word basis specifically because it's a tangible criterion. You'll never need to guess at, question
or even be concerned with the amount of time I devote to your work order, and you can determine in advance, with reasonable
accuracy, how much it will cost.
For your reference, there are approximately 15 words in an average
line of text printed on a standard sheet of paper (8½" × 11" in the U.S. or international size A4)
in a Times Roman 12-point font with normal margins (1.25" all around or the metric equivalent). Such a page could potentially
have nearly 50 lines of single-spaced text, but paragraphs of average length, with space between them, typically reduce that
figure to about 40 lines or less. That means around 450-550 words per page.
An average paragraph
of five to eight lines of text in this format contains about 75-125 words.
Base Rate
My base rate is $.075 per word—no
minimum—for light-to-moderate editing of text that's not needed for at least 24 hours. Multiplying the number
of words in your submission by $.075 yields the base charge for your work order. The
following add-ons and discounts are then applied to your base charge:
Length: How long is the text?
100-200 words:
deduct 5%
200-300 words:
deduct 10%
300-400 words:
deduct 15%
400-500 words:
deduct 20%
500-600 words:
deduct 25%
600-700 words:
deduct 30%
700-800 words:
deduct 35%
800-900 words:
deduct 40%
900-1,000 words:
deduct 45%
over 1,000 words:
deduct 50%
Complexity: How much work does it need?
basic proofreading, no editing:
deduct 25%
heavy editing:
add 50%
Time: How soon do you need
it?
between 12 and 24 hours:
add 25%
between 6 and 12 hours:
add 50%
within 6 hours:
add 100%
Occasionally, an Hourly Charge Is Required
Résumés and curricula
vitae, and projects that are largely graphic in content or by nature (such as, for example, evaluation of PowerPoint presentations
or Web pages), will be assessed individually and charged on other than a per-word basis. My rate for such work and any ancillary
research or fact-checking is presently $45 per hour, billed in ten-minute increments.
Examples
• new client • 225 words
225 - 150 free = 75
words
75 words × $.075 = $5.63 TOTAL
• new client • 225 words • within 6 hours
225 - 150 free = 75 words
75 words × $ .075 = $ 5.63 (base charge) plus 100% × $5.63
+ $ 5.63 (time) $11.26 TOTAL
• 225 words
225 words × $ .075 =
$16.88 (base charge)
minus 5% × $16.88 - $ .84
(length)
$16.04 TOTAL
• 225 words • within 12-24 hours
225 words × $ .075
= $16.88 (base charge)
minus 5% × $16.88 - $ .84 (length) plus 25% × $16.88
+ $ 4.22 (time)
$20.26 TOTAL
• 225 words • within 6-12 hours
225 words × $ .075 =
$16.88 (base charge) minus 5% × $16.88 - $ .84 (length) plus 50% × $16.88
+ $ 8.44 (time)
$24.48 TOTAL
• 225 words • within 6 hours
225 words × $ .075 =
$16.88 (base charge) minus 5% × $16.88 - $ .84 (length) plus 100% × $16.88
+ $16.88 (time)
$32.92 TOTAL
• 1,500 words
1,500 words × $ .075 =
$112.50 (base charge)
minus 50% × $112.50 - $ 56.25
(length)
$ 56.25 TOTAL
• 1,500 words • within 12-24 hours
1,500 words × $ .075 =
$112.50 (base charge)
minus 50% × $112.50 - $ 56.25 (length)
plus 25% × $112.50 + $ 28.13
(time)
$ 84.38 TOTAL
• 1,500 words • within 6-12 hours
1,500 words × $ .075 =
$112.50 (base charge)
minus 50% × $112.50 - $ 56.25 (length)
plus 50% × $112.50 + $ 56.25
(time)
$112.50 TOTAL
• 1,500 words • within 6 hours
1,500 words × $ .075 =
$112.50 (base charge)
minus 50% × $112.50 - $ 56.25 (length)
plus 100% × $112.50 + $112.50
(time)
