The cost of an editor varies depending on who you rely on for editing services. The main authority for establishing editing rates is the EFA or Editorial Freelancers Association. According to the EFA, copyediting rates range between $40–$60 per hour or 3.0 c—6.0 c per word.
However, this is only one source of information. Other sources of information besides the EFA will have prices that may differ drastically from this. So how do you determine whether or not your editor is charging you a fair rate for editing services?
Well, it all depends on what your expectations are. There is no standard rate to pay an editor. The only correct pay is what you and your editor agree on. Nonetheless, in this article, we examine the prices that you should expect to pay for various editing services. Read on to learn more.
Editorial Freelancers Association Rates
The EFA is a member association for editors all over the world that is based in New York. information we included from them are median rates based on data collected from members in a survey administered bewteen November 2023 through mid-January 2024.
The total number of respondents was one thousand, which represented 30.3% of the organization’s membership. The table below condenses a range of rates across various types of industries to come up with easy-to-work with ranges.
Please consult the original study by the EFA for more detailed information: EFA editorial rates.
Type of Editing | Hourly Fee | Per 1000 words | Editor Roles |
Developmental editing | $50–$70 | $40–$60 | Extensive revision, rewriting, and reconfiguration of content. Fixes “Big Picture” issues. |
Copyediting | $40–$62.50 | $30–$60 | Copyeditors are responsible for correcting spelling, grammar, usage, and punctuation, as well as enforcing style guides. |
Line editing | $45–$70 | $40–$60 | The editor works at the sentence or paragraph level of a project. They correct errors, with a focus on improving the language and style of the text. |
Proofreading | $40–$62.50 | $20–$40 | Proofreaders are brought in the last stage of the editing process. They often compare the latest stage of the manuscript to earlier stages to ensure the correct changes have been made. |
As can be seen, the rates vary markedly based on the type of editing that is conducted. Proofreading and copyediting fetch rates that range between $40 and $62.50. Line editing and developmental editing are comparable, with Line editing having a lower starting range of $45 compared to $50 for developmental editing.
However, EFA rates are based strictly on member self-reports, and they may not accurately reflect the true state of the market. For example, the hordes of freelance editors on Fiverr and Upwork are likely not EFA members. Nonetheless, they likely have a massive effect on the price that the average editor may have to accept.
In addition, there are a range of professional editing companies, especially in the academic editing industry that make up a substantial portion of the editing industry. We will take a look at the rates which they charge.
Prices charged by proofreading companies
Proofreading companies have arisen all over the internet to meet the growing demand for proofreading and editing services. This demand is driven by thousands of foreign students who have to complete their theses or dissertations in English even if English is not their first language.
Other market segments include scholars trying to get published in prestigious English-language journals for promotions and funding in academia. Before we proceed, let’s see how these proofreading companies work.
The prices they charge vary. The bar chart below shows pricing for 22 different websites providing proofreading services. The pricing unit is USD per 1000 words. The maximum price was 165 USD charged by Edanz — a proofreading service based in Japan. The minimum price was 13 USD charged by London Proofreaders, a company based in London. The Median price was 30 USD.
What are proofreading companies?
Proofreading and editing companies are a type of online editing businesses that offer 24-hour editing services using a combination of in-house and freelance writers. There are dozens of them, and they all have a set of typical features:
They are usually online services
They are available 24-7
They have turnaround time ranging from two hours to one week
They usually have a pair review system, with two editors looking at your manuscript
Their editors are typically well-trained and proficient
Famous names in this online editing industry include Scribbr, Paper True, Scribendi, Editor World, and so on. The table below shows the top ten companies and the prices per 1000 words.
This is from a previous article that sought to rank the services of these companies. You can check it out here: Top Ten Best Proofreading Services.
Rank | Proofreading Service | Standard Price in USD Per 1000 Words | Country |
1 | Cambridge Proofreading | $30 | USA |
2 | Paper True | $32 | India |
3 | Proofreading Pal | $28 | USA |
4 | Scribendi | $37 | Canada |
5 | Scribbr | $42 | Netherlands |
6 | Editor World | $28 | USA |
7 | Proofed | $45 | South Africa |
8 | Wordvice | $48 | UK |
9 | Editage | $58 | USA |
10 | Enago | $58 | USA |
As can be seen, the median pricing for these companies is substantially lower than the rates offered by the members of the EFA. Moreover, there are no fine gradations in terms of the type of editing offered by these companies.
Most of them make no major distinction between developmental editing and copyediting. However, the cheaper price may not always be a good thing. Although the editors who work for these companies are well-trained and proficient, you will have zero control over communication with them.
You simply have to trust that the agent that you’re working through communicates your concerns or your editing goals accurately. Paying extra money to have access to a professional editor that you can directly communicate with probably makes more sense.
How EminentEdit can help with editing your project
EminentEdit provides premium content editing services to ensure that your customer-facing content gains the trust and interest of your readers. We make sure that even before any work gets done we both are on the same page. Take a look at our editing SOP below.
Our services don't just start with proofreading the final product. It also includes help from the very start, such as editing and double-checking your content briefs. Our content editing services include the following:
Editing for tone of voice
Substantive editing to improve the quality of your writing on a sentence level
Proofreading to make sure your writing is grammatically correct with proper spelling and punctuation
Help with verifying factual accuracy of content
Help with editing AI-generated content
So feel free to get in touch through our contact page here: CONTACT US AT EMINENT EDIT.
Cite this EminentEdit article |
Antoine, M. (2024, November 9). How Much Does it Cost to Hire an Editor? https://www.eminentediting.com/post/how-much-does-it-cost-to-hire-an-editor |
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