How much to charge for proofreading a book? Thread poster: Paul Dixon
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Paul Dixon 
Brazil
Local time: 03:17
Portuguese to English
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I would like to know how much to charge for proofreading a book in English. As far as I know, it would be just checking the English without reference to the original (not sure if this would make any difference). The problem is that in the dire crisis in Brazil I don't want to price myself out of the market, but at the same time don't want to receive peanuts. It is a medium-sized book.
| | | | Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 00:17
Dutch to English
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| Check what's required | Sep 25, 2020 |
Paul Dixon wrote:
I would like to know how much to charge for proofreading a book in English. As far as I know, it would be just checking the English without reference to the original (not sure if this would make any difference). The problem is that in the dire crisis in Brazil I don't want to price myself out of the market, but at the same time don't want to receive peanuts. It is a medium-sized book.
Usually, when a book is going to be published, it is the publisher's editorial staff who take care of this. Is your client an agency or a private client, maybe the author him/herself? You need to know who is involved, what the plan is with this book, and what exactly required of you. A simple check of spelling and punctuation without reference to the original is usually charged per word at about one quarter to one third of your hourly rate. But when clients say 'proofreading', they often mean 'editing'. That involves a whole lot more than proofreading and you would need to regularly compare with the source. In that case you are best off to charge per hour and if the client wants a fixed quote, you could edit for an hour, see how many pages you did, and extrapolate from there. Add a contingency for unforeseen circumstances and/or give a range.
| | | | Elena Feriani
Italy
Local time: 08:17
Member
French to Italian
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| Take a look at it | Sep 25, 2020 |
Hi Paul,
Did you see it? Is the translator a native English speaker? I would take a look at the book before considering offering low rates.
If the translation is well done, I usually charge 50% of my translation rate for editing. Since this is "monolingual review" and you are not required to read the source, I would charge 40% of my translation rate.
I would ask the client to send me the source anyway, even if I don't speak the language, just in case.
I know a very... See more Hi Paul,
Did you see it? Is the translator a native English speaker? I would take a look at the book before considering offering low rates.
If the translation is well done, I usually charge 50% of my translation rate for editing. Since this is "monolingual review" and you are not required to read the source, I would charge 40% of my translation rate.
I would ask the client to send me the source anyway, even if I don't speak the language, just in case.
I know a very good proofreader based in the US that charges 0.02 USD per word for monolingual review.
Good luck! ▲ Collapse
| | | | Barbara Carrara
Italy
Local time: 08:17
Member (2008)
English to Italian
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| More info to share? | Sep 25, 2020 |
Hi, Paul
Paul Dixon wrote:
As far as I know, it would be just checking the English without reference to the original (not sure if this would make any difference)..
Does the 'just checking the English' bit come from the inquiry from your potential client? I'm asking because something like that would immediately read as a red-flag alert about the quality of the translation. But perhaps that's just me being over-suspicious.
Moving on to the proofing, you would be correct, in that this stage would involve checking the EN only for typos, misspellings, grammar, punctuation...
However, I don't agree that it would make no difference if you were to check it against the original (would that be PT-BR?), as the editing process would obviously take much longer to complete.
You haven't told us what genre are we talking about - fiction, non-fiction, fantasy, YA... And if the book is about a specific topic, how familiar or comfortable are you with it, including jargon-wise?
It is a medium-sized book.
How do you know that? What information have you received so far?
Personally, I would require a .pdf file of the entire book (preferred option), or at least sample pages, possibly from the beginning, middle and end sections of the book. This would be crucial for you to assess the overall quality of the English translation.
Should the quality of the EN be unsatisfactory (e.g. the book was clearly translated by a non-native), further negotiations with this potential client would be pointless, as the task would be too time-consuming and unprofitable, whatever your country of residence or general situation within it.
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Sheila Wilson
Spain
Local time: 07:17
Member (2007)
English
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| Start from your normal rate | Sep 25, 2020 |
Paul Dixon wrote:
As far as I know, it would be just checking the English without reference to the original (not sure if this would make any difference).
It makes a vast difference. In bilingual revision you at least have to read both texts, so you're effectively doing double the work. Then you not only have to think about the correctness of the grammar, spelling and punctuation of the target but also whether it actually matches the source in meaning.
But even for monolingual revision, there can be enormous differences in the time needed. As Elena has said, you absolutely must see the text before you give a firm quote. Has it been translated by a capable professional translator who's a native speaker or equivalent level? Did the translator lean heavily on help from Google Translate, leaving some odd phrasings? Was the correct variant used? Has a bilingual revision step already been done? Did the translator check their work? Has there been an attempt made to use consistent terms, spellings, formatting, etc?
To give a personal example, I find that I can regularly proofread 3,000 words per hour if I really only have to make sure a text is perfect. This is for a nearly perfect text and involves correcting occasional failed edits, sorting commas, removing repetitions, correcting spellings the spell-checker couldn't find (form vs from, for example), spotting ambiguous phrasing... Maybe 0-5 minor changes per page. If the text has been written or translated by someone who isn't both a native-level speaker of the language AND a professional writer/translator, it could take as long as an hour to process 750 words (and it should be called editing, not proofreading). I usually find that if I can't even keep up that speed, I need to return the text. I'm not a mind reader!
The problem is that in the dire crisis in Brazil I don't want to price myself out of the market, but at the same time don't want to receive peanuts. It is a medium-sized book.
Once you're in a position to answer all the questions above, you should be able to estimate how long you'll need. You also know how much you need to earn per hour to stay in business. Of course, the market plays a part in your quote, but it can't be the only criterion. It's up to you to convince the client that the market rate for this particular job is the one you're quoting.
Deadline has an important part to play, IMO. If a generous timeline means a book can form a useful filler for odd moments that would otherwise not be invoiced for, then you can maybe offer a discount on your normal rate. But if the deadline is shorter, you need to charge your going rate or else you'll be left with unpaid bills. And if a short deadline means having to concentrate all your energies on the book for weeks on end, then you're going to have to consider imposing a surcharge, as you'll risk having to turn down very lucrative offers and even face the possibility of losing other clients. You don't want to offer to do a book really cheaply this month and be left sitting with nothing to do and no income next month.
Issuing quotes in four figures (euros or dollars) can be scary. You might think it's unrealistic to expect the client to pay that much. But you're quoting for a lot of time spent working on a lot of words. If the client can't pay, the client can't have them checked by a real professional.
| | | | Barbara Carrara
Italy
Local time: 08:17
Member (2008)
English to Italian
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| Where are you, Paul? | Nov 16, 2020 |
You've started this forum thread back in September, and then... you disappeared.
If you don't mind my asking, what is the point in seeking advice at all?
| | | | | Best not make assumptions... | Nov 17, 2020 |
Barbara Carrara wrote:
You've started this forum thread back in September, and then... you disappeared.
If you don't mind my asking, what is the point in seeking advice at all?
I’ve always found Paul very courteous, Barbara. Best-case scenario is that he is working flat out on the book in question and it’s slipped his mind. Worst-case, well, we know there’s a terrible crisis in Brazil, and there’s also Covid and all the other ways that real life can intervene.
(In fact I’ve messaged him to check)
[Edited at 2020-11-17 07:35 GMT]
| | | | Barbara Carrara
Italy
Local time: 08:17
Member (2008)
English to Italian
+ ...
| Chris (and Paul) | Nov 17, 2020 |
Chris S wrote:
I’ve always found Paul very courteous, Barbara. Best-case scenario is that he is working flat out on the book in question and it’s slipped his mind. Worst-case, well, we know there’s a terrible crisis in Brazil, and there’s also Covid and all the other ways that real life can intervene.
(In fact I’ve messaged him to check)
Good of you to check on Paul, Chris. I don't doubt his courtesy and as much as I do hope he got that job and at a fair rate, I have my doubts on both counts (never has the glass look more half-empty than now) because of the information Paul had shared in his original post. Whatever the case may be, I, for one, would welcome an update on how things turned out for him.
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