A new freelancer who is transitioning from work-for-hire to freelance copyediting asked how I recommended quoting a copyediting job. Until recently, she's worked with a single employer, with a predictable level of editing to be done for each project, but as a freelancer, she's starting to see a much wider variety of projects come across her desk.
She had just quoted a job without seeing the potential client's work, but she'd no sooner hit "send," than she had second thoughts about the wisdom of doing this. I have changed the actual dollar amounts and altered a few details for privacy.
A potential client just e-mailed, requesting a quote for editing about 50 short stories. I'm afraid I may've blundered, though. I told him $50 each for editing, $75 each for editing plus proofreading. Are those figures laughably low? I just realized I'd quoted a price without knowing how much work the client has, or knowing how badly it may be written.
How do you quote a job?
Time how long how long it takes to edit the selection and divide by the number of pages to get the average time per page.
Add 10%, and that is the estimate.
In short: Calculate editing time per page x number of pages x hourly rate + 10% = quote.
Although it could have turned out differently, this story has a happy ending. Our editor felt that she needed to request a sample before signing a contract in order to make sure that her quote was realistic. She wrote a tactful and businesslike e-mail to the client, who responded with samples, and was agreeable to a slightly higher quote than her initial estimate. She was lucky this time, and next time, she'll definitely remember to ask for a sample before quoting!
Janice Campbell, Director of the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (NAIWE), and author of Get a Jump Start on College! A practical Guide for Teens, Transcripts Made Easy, and the Excellence in Literature curriculum, has been writing, speaking, and coaching since the late 1980's.
This basic human need for romantic, sexual, and marital connections is reflected in Carl Jung's anima/animus archetype.