Editorial Freelancers Association
Editorial Rates
A Note About This Chart
Common editorial rates—regardless of whether a fee is flat rate, per page, per word, or hourly—tend to fall within the ranges indicated below. These should be used only as a rough guideline; rates vary considerably depending on the nature of the work, the time frame of the assignment, the degree of special expertise required, and other factors. The industry standard for a manuscript page, however, is a firm 250 words.
| Type of Work | Estimated Pace | Range of Fees |
|---|---|---|
| Editing | ||
| Basic copyediting | 5–10 ms pgs/hr | $30–40/hr |
| Heavy copyediting | 2–5 ms pgs/hr | $40–50/hr |
| Website copyediting | $40–50/hr | |
| Developmental editing | 1–5 pgs/hr | $45–55/hr |
| Substantive or line editing | 1–6 ms pgs/hr | $40–60/hr |
| Fact checking | $30–40/hr | |
| Indexing | 8–20 pr pgs/hr | $35–65/hr $5.50–$12/pr ind pg |
| Layout | ||
| Books | 6–10 pgs/hr | $45–85/hr |
| Newsletters | 1–4 pgs/hr | $40–100/hr |
| Websites | $16–20/pg | |
| Manuscript evaluation | $45–55/hr | |
| Permissions | $40–50/hr | |
| Project management | $9–30/pr pg $40–90/hr |
|
| Proofreading | 9–13 ms pgs/hr | $30–35/hr |
| Researching | $40-75/hr | |
| Transcribing | variable | $2.50–$4/audio minute |
| Translating | 300–500 wds/hr | $40–50/hr |
| Web Design | $50–75/hr | |
| Writing | 1–3 ms pgs/hr | |
| Fiction | $40–50/hr 20¢–25¢/wd |
|
| Ghostwriting | $50–60/hr 26¢–50¢/wd |
|
| Grants/Proposals/Sales/PR | $50–60/hr 30¢–95¢/wd |
|
| Journalism | $40–50/hr 26¢–50¢/wd |
|
| Medical | $60–70/hr 80¢–95¢/wd |
|
| Nonspecified | $40–100/hr 20¢-$2/wd |
|
| Technical/Trade | $50–60/hr 45¢–55¢/wd |
NOTE: ind pg = indexable page, ms = manuscript, pr = printed, pg = page, hr = hour, wd = word