Pricing a Project
Author: Melanie Thompson
REVISED THIRD EDITION (2023). Proofreading and copyediting are professional services and no two projects are the same. Pricing editorial work is not like selling widgets at ‘tuppence a bag’, and it can be difficult for editorial professionals to know how to tailor quotations to meet their clients’ needs. Pricing up a project involves four main elements:
- understanding what the particular job involves
- knowing your own pace of work
- knowing what can go wrong
- knowing the market rate for the work.
Pricing a Project describes the quotation process, from taking a brief to agreeing terms and conditions. Its advice is applicable to all types of editorial work – from simple proofreading, through copyediting and substantive editing of books, journals and other materials, to estimating the workload involved in website editing and tendering for complex contracts. It comprises tips, checklists and worked examples, plus other sources of information and guidance.
When I was first starting out I purchased the SfEP guide to Pricing a Project. It was so packed full of information and advice that it gave me the confidence I needed when handling those first few quotes.
