PROFESSIONAL EDITORIAL SERVICES |
Contact us for a no obligation quote today. Our editorial rates start at a very competitive £21.50 per hour for proofreading, and £25.50 per hour for copy-editing (with discounts available for small business and charitable organisations). |
COPY-EDITING & PROOFREADING FAQS |
A copy-editor works on an author’s original text (also known as “copy”) to prepare it for publication. He or she will check that the text is:
Note: in the magazine/newspaper industry this is often known as sub-editing. What does a copy-editor NOT do? A copy-editor will not:
How many pages does a copy-editor get through per hour? Obviously this can vary greatly, depending on the quality of the original text. But as a guideline, a copy-editor would expect to get through between 1500 to 3000 words per hour (5 - 10 pages). If the corrections need to be typed out (rather than marked up on a hard copy or edited on-screen) then 10 per cent will be added to the quote. Translated texts would generally take longer, as more work is usually required to edit the copy into idiomatic English.
There is a great deal of overlap between the roles of copy-editor and proofreader, but essentially, an author’s original text is copy-edited by a copy-editor before being typeset/formatted for the web, then the paper or on-screen “proof” is proofread by a proofreader before being approved for publication. Often there is more than one proof stage before the newsletter or publication is signed off for print or for publication online. What does a proofreader do? A proofreader carries out a quality check of the text, once it has been typeset/formatted for online publication, and will focus on the following areas:
For printed matter, the proofreader will mark any errors onto the proof using standard proof correction marks as set out in British Standard BS5261:2. Proofreading for online publications is done electronically, and any corrections will be marked straight onto the electronic copy. Any other queries or ambiguities will be collated and sent back to the author/publisher for checking. Note, there is often more than one proof stage before a newsletter or publication is signed off for print. What does a proofreader NOT do? The proofreader carries out a quality check of the text, and will only make minor changes to the content in terms of spelling, grammar, etc. He or she will not restructure or reword the text, or check facts and figures – this is the copy-editor’s role. How many pages does a proofreader get through per hour? A proofreader will generally be able to read between 3000 to 4500 words per hour (10 to 15 pages). If the corrections need to be typed out (rather than marked up on a hard copy or edited on-screen) then 10 per cent will be added to the quote. What if my job requires a mix of copy-editing, copywriting and proofreading? Often, we receive jobs which require a mix of copywriting, copy-editing, proofreading and rewriting all in one, particularly when working on new web content which has not been prepared by a professional writer. As a rule of thumb, when preparing original content for the web, we expect to get through 500-1000 words per hour. For jobs which require a mixture of copywriting, editing, and proofreading all in one, we would work out an appropriate hourly rate depending on your specific requirements. Can you work with translated texts? Let us take your translated text and edit it into perfect, idiomatic English. International clients include Venui Vanilla, based in Vanuatu. Please contact us with any further questions or queries. Was this information useful to you? Are there any more FAQs you'd like to see included? We welcome all Feedback Visit Editorial Services page **** Read Copywriting FAQs **** View list of Clients |
This site is copyright E J Cooper t/a Amberweb UK, Surrey. Last updated 4 January 2011.