Proofreading cost self-calculator
Proofreading means reading a finished manuscript to check for typos, or the occasional grammar slip or (say) a name given as Eduard and later in the same ms as Eduardo. It isn't the same thing as editing, because it comes in when the editing is done. That is, it shouldn't include sentence rewriting, or major reformatting.
True proofreading (see above) comes in at the same cost as assessment. (That is, $25 for the first 5000 words and $15 for each 9000 or part thereof that follows.) If the job needs much more than that, then ask for an edit instead.
Just to be clear, here is the same passage twice over. Passage one can get by with a proofing. Passage two needs an edit.
Passage one
Opal sat bolt upright. There was something outside her window. There it was again; a thud, thud, as if someone had kicked against a wooden panel.
"Unicorn stew!" Opal muttered. She pushed back the covers and swung her legs out of th bed.
Her slippers were out of reach under the chair. Typical. One of them had chew marks on the toe.
Passage two
Opal sat bold upright. There was something outside her window. There it was again; a thud, thud, like someone was kicking against a wooden panel.
"Unicorn stew!", Opal hissed. She pushed back the covers and swung her legs out of th bed.
Her slippers were out of reach under the chair. Typical. One of them had chew marks on the toes.
"I wish I hadn't come." She said.
Still not clear? Here they are again with the errors highlighted in red. The pink correction is something many editors would do.
Passage one
Opal sat bolt upright. There was something outside her window. There it was again; a thud, thud, as if someone had kicked against a wooden panel.
"Unicorn stew!" Opal muttered. She pushed back the covers and swung her legs out of th bed.
Her slippers were out of reach under the chair. Typical. One of them had chew marks on the toe.
Passage two
Opal sat bold upright. There was something outside her window. There it was again; a thud, thud, like someone was kicking against a wooden panel.
"Unicorn stew!", Opal hissed. She pushed back the covers and swung her legs out of th bed.
Her slippers were out of reach under the chair. Typical. One of them had chew marks on the toes.
"I wish I hadn't come." She said.
True proofreading (see above) comes in at the same cost as assessment. (That is, $25 for the first 5000 words and $15 for each 9000 or part thereof that follows.) If the job needs much more than that, then ask for an edit instead.
Just to be clear, here is the same passage twice over. Passage one can get by with a proofing. Passage two needs an edit.
Passage one
Opal sat bolt upright. There was something outside her window. There it was again; a thud, thud, as if someone had kicked against a wooden panel.
"Unicorn stew!" Opal muttered. She pushed back the covers and swung her legs out of th bed.
Her slippers were out of reach under the chair. Typical. One of them had chew marks on the toe.
Passage two
Opal sat bold upright. There was something outside her window. There it was again; a thud, thud, like someone was kicking against a wooden panel.
"Unicorn stew!", Opal hissed. She pushed back the covers and swung her legs out of th bed.
Her slippers were out of reach under the chair. Typical. One of them had chew marks on the toes.
"I wish I hadn't come." She said.
Still not clear? Here they are again with the errors highlighted in red. The pink correction is something many editors would do.
Passage one
Opal sat bolt upright. There was something outside her window. There it was again; a thud, thud, as if someone had kicked against a wooden panel.
"Unicorn stew!" Opal muttered. She pushed back the covers and swung her legs out of th bed.
Her slippers were out of reach under the chair. Typical. One of them had chew marks on the toe.
Passage two
Opal sat bold upright. There was something outside her window. There it was again; a thud, thud, like someone was kicking against a wooden panel.
"Unicorn stew!", Opal hissed. She pushed back the covers and swung her legs out of th bed.
Her slippers were out of reach under the chair. Typical. One of them had chew marks on the toes.
"I wish I hadn't come." She said.