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Proofreading/Editing Levels
(Price per word in USD determined intevidually by each editor)
* The purpose of the up-front pricing information is to:
- provide the client with a rough idea what to expect
- enable clients to compare prices between proofreaders
Level 1
Proofreading
- Spelling (correctness, non consistency)
- Spacing between words, Basic formatting, Unifying quotation marks, Accidental word repetition
- Checking for proper sequencing (such as alphabetical order) in lists and other displayed material. Checking the numbering of footnotes, endnotes, tables, and illustrations. Errors in hierarchy & numbering of headings
- Correcting common errors in word usage
- Basic grammar including articles, tenses, plural/singular, subject-verb disagreement, punctuation
Everything in “Level 1” plus:
- Suggesting better word usage
- Any grammar beyond basic. Enforcing inviolable rules while respecting personal stylistic preferences. Rephrasing sentences to remove repetition, avoid ambiguity and improve clarity
- Consistency in formatting, spelling, hyphenation, numerals, fonts, capitalization, abbreviations and acronyms, page numbers, headers and footers
- Querying the author about conflicting statements
- Checking the content of the illustrations against the captions and the text. Reading the list of illustrations against the illustrations and captions
- Reading the table of contents against the project structure
- Checking cross-references (for example, “As Table 1.34 shows...”)
Level 3
Extensive Copy Editing
Everything in “Level 2” plus:
- Clarifying ambiguities. Editing for conciseness and word choice. Explaining assumptions that readers may not share with you
- Ensuring language is suitable for target audience
- Adjusting text and headings to achieve consistent structure
- Using a range of sentence structures to maintain your readers’ interest and enhance fluency
- Consistency in voice and tone, enforcing consistent style and tone in a multi-author project
- Ensuring that key terms are handled consistently and that vocabulary lists and the index contain all the terms that meet criteria specified by the publisher
- Improving structure and flow of the text within paragraphs. Smoothing transitions and moving sentences to improve readability
Level 4
Very extensive Copy Editing
Everything in “Level 3” plus:
- Making suggestions to improve the logical structure of the project text
- Making suggestions that help to engage and connect with target audience/readers, reach overall goals, enhance key messages
- Assigning new levels to heads to improve logical structure
- Suggesting additions and deletions, at the sentence and paragraph level
- Ensuring that previews, summaries, and end-of-chapter questions reflect content
Other Services
(suggested percentage added to the base price)
- Add 3O%: Non-native speakers: correcting basic errors, feedback, advice
- Add 2O%: Formatting references, notes, bibliographies. Applying house style or standardized style (MLA, Chicago, Oxford, APA, etc)
- Add 2O%: File formats other than Microsoft Word, e. g. PDF, Excel, Powerpoint, Keynote
- Add 3O%: Very technical or detailed copy text
- Add 5O%: Turnaround 48h
- Add 1OO%: Turnaround 24h
We only provide guidelines for a first estimation. Some services within each level may not be needed or offered. These are levels that most projects will fall roughly into.
The final price will need be calculated and confirmed by the proofreader, based on a sample or the actual project text. Every project is different and in many cases the client will initially underestimate the work needed.
Each Proofreader will provide his/her individual price information per word, for each of the “Proofreading/Editing” service levels below.