What Are Industry Rates for Editing and Proofreading? A Guide to Pricing an Edit

Editors charge a wide range of rates for editing. The industry is unregulated, so in principle, anyone can claim to offer these services. This means you have to choose an editor carefully if quality is important to you.

But finding the right editor can be overwhelming. Editing has a subjective element to it, so even if you pick a good editor, they could be a bad fit for your voice and style.

So how much does professional quality editing cost? Here's the short answer!

Professionally trained proofreaders and editors with substantial experience usually charge at least the CIEP suggested minimum rates, which are updated every year in March. You can find the 2024 rates here.

These work out at between $38 and $55 per hour, depending on the service.

And remember these are the suggested minimums – high quality editors in demand may charge substantially more.

It's important to emphasize that ...

Editing is a highly skilled job

Editing is much more than comma placement. It requires a lot of technical and linguistic know-how. This means that a professional editor or proofreader should be trained.

Equally, they need not be a good or accomplished writer as editing is a different skill.

For heavier editorial work, having excellent writing skills perfected over several years can be a great help. These fields include editing for multiliterate authors, line-editing, developmental editing, and rewriting.

The average editor can edit for around five hours a day (six at a push!), and maybe complete one or two hours of admin, marketing, etc.

Now let's take a look at different parts of the market!

The editorial marketplace

Budget editing

If a price is too good to be true, run for the hills! There are unqualified editors out there who will simply put your text through a spellchecker or AI software. Editing takes time – here are some average speeds, which are fairly typical:

Heavy copyediting/line editing	1150 words per hour
Light copyediting for publishers	2250 words per hour
PDF proofreading for publishers	3000 words per hour

If you are on a budget and want something approaching professional quality, consider looking for a new editor in training, and expect them to charge at least a living wage! (And wages aren't comparable with employed hourly rates, as freelancers need to pay themself a pension, holidays, sick pay, etc. from those rates).

Standard editing

Standard means professional – so typical industry rates for editing and proofreading start at $35 per hour for proofreading and more for copyediting or line editing. Pick an editor from a professional editorial organization, such as the CIEP or EFA. That won't guarantee quality, but it will give you more security, as they are accountable to that organization, and you can complain if the editor behaves highly unprofessionally or ghosts you, for example.

Premium editing

The upper end of the market typically charges anything from $60 to $100 per hour. You can expect better customer service at higher price points, and typically better editing, although you can find great editing at lower price points too.

Now, the rest of this blog post will answer a few common questions that crop up.

How to price an edit: What will it cost me?

Most editors charge per 1000 words or per project, so they can present a fixed project sum for an edit. Some charge per hour. Take a look at the average speeds mentioned above and do the math!

For instance, I charge anything from $20 to $50 per 1000 words for line and copyediting. Non-fiction is generally slightly more expensive, as it takes longer to edit.

What are industry rates for editing and proofreading in the UK?

The CIEP offer guidance on what standards they expect a professional copyeditor to meet. This includes:

1. references from satisfied clients

2. a minimum of 500 hours of experience

3. editorial training with feedback from experienced editors
   

If an editor meets these criteria, they can list their services in the CIEP directory.

Editors such as myself, with advanced professional CIEP accreditation, have a minimum of 1500 hours of experience and more references and training. Advanced professional CIEP members often have many more hours than this too.

And that's why my prices work out at around 20% more than the CIEP minimum rates.

What are industry rates for editing and proofreading in the USA?

In the USA, the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA) publish median rates based on a survey of their membership. You can find the 2024 median rates here.

Why is editing so expensive?

Editing can seem expensive, especially to authors who don't expect to make a profit from their writing. The reason for this is that editing is a highly skilled service. A good fiction editor will check for issues with perspective and continuity, not "just" spelling, punctuation, and grammar.

And when you hire an editor, you're effectively paying their salary for each day they work for you. Editing a novel can take anything from one to four weeks. Given that an average UK professional editor's salary is in the £30K–£40K range, and an average UK senior editor's salary is in the £40K–£50K range, a few weeks' salary can work out at several thousand pounds!

It's also worth bearing in mind that the CIEP minimum rates for professional editing are comparable to entry rates for junior copywriters, and you'll find that very experienced editors will charge substantially more than this.

Have you ever received an editorial quote that has made your eyes water? Or shocked you at how cheap it was? Go on, share your stories in the comments section below!

[Updated 20/3/24]