Pricing

Student Rate

For students, I charge a simple and consistent rate of $40 per hour.

This ensures that how much you pay depends entirely on the breadth and intensiveness of the work involved. I think this is the fairest and most transparent way to work with clients.

If it’s proofreading or simple stylistic editing (the basics: spelling, grammar, punctuation, sentence-level structural edits), it will probably go quicker than a piece which requires me to digest and analyze content (e.g. making phrases clear, rearranging sections, improving an argument, large-scale developmental editing). Formatting references/citations/footnotes can vary but tends to be more time-consuming. You are absolutely welcome to specify what kind of editing you want me to do for a certain job and I’ll limit my work to that.

Can you give me a quote if I send you my paper?
Sorry, no. It’s difficult to predict what a document will need until I’ve started putting in the work! What you can do is send me a small job first, such as one chapter or section of your document, so you can determine whether my rate and editing style fit your needs. Or you can ask me to do, for example, two hours of work and see what that gets.

For a really general estimate, though: An academic paper format that requires moderate paragraph-level edits averages around 6 pages/hour or $7/page. Be aware that I’ve edited documents that go much quicker and some that are much slower. I do keep track of my work statistics in a spreadsheet over time to make sure I’m giving my clients a fair deal. Being a student is unfairly expensive, and I’m very conscious of the financial burden. My rate is at the lowest end of the national averages for this reason.

Professional Rate

Professional contracts start at $60 per hour and can be negotiated individually. Please contact me to discuss what your department or publication has in mind.