ROSS
EDWARDS
Writing, Editing & Proofreading
Often you must turn your stylus to erase, if you hope to write anything worth a second reading.
- Horace, Satires
Proofreading
The world needs more good proofreaders! And it needs them badly! Click here for some recent news stories that make that fairly obvious — a sort of proofreading blooper reel.
I know that deadlines sometimes make it hard to take advantage of a proofreader's skills, but do you really feel your spell-check program is set up to catch everything? It's not! How many times have you seen spelling mistakes in otherwise high-quality advertisements? Too many times! This can absolutely ruin your intended effect.
But what does a proofreader actually do?
Proofreading: The official definition doesn’t exist, but my interpretation involves checking documents for spelling, grammar, and consistency.
Copyediting: This is a step higher — kind of a mid-point between proofreading and editing. A copyeditor also checks for spelling, grammar, and consistency, but additionally ensures your writing makes sense — with appropriate wording and sentence structure.
I actually began my professional life as a proofreader/copyeditor, working for Encyclopaedia Britannica (see my credit on the 1998 CD-ROM version of the publication) and Douglas Press (the third-largest breakopen lottery ticket manufacturer in the country — Woohoo!). So you can trust me to provide eagle-eye service and hawk-swift turnaround.
Contact me if you have questions about your project.
Sample Rates
Proofreading: $35/hour for typical corporate materials (marketing collateral, newsletters, Web sites, etc.) or $3.50 per book page (400 words).
Copyediting: $40/hour
or $4 per book page (400 words).
Editing/Rewriting: $45/hour.
Writing
Advertising Copywriting: $50 per hour.
Newspaper or Magazine Articles: $50 per hour.
Press Releases: With no research needed, $150 for first page, $100 for each additional page. If research is required, then bill at usual copywriting rate of $50 per hour.