SPECIAL MEMBERS ONLY PROOFREADING OFFER

The Society of Editors and Proofreaders in the UK currently recommends that proofreaders charge £23.35 per hour for proofreading. (That’s about $31.00 in American money at this writing.)

Proofreading is fixing basic errors like typos, spelling and punctuation discrepancies, grammar mistakes and general clarity issues. It’s distinct from editing, which goes into the actual substance of what you have written to one degree or another, looking at structure, character, style and so forth, as well as the overall shape and power of the text, depending on what level of editing you want.

I’ve always struggled with the idea of charging by the hour for proofreading. I can see that it means that if you have more errors in your work which need correcting, that takes longer and so you pay more - but what if your proofreader is just a slow reader? If you send in 50,000 words, a proofreader has to give you an estimate in hours as to just how long it will take and what it will cost, but I think things could be clearer. I have always found it easier (and, I think, fairer to you) to work in terms of numbers of words.

Working things out that way, the average rate for proofreading is probably around £10 per 1,000 words. So 50,000 words would cost you about £500 to proofread. If that seems a lot, I have good news.

As a member of the Inner Circle Writers’ Group, I will grant you a 50% discount on the current normal rate for proofreading for anything up to 50,000 words - for a limited period only. (In fact, I don’t think I’ll be able to sustain this offer beyond the end of October. I’ll have to see when that time comes.)

That means you would pay only £5.00 per 1,000 words if you submit something within the next couple of weeks.

50,000 words, instead of costing you £500.00, would only be £250.00; 30,000 would be £150.00, and so on.

This offer is subject to certain conditions:

1. I need to see a sample of your work first. (If it’s in very good condition, I might even be able to better this offer!)

2. I need to receive the fee first, via PayPal, before commencing the work. This is because proofreading is highly labour intensive, time-consuming work - I need to have confidence that the fee is paid before I can devote the many hours and the concentration that it will take to complete the job.

3. Deadlines will be dependent upon my workload.

You also obviously have to be a member of the Inner Circle Writers' Group, which you can join here.

You will get:

i) a manuscript with any changes highlighted

ii) the same, corrected manuscript with those highlights removed for your convenience

iii) a short summary of advice regarding the next steps you should take with the work, i.e. an editing outline.

AND, as a special bonus, a free copy of my e-book How Stories Really Work, currently discounted to £10.00 at Lulu.com but full of priceless knowledge about fiction which will transform the way you view stories forever.

If you’re interested, please drop me a line at

grant@clarendonhousebooks.com

But please be aware that my time fill will up very rapidly and that, if you wait too long, I’ll have to charge a higher rate.

I look forward to hearing from you soon!