Proofreading Quote Template
The mistake that costs new proofreaders the most money is quoting from a word count. Two 60,000-word documents can differ by a factor of three in the time they take, and the only way to know which one you have been sent is to assess a sample of it first. This structures a quote around that.
See the coursesEverything on this page is yours to copy and adapt. The courses cover the decisions behind it: what to charge, what to promise, and what to put in writing.
What yours needs to cover
- ✓ A sample-assessment section recording what you read and how long it took
- ✓ The scope, stated as what is and is not included, matching the agreement
- ✓ The price, with the basis shown, whether per word, per page or per hour
- ✓ Turnaround, dated from receipt of the final file
- ✓ An expiry date, because your capacity next month is not today capacity
- ✓ A re-quote condition tied to the sample, so the price is conditional rather than fixed blind
How to use it
- Ask for the whole file, then assess a representative sample of it, not the first page.
- Time yourself on that sample and derive the job from your own measured rate.
- State the basis of the price as well as the number, so it can be discussed rather than only accepted or refused.
- Give the quote an expiry date and a re-quote condition, then send it the same day.
Proofreading Quote Template FAQs
Should I quote per word or per hour?
Quote the client a fixed price wherever you can, because it is what they can approve, and derive that price per hour behind the scenes from your own measured speed. Per-hour quoting transfers the risk of a slow day onto the client, which they will reasonably resist.
What if the client will not send a sample?
Then either decline or quote a range with an explicit re-quote condition. A firm price on unseen text is a bet, and it is one you will lose often enough to matter, because the files people are least willing to show are rarely the clean ones.
How fast should I send a quote?
The same day, and preferably within a few hours. In a trade where the client is usually contacting several people at once, a considered quote that arrives first is worth more than a perfect one that arrives third.
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