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Hiring an editor: hourly or per article?

by VA2011
16 replies
Hello. I am in need of an editor to proofread and add a few more words to some of my articles, and I was thinking about going on oDesk and look for one.

The problem is I don't know what's better, to pay them per article edited or per hour. What do you think? Has anyone used an editor for this purpose and is interested in sharing experiences?

Thanks.
#article #editor #hiring #hourly
  • Profile picture of the author Davidconstable
    I think Hourly is better than Fixed price job. Here you can tell the freelancer that you need to do this certain amount of work per hour. But you can hire him at hourly basis.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      When I was a service-provider, I always charged "for the job" rather than hourly.

      Customers need to know what the job's going to cost them.

      It was part of my job to be able to estimate accurately enough, in accordance with my own hourly rate (which I didn't even quote to the customer), to be able to quote a price, and if I seriously underestimated, that was my problem and I lived with it.

      Editors normally charge per thousand words, although they may have very different rates for different types of editing (developmental edit/line edit/proofreading etc.)
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      • Profile picture of the author VA2011
        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        When I was a service-provider, I always charged "for the job" rather than hourly.

        Customers need to know what the job's going to cost them.

        It was part of my job to be able to estimate accurately enough, in accordance with my own hourly rate (which I didn't even quote to the customer), to be able to quote a price, and if I seriously underestimated, that was my problem and I lived with it.
        Yes, when I'm offering my services I prefer to charge for the whole job rather than hourly. But I figured that maybe if I found a person who's efficient enough, it would end up saving me a lot of money if I chose to pay him hourly.
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        • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
          Banned
          I may be wrong, but my guess is that all editors offering a service are going to charge "per thousand words" according to the type of edit you want.
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  • Profile picture of the author drem
    I would have to agree that most editors will want to be paid on a word/project basis rather than hourly.

    However, you can find freelancers that are willing to work hourly on elance, freelancer, guru or odesk, and you might save a lot of money in the process.
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  • Profile picture of the author laurencewins
    I agree with Lexy. I charge per job, not per hour. I do editing and I find this works well for my clients and for myself.

    Hourly can be unpredictable as you may find people drag their heels to earn more. At least when I quote, you know exactly what you pay upfront.
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  • Profile picture of the author NetJunkie913
    Hire fixed price. With hourly the incentives are wrong. Rule number 1 when hiring staff: GET THE INCENTIVES RIGHT.
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  • Profile picture of the author evakent256
    Why pay by the hour? the best solution is by article. If you have 10 articles and he does them in less than 1 hour, isn't the payment going to be less than he wants?
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  • Profile picture of the author krad32
    Per article is the best way to hire an editor. Then, set your standard on how the editor will edit your article or how many words he/she will add so that the editor can estimate how much will it cost for the service. You can also set the rate and let the editors apply if they are willing to do the job for that rate.

    There are also lots of sites where you can look for editors besides from Odesk. Having a notion to look only on one area will tend to miss you great talent and skills. You can expand your search for editors on Elance.com, Staff.com, Freelancer.com and etc., which will help you find the right person for the job.
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  • Profile picture of the author manishak
    I always like hiring on a fixed rate. I feel hourly rates are pretty misguiding and it is possible that the editor may misrepresent his or her skill.
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  • Profile picture of the author wigglywo
    I prefer per article. That way I know exactly how much I will need to pay for the task I need done. Even when I know how long it should take.
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  • Profile picture of the author Millefiore
    I'd prefer fixed price per article because every editor works at a different pace and it's tedious to keep track if it's by time. By article, you know what you are paying for and also give them the freedom to manage their time as long as they submit by the given due date.
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  • Profile picture of the author tahminahossain2016
    Originally Posted by VA2011 View Post

    Hello. I am in need of an editor to proofread and add a few more words to some of my articles, and I was thinking about going on oDesk and look for one.

    The problem is I don't know what's better, to pay them per article edited or per hour. What do you think? Has anyone used an editor for this purpose and is interested in sharing experiences?

    Thanks.
    First of all the Odesk name has been changed to Upwork. I think the Hourly system is better than the Fixed price System. Because here there are some different works such as Proof reading, Add some words. So it will be the Hourly process. Thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author gabrielrala
    Odesk doesn't exist anymore they are upwork now, well there are a lot of talented freelancers in odesk, and for your concern you can pay your freelancer after finishing the job that you desire, like give them an expected deadline and fix rate for the deadline that you set! Happy hunting
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  • Profile picture of the author BrainTeaser556
    It all depends on what both of you agreed on. I work as a freelance editor/proofreader on freelancer dot com and I have had to handle jobs as 'fixed price' or 'hourly'. Either of the two is okay. The most important thing is your total budget!
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  • Profile picture of the author DIABL0
    I would go with fixed priced. Any time I out source a project it is fixed price.

    I would suspect in your case, it's simply determined by some word count scale.
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