1. What happens?
a) You send me the whole text or a representative sample.
b) I quote a fee which includes all the time required for the initial set-up, the editing process and the follow-up discussions (see item 5 below).
2. Calculation of fees
i) you’ll pay the start-up fee of £25 [€30] + a per-word rate.
ii) This rate is between £0.012 and £0.036 (€0.014 to €0.043], depending on the complexity of the job [= how easy or difficult it is to interpret what you mean, in English 🙂 ] and consequently the time required.
iii) I provide a quote which you can rely on, assuming the sample you send is representative; if not we will have renegotiated amicably :-).
iv) The fee includes time for follow-up queries, clarifications and discussion [several iterations by email].
v) Theses and dissertations: the start-up fee is £50 [€60] but a 10% discount is offered on the total fee to account for economies of scale and the poverty of many students . . . . .
3. Timing and methods of payment:
a) If the fee is less than £600 you pay after completion of the work, on receipt of an invoice;
b) If the fee is more than £600 there are three stages:
¼ in advance, ¼ halfway through the project and ½ on completion.
c) All fees are quoted in £ GBP Sterling and/or Euros at the current rate, and are payable by direct bank transfer to a £ or a € account.
d) Please note: I work as a freelance, not registered for VAT (IVA, TVA, MwSt). If this might cause problems for your institution please resolve them in advance.
4. Format of text submission:
Documents should be in MS Word or Rich Text Format, formatted as follows.
– 12 pt for normal text throughout;
– consistently-sized headings (use a maximum of three sizes: 12pt bold, 14 pt bold and 18pt bold);
– 1½-line spaced throughout the document;
– margins set at 2 cm all round throughout the document.
– a ‘footer’, in 8pt, on each page, with your name, the date, abbreviated title and page number.
[ . . . thank you for making my life easier . . . 🙂 ]
5. What do we do?
a) I produce the first draft, correcting text [‘tracked changes’] and – importantly – giving you comments and questions on the screen;
b) I go through it again, either by printing draft 1 and make further corrections on paper, or with an editing software, applying my judgement to further corrections, comments and queries;
c) I send you three files: One shows all the changes and comments, one has comments only, and one is ‘clean’;
d) You respond to my suggestions and inquiries by email;
e) I reply to your response 🙂;
f) ‘e’ above is repeated until we are happy, and then we make a final ‘clean’ version.
