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Question about pricing my first proofreading gig - did I undersell myself?
I spent 4 hours going through a 40 page document for a local author here in San Antonio. Charged them $60 total. Found out later from another freelancer that most people charge at least $30 an hour for basic proofreading. So basically I made $15 an hour for that first job. Anyone else start way too low and regret it later?
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casey2683d agoTop Commenter
Looking at it another way, you got paid to practice and figure out your rate (which is pretty valuable in itself). $60 for a first gig isn't terrible if the author gives you a good testimonial or passes your name along to their writer friends. That kind of word-of-mouth (especially in a city like San Antonio where everyone knows everyone) is worth more than the $15 an hour difference.
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michael_williams3d ago
$15 an hour when you didn't know any better is rough, but at least you learned from it. Used to be the type that figured any money was good money until I saw how much time I was giving away for cheap. Seeing it laid out like that really drives home that knowing your worth is just as important as doing good work. Did you at least get a good review or referral out of it?
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