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Q&A What is a reasonable rate for proofreading a manuscript in terms of sales percentage?

If someone asked me to proofread in return for a percentage, I'd turn them down, because I'd want to be paid as soon as the work is done, and I wouldn't want how much I get paid to be dependent on ...

posted 7y ago by micapam‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2020-01-22T13:31:22Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/26887
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T06:09:40Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/26887
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T06:09:40Z (almost 5 years ago)
If someone asked me to proofread in return for a percentage, I'd turn them down, because I'd want to be paid as soon as the work is done, and I wouldn't want how much I get paid to be dependent on sales of copies.

However, if you want to take them up on it, I guess you should first work out the flat fee you'd be willing to work for, then work backwards from there.

Where _n_ is a reasonable estimate for number of copies the book is likely to seel, _p_ is the net profit on each copy of the book, and _s_ is the minimum sum you want to be paid, then the percentage you should ask for is _s / p \* n \* 100_.

The tricky bit is _n_, as you can't know for sure, but you could look at sales figures for similar titles in that subject area and correlate it with sales of the author's previous titles, maybe?

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2017-02-23T01:47:21Z (over 7 years ago)
Original score: 4