What to Include in a Freelance Proofreading Contract
As a freelance proofreader, you’re responsible for deciding on the terms of your work before starting a project with a client. Getting these terms down in writing, in the form of a freelance contract, is a time investment that can prevent serious headaches down the road. In this post, then, we’ll cover some of the basic elements that you should include in a freelance proofreading contract.
What Is a Freelance Contract and Why Is It Important?
A freelance contract is a written agreement between you and your client. Most importantly, it sets out the scope of the work you’re agreeing to deliver, how much you will be paid, and when you will be paid.
Most of the time, the process of working with a client will be a smooth experience. But minimizing the possibility for ambiguity before you begin work can help prevent any disputes later on. It’s also a good way to make verbal agreements between you and your client official.
To help you create a template, we’ll cover some of the basic elements of a freelance proofreading contract below. But it’s important to note that this doesn’t constitute legal advice. If in doubt, you should consult a legal professional before sending your contract to potential clients.
What Should a Freelance Proofreading Contract Include?
Your proofreading contract needs to set out a lot of key information. But you’ll need to keep your contract concise and well organized to avoid deterring clients with an overwhelmingly long or dense document.
At the top of the document, then, you should include a short introductory paragraph that outlines:
- The relationship between you and your client, including both of your names and the words “client” and “contractor” (this is important to make the distinction between someone hiring you as a freelancer and hiring an employee)
- A brief summary of the services you’re providing
- The expected start and finish dates of your work
After that, you’ll need to set out the specific terms of your project in some more detail.
Project Details
It’s important to include a section in any proofreading contract that clearly outlines the scope of your work. This will mean clearly stating exactly what work you will be doing (i.e., the deliverables and services provided) and the timeline for this.
Providing this information will help to prevent scope creep (e.g., clients later demanding line editing when you only quoted for light proofreading in your agreed project price).
Extra Work
If you are happy to provide any extra services, you should include a brief section outlining these services and how much they will cost on top of the original project price. This can protect you against exploitation if a client wishes to ask you for more work after they’ve signed the original contract.
This “Extra Work” clause may include your rate for any additional documents/words, or additional services on top of proofreading such as fact-checking, formatting, or editing.
Payment
The payment section of your contract should detail:
- Your rate (i.e., what you’re charging the client per hour, word, or page) and the projected total project cost
- Payment schedule expectations, which may include details about deposits and/or payment instalments (e.g., “20% upfront, the rest paid upon completion”)
- The payment methods you will accept (e.g., “payable by cheque, direct debit, or PayPal”)
Ensuring sufficient detail here will minimize the possibility for disputes about payment later on.
Additional Clauses
Those are the very basics, but your contract could also feature some additional clauses. For freelance proofreaders, this could include:
- Clauses about confidentiality and ownership of the client’s work.
- A clause that allows you to use the work for marketing purposes (e.g., in your portfolio).
- A clause that describes the conditions in which you or your client are able to terminate the contract (e.g., if either of you violate the above terms). This clause may also include detail about cancellation fees in various circumstances (e.g., before the project begins, during the project).
Finally, don’t forget a place for your signatures!
Tips for Creating Freelance Contracts
As you’ll see, there’s a lot that goes into developing a freelance proofreading contract. And of course there are more clauses that you could include than those we’ve covered above.
However, it’s important not to overwhelm your client with reams of dense contractual obligations. As proofreaders will know, concision and clarity are key!
To make life easier, you could use templates such as this one to help create a basis for your contract. Once you have a template, you can then adapt it for each client to save time.
Finally, getting someone with legal experience to look over your drafted contract will ensure that you’re protected from any legal loopholes should anything go wrong.
If you need further guidance on accounting or creating an invoice for your client, check out our blog posts on the subjects.
Becoming A Proofreader
If you’re interested in the freedom and reward of freelance life, becoming a proofreader might be the path for you. And our Becoming A Proofreader course contains everything you need to get started. Check out the course, or sign up for our free trial today.
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