Expert: Dan Smith - 5/17/2005

Question
A doctor asked me to type his book as he records it.
The book will be between 300-500 pages, what would be a fair price to charge for typing his book

Answer
Transcription services in Austin charge $1.00 for a 25-line page. That's roughly one double spaced pae, 12-point type with header and footer. I think that's reasonable, but if he's flush, go up a little bit.

Figured another way, downtyping services charge a bit more than $35.00/hr, and that is not unreasonable either. But that usually includes some editorial assistance and more formatting work than is usually the case with plain transcription of a manuscript.

If you have to do more than just type. That is, if he wants you to edit as well, double or triple the price depending on how much work you have to do. This kind of work should not be cheap, so make yourself some $ and enjoy.

Obviously, if you single space the page or use a smaller typeface, adjust accordingly.

Hope this helps.