When working as a freelance editor, it’s important to have a freelance editing contract to cover new and existing clients and projects. Contracts serve as a mutual agreement between you and the organization or individuals that you’re working with.
It’s key for ensuring everyone’s on the same page when it comes to project scope and details.
A freelance editing contract is something you could create from scratch—but knowledge of what to include is crucial. That’s why a freelance editing contract template is highly beneficial for your team or freelance business. It can provide you with a strong starting point when drafting up a contract.
An editing contract template includes all the relevant language and clauses so that you can focus on the finer details—like project scope, payment schedule, and terms and conditions.
It’s important to have all of your requests and conditions of working written down in the document—and it’s essential that all parties be in agreement. A contract is signed by both parties so that it offers a level of safety for both you and the client—it’s both of your responsibilities to ensure everything is in check.
Note: Create your freelance editing contract today. Sign up to Bonsai for free to start accessing hundreds of proposal, contract, invoice templates, and more.
A freelance editing contract can help formalize the business relationship between you and your client. It helps secure payment for your work, it details the work you’re providing to the client, and outlines the various clauses that help protect you and the services you offer.
It’s important to include all of your contact details as a freelancer editor—your name, business name, and address should all appear at the top of the contract.
Remember to include the client’s details—this is essential for ensuring the contract legally binds the correct parties. Make sure all info is accurate and up to date, every time you send out a new contract.
If the information isn’t accurate, you face one of two issues:
This could become an issue further down, in the—albeit unlikely—case that you encounter issues or need to settle disputes. You want to be 100% sure that contact details are correct.
When drafting up your freelance editing contract, it’s important to outline the payment terms in detail. Be specific on your payment terms—if they’re not accurate, it will delay the delivery of payment, which none of us want!
Some freelancers prefer payment via bank transfer whereas others prefer more modern methods, such as via eWallets like TransferWise and PayPal.
Bonsai top tip: If you haven’t looked into Bonsai Cash now could be a great time. It’s a business account for freelancers that helps you better manage your cash flow.
Be sure to also add in your payment timeline—you can discuss this with the client to ensure both parties are happy with the terms and able to uphold their responsibilities. Some clients prefer to pay instantly, others may decide to pay within a set period, such as 14 business days or 30 calendar days. Be as specific as possible to avoid any confusion or room for error.
Here’s an idea of how you could go about communicating your payment terms:
‘Payment is made within X days of invoice. Any payment made after the due date will be subject to a late fee of X.X% per week.’
A late fee is typically a certain percentage of the total amount owed. This is usually around 1-1.5%, but it’s up to you. Research from IPSE found that self-employed workers spend an average of 20 days per year chasing late payments. Shockingly 43% write off at least one unpaid piece of work.
If in doubt, seek legal counsel when it comes to this part of the contract. It’s always best to get a professional eye on your contracts to make sure they’re correct and all information is present. It’s a smart move that you can do as a freelancer in order to help avoid late payments where possible.
Some freelance editing projects may be more complex than others. With complicated projects, it’s good to clarify the scope of the work required. Being clear and concise on the work you’re providing is going to help ensure both parties agree to the scope and avoid any confusion or misunderstandings further down the line.
Freelance editing contracts are key documents in your business relationship—they clarify exactly what you’ll be working on for exactly what fee. The scope of work specifically is key for avoiding scope creep. Scope creep is when a freelancer ends up completing extra work for no extra remuneration.
This can be frustrating as a freelancer—your time is your money, and you want to avoid doing extra work for nothing. Be specific on the work you’ll be providing, and highlight the costs associated with expanding the scope of work.
As a crucial part of the freelance editing contract template, the scope of work limits doubt and ensures you can continue your work, worry and stress-free.
When entering into an editor contract, it’s essential to provide a timeline of your work.
Some clients may have strict deadlines to hit; others may be looking for a more consistent approach. You want to provide an accurate estimate of when you’ll be able to complete the editing project—unrealistic timelines help nobody.
Even if the timeline is fairly fluid, it’s worth having a rough estimation in place. Outline each stage of your work, and agree on a timeline with your client. This is ideally something that should be discussed in a proposal, before you draft up your editing contract.
As a freelance editor, you should have a good idea of how long a certain amount of words takes you to get through. Keep this in mind when you receive your brief, and plan accordingly.
A freelance editing contract template is a good way to help ensure you clearly communicate the expected phases and timeline. The pre-established sections enable you to plug your info into a clear timeframe—making sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to managing expectations.
As a freelance editor, there are certain clauses that you must incorporate into this contract template.
You should aim to provide details on project termination and the process regarding this—include clauses outlining the process.
Although nobody wants the relationship to turn sour, these clauses are necessary to help navigate dispute resolution in a professional manner.
A freelance editing contract template is beneficial for including all the basic foundations for an editing contract. So, how do you write an editor contract effectively?
A freelance editing contract template should begin with a proposal. What does the client want from you? It’s useful to gather preliminary information prior to creating the contract. That way, you’re not having to go back and forth amending the document and frustrating the client.
Consider the scope of work and how big the project is going to be. This is useful to know so that you can deliver an accurate proposal and a clear picture of what your clients should expect from you and your services.
This should also mention anyone that’s involved in the project, including yourself, of course.
Bonsai top tip: Don’t waffle in your proposal. Get straight to the point so your client can get straight to business.
This section is where you explain the work you’re offering as a freelance editor. This helps avoid scope creep. This happens when communication is lacking and you end up doing work that either the client didn’t want or something that you didn’t agree to upfront.
As a freelance editor, it’s good to mention everything that you will provide during the course of the project. For example, you might have been asked by the client to edit several documents and therefore you’ll mention the specific word count or pages required, including the amount of time it’ll take to edit each one. Psst. Specify font size and type if you’re going on pages!
Along with the editing services, your rates of pay and payment schedule should also fall under this section of the editor contract.
Like any freelancer, a freelance editor relies on clients to pay on time. You want to make sure that your payment terms are clear from the beginning. That way, you can minimize the amount of time and effort you spend chasing clients for your fee.
Rates are a freelancer’s poisoned chalice. It can be difficult to know what you should be charging. How much do you ask for? Is it enough or will it dissuade a new client from working with you?
It’s best to do a bit of research online and perhaps ask fellow freelancers for advice. Ultimately as a freelance editor, you should personally consider what you feel is an acceptable amount.
Be sure to include specific details on your rates and how you would want the payment schedule to play out. The client may outline their payment timeline prior, but this is always something you can negotiate.
For new clients looking for an experienced and professional freelance editor, it’s always useful to show work examples alongside—or even within—the contract.
This might be helpful for those involved in the project to gain a clear understanding of the type of work you’ve created in the past. It could even be used as an example for a specific part of the project—inspiration and added detail to exactly what the client wants.
Work examples are a great way to showcase your talents and it can help explain your scope of work where words may not do it justice. It’s not always necessary, but it’s worthwhile to think about adding in to showcase your experience and expertise.
It’s important to add in some key clauses when creating this editor contract. Alongside the termination clauses we mentioned above, there are some other clauses a freelance editor should be aware of.
Indemnity is a clause that’s worthwhile adding in to make a party responsible for any legal obligations that arise from your work. For example, any losses, damages or expenses that are incurred, the indemnity clause acknowledges which part is responsible for this and who absorbs those costs as a result.
Intellectual property rights determine who owns the final product—you or the client. Exclusive ownership normally ends up with the client, but discuss your options before drawing up a contract.
Protective clauses are useful to have when it comes to enforcing late payments and any efforts when trying to collect outstanding debts.
There can often be non-compete clauses that are included in freelance contracts in general. This clause can restrict who you work with, which could be problematic when trying to secure work with similar clients in the future or at the same time.
Finally, you’ll want to incorporate a section for you and the client to sign. Nowadays, a lot of documents are signed with electronic signatures, especially because of the rise in remote jobs.
When you’re working with new clients, you always want to start off on the right foot. A freelance editor contract is a document that you want to get right when offering services to any clients in 2022.
Creating a freelance editing contract from scratch is easy—easy to get wrong if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Bonsai is a vital resource for many freelancers and SMBs across all different types of industries. Bonsai offers high-quality and professional editor contracts that give you the foundation on which to build your contract and your business.
There are a wealth of benefits to using Bonsai as your all-in-one business solution—not only does it provide free contract templates but there are a lot of additional templates and guidance for navigating the freelance world.
Not convinced? Here are three reasons you should be using Bonsai:
Bonsai helps you save time and as a freelancer, there are never enough hours in the day as it is! With this platform, it provides the backbone of the contracts you create, allowing you to spend less time on admin and more time on your services instead.
The platform is easy to navigate, meaning freelancers of all ages can use the tool regardless of their proficiency in online tools and the internet.
Sorting through endless proposals, contracts, invoices and more are a thing of the past with Bonsai. The platform’s simple interface and design allow users to quickly and easily sort documents, and streamline projects with hundreds of business templates and easy-to-manage invoicing software.
Bonsai provides the foundations for your contract and related documents—all you need to do is add in the necessary details for your agreement.
Tailoring your contracts ensures you’re creating the perfect document for every business relationship—doing it with Bonsai ensures they’re quick and easy. Every client deserves the very best, and a strong contract is a great place to start.
Bonsai can help you secure more clients and impress those you’ve already got in the works by streamlining your business processes.
A freelance editing contract is great to help effectively communicate with the client and limit miscommunications. The contract makes space for you to include all your services and payment details.
Here are a few freelance editing contract FAQs that may help you as a freelancer this year.
The biggest benefit of using a contract template is that it provides a solid structure. It helps guide you seamlessly through the process of writing a contract. It avoids any client confusion, and ensures everyone knows exactly what’s involved in the project.
A freelance editor, on average, earns around $26.54 per hour in the United States. This can vary though depending on the experience you have and the project and clients at hand.
Yes, yes, yes! Always get your contracts proofread or at least looked over by another set of eyes. You can often miss out crucial information or simple grammatical or spelling mistakes can be damaging to your reputation. Grammarly is a good tool to use for grammar and spelling. For proofreading, you can hire these services easily on freelance marketplaces or rely on a vetted template.
A freelance editor is a professional who is hired on a project-by-project basis to review a text or manuscript in order to improve its content and writing.
Here's what should be written Into the editing agreement: Basic information. Outline the conditions for payment. The required scope of work, timeline for the project, termination provisions, list the services that are provided, some examples of your work.
The 5 main types of editing are: developmental, content or copy editing, structural editing, line editing, mechanical editing.
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This Contract is between Client (the "Client") and Acme LLC (the "Editor").
The Contract is dated [DATE BOTH PARTIES SIGN].
1.1 Project. The Client is hiring the Editor to do the following: Assist the client with editing services
1.2 Schedule. The Editor will begin work on [START DATE] and will continue until the work is completed. This Contract can be ended by either Client or Editor at any time, pursuant to the terms of Section 6, Term and Termination.
1.3 Payment. The Client will pay the Editor a rate of [PROJECT RATE]. Of this, the Client will pay the Editor [DEPOSIT AMOUNT]before work begins.
1.4 Expenses. The Client will reimburse the Editor's expenses. Expenses do not need to be pre-approved by the Client.
1.5 Invoices. The Editor will invoice the Client at the end of the project. The Client agrees to pay the amount owed within [X DAYS TO PAY] of receiving the invoice. Payment after that date will incur a late fee of [LATE FEE PERCENTAGE]% per month on the outstanding amount.
1.6 Support. The Editor will not provide support for any deliverable once the Client accepts it, unless otherwise agreed in writing.
2.1 Client Owns All Work Product. As part of this job, the Editor is creating “work product” for the Client. To avoid confusion, work product is the finished product, as well as drafts, notes, materials, mockups, hardware, designs, inventions, patents, code, and anything else that the Editor works on—that is, conceives, creates, designs, develops, invents, works on, or reduces to practice—as part of this project, whether before the date of this Contract or after. The Editor hereby gives the Client this work product once the Client pays for it in full. This means the Editor is giving the Client all of its rights, titles, and interests in and to the work product (including intellectual property rights), and the Client will be the sole owner of it. The Client can use the work product however it wants or it can decide not to use the work product at all. The Client, for example, can modify, destroy, or sell it, as it sees fit.
2.2 Editor's Use Of Work Product. Once the Editor gives the work product to the Client, the Editor does not have any rights to it, except those that the Client explicitly gives the Editor here. The Client gives permission to use the work product as part of portfolios and websites, in galleries, and in other media, so long as it is to showcase the work and not for any other purpose. The Client does not give permission to sell or otherwise use the work product to make money or for any other commercial use. The Client is not allowed to take back this license, even after the Contract ends.
2.3 Editor's Help Securing Ownership. In the future, the Client may need the Editor's help to show that the Client owns the work product or to complete the transfer. The Editor agrees to help with that. For example, the Editor may have to sign a patent application. The Client will pay any required expenses for this. If the Client can’t find the Editor, the Editor agrees that the Client can act on the Editor's behalf to accomplish the same thing. The following language gives the Client that right: if the Client can’t find the Editor after spending reasonable effort trying to do so, the Editor hereby irrevocably designates and appoints the Client as the Editor's agent and attorney-in-fact, which appointment is coupled with an interest, to act for the Editor and on the Editor's behalf to execute, verify, and file the required documents and to take any other legal action to accomplish the purposes of paragraph 2.1 (Client Owns All Work Product).
2.4 Editor's IP That Is Not Work Product. During the course of this project, the Editor might use intellectual property that the Editor owns or has licensed from a third party, but that does not qualify as “work product.” This is called “background IP.” Possible examples of background IP are pre-existing code, type fonts, properly-licensed stock photos, and web application tools. The Editor is not giving the Client this background IP. But, as part of the Contract, the Editor is giving the Client a right to use and license (with the right to sublicense) the background IP to develop, market, sell, and support the Client’s products and services. The Client may use this background IP worldwide and free of charge, but it cannot transfer its rights to the background IP (except as allowed in Section 11.1 (Assignment)). The Client cannot sell or license the background IP separately from its products or services. The Editor cannot take back this grant, and this grant does not end when the Contract is over.
2.5 Editor's Right To Use Client IP. The Editor may need to use the Client’s intellectual property to do its job. For example, if the Client is hiring the Editor to build a website, the Editor may have to use the Client’s logo. The Client agrees to let the Editor use the Client’s intellectual property and other intellectual property that the Client controls to the extent reasonably necessary to do the Editor's job. Beyond that, the Client is not giving the Editor any intellectual property rights, unless specifically stated otherwise in this Contract.
The Editor won’t work for a competitor of the Client until this Contract ends. To avoid confusion, a competitor is any third party that develops, manufactures, promotes, sells, licenses, distributes, or provides products or services that are substantially similar to the Client’s products or services. A competitor is also a third party that plans to do any of those things. The one exception to this restriction is if the Editor asks for permission beforehand and the Client agrees to it in writing. If the Editor uses employees or subcontractors, the Editor must make sure they follow the obligations in this paragraph, as well.
Until this Contract ends, the Editor won’t: (a) encourage Client employees or service providers to stop working for the Client; (b) encourage Client customers or clients to stop doing business with the Client; or (c) hire anyone who worked for the Client over the 12-month period before the Contract ended. The one exception is if the Editor puts out a general ad and someone who happened to work for the Client responds. In that case, the Editor may hire that candidate. The Editor promises that it won’t do anything in this paragraph on behalf of itself or a third party.
5.1 Overview. This section contains important promises between the parties.
5.2 Authority To Sign. Each party promises to the other party that it has the authority to enter into this Contract and to perform all of its obligations under this Contract.
5.3 Editor Has Right To Give Client Work Product. The Editor promises that it owns the work product, that the Editor is able to give the work product to the Client, and that no other party will claim that it owns the work product. If the Editor uses employees or subcontractors, the Editor also promises that these employees and subcontractors have signed contracts with the Editor giving the Editor any rights that the employees or subcontractors have related to the Editor's background IP and work product.
5.4 Editor Will Comply With Laws. The Editor promises that the manner it does this job, its work product, and any background IP it uses comply with applicable U.S. and foreign laws and regulations.
5.5 Work Product Does Not Infringe. The Editor promises that its work product does not and will not infringe on someone else’s intellectual property rights, that the Editor has the right to let the Client use the background IP, and that this Contract does not and will not violate any contract that the Editor has entered into or will enter into with someone else.
5.6 Client Will Review Work. The Client promises to review the work product, to be reasonably available to the Editor if the Editor has questions regarding this project, and to provide timely feedback and decisions.
5.7 Client-Supplied Material Does Not Infringe. If the Client provides the Editor with material to incorporate into the work product, the Client promises that this material does not infringe on someone else’s intellectual property rights.
This Contract is ongoing until the work is completed. Either party may end this Contract for any reason by sending an email or letter to the other party, informing the recipient that the sender is ending the Contract and that the Contract will end in 7 days. The Contract officially ends once that time has passed. The party that is ending the Contract must provide notice by taking the steps explained in Section 11.4. The Editor must immediately stop working as soon as it receives this notice, unless the notice says otherwise. The Client will pay the Editor for the work done up until when the Contract ends and will reimburse the Editor for any agreed-upon, non-cancellable expenses. The following sections don’t end even after the Contract ends: 2 (Ownership and Licenses); 3 (Competitive Engagements); 4 (Non-Solicitation); 5 (Representations); 8 (Confidential Information); 9 (Limitation of Liability); 10 (Indemnity); and 11 (General).
The Client is hiring the Editor as an independent contractor. The following statements accurately reflect their relationship:
8.1 Overview. This Contract imposes special restrictions on how the Client and the Editor must handle confidential information. These obligations are explained in this section.
8.3 Third-Party Confidential Information. It’s possible the Client and the Editor each have access to confidential information that belongs to third parties. The Client and the Editor each promise that it will not share with the other party confidential information that belongs to third parties, unless it is allowed to do so. If the Client or the Editor is allowed to share confidential information with the other party and does so, the sharing party promises to tell the other party in writing of any special restrictions regarding that information.
Neither party is liable for breach-of-contract damages that the breaching party could not reasonably have foreseen when it entered this Contract.
10.1 Overview. This section transfers certain risks between the parties if a third party sues or goes after the Client or the Editor or both. For example, if the Client gets sued for something that the Editor did, then the Editor may promise to come to the Client’s defense or to reimburse the Client for any losses.
10.2 Client Indemnity. In this Contract, the Editor agrees to indemnify the Client (and its affiliates and their directors, officers, employees, and agents) from and against all liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) related to a third-party claim or proceeding arising out of: (i) the work the Editor has done under this Contract; (ii) a breach by the Editor of its obligations under this Contract; or (iii) a breach by the Editor of the promises it is making in Section 5 (Representations).
10.3 Editor Indemnity. In this Contract, the Client agrees to indemnify the Editor (and its affiliates and their directors, officers, employees, and agents) from and against liabilities, losses, damages, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) related to a third-party claim or proceeding arising out of a breach by the Client of its obligations under this Contract.
11.1 Assignment. This Contract applies only to the Client and the Editor. The Editor cannot assign its rights or delegate its obligations under this Contract to a third-party (other than by will or intestate), without first receiving the Client’s written permission. In contrast, the Client may assign its rights and delegate its obligations under this Contract without the Editor's permission. This is necessary in case, for example, another Client buys out the Client or if the Client decides to sell the work product that results from this Contract.
11.2 Arbitration. As the exclusive means of initiating adversarial proceedings to resolve any dispute arising under this Contract, a party may demand that the dispute be resolved by arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association in accordance with its commercial arbitration rules.
11.3 Modification; Waiver. To change anything in this Contract, the Client and the Editor must agree to that change in writing and sign a document showing their contract. Neither party can waive its rights under this Contract or release the other party from its obligations under this Contract, unless the waiving party acknowledges it is doing so in writing and signs a document that says so.
11.4 Notices.
(a) Over the course of this Contract, one party may need to send a notice to the other party. For the notice to be valid, it must be in writing and delivered in one of the following ways: personal delivery, email, or certified or registered mail (postage prepaid, return receipt requested). The notice must be delivered to the party’s address listed at the end of this Contract or to another address that the party has provided in writing as an appropriate address to receive notice.
(b) The timing of when a notice is received can be very important. To avoid confusion, a valid notice is considered received as follows: (i) if delivered personally, it is considered received immediately; (ii) if delivered by email, it is considered received upon acknowledgement of receipt; (iii) if delivered by registered or certified mail (postage prepaid, return receipt requested), it is considered received upon receipt as indicated by the date on the signed receipt. If a party refuses to accept notice or if notice cannot be delivered because of a change in address for which no notice was given, then it is considered received when the notice is rejected or unable to be delivered. If the notice is received after 5:00pm on a business day at the location specified in the address for that party, or on a day that is not a business day, then the notice is considered received at 9:00am on the next business day.
11.5 Severability. This section deals with what happens if a portion of the Contract is found to be unenforceable. If that’s the case, the unenforceable portion will be changed to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable, unless that change is not permitted by law, in which case the portion will be disregarded. If any portion of the Contract is changed or disregarded because it is unenforceable, the rest of the Contract is still enforceable.
11.6 Signatures. The Client and the Editor must sign this document using Bonsai’s e-signing system. These electronic signatures count as originals for all purposes.
11.7 Governing Law. The laws of the state of [STATE] govern the rights and obligations of the Client and the Editor under this Contract, without regard to conflict of law principles of that state.
11.8 Entire Contract. This Contract represents the parties’ final and complete understanding of this job and the subject matter discussed in this Contract. This Contract supersedes all other contracts (both written and oral) between the parties.
THE PARTIES HERETO AGREE TO THE FOREGOING AS EVIDENCED BY THEIR SIGNATURES BELOW.
