Sometimes I feel that people think “proofreading and editing” is one of those things that anyone can do, that’s a good fall-back position if you’re looking around for something to bring in a few pounds. I think it’s a common misconception that if someone is well-read and good at spelling, that’s going to transfer into something out of which they can make a career. There is a bit more to it than that, and as I’ve had several people ask about it, it’s got to the point where it feels useful to put something down that I can direct future enquirers to. So, if you’re thinking about being a proofreader and you don’t know quite what it entails, read on …
Get your terms right
If you think you want to be “a proofreader” then you probably don’t know what one is. Sorry to be blunt! But a proofreader is a very specific kind of job, where you check materials that are just about to be published. It’s not going through a manuscript for a novel and commenting on it (that’s copyediting) or making suggestions on changes (that’s substantive copyediting) or checking the facts in an article (that’s fact-checking) or writing up an article from bullet points (that’s copy writing). For more on all this, see my post on proofreading and copyediting or my skill set series. OK: so what you want to be is a copyeditor.
Get the skills
It’s not that easy correcting someone’s grammar and making their sentences work. Sometimes, it isn’t actually that much fun. Of course I enjoy it, but see below for why it takes a particular kind of person. And you do need to have the theory behind the practice solidly backing you up. One way to get the knowledge is to go on a course. Do not look at any other courses apart from those run by the Society For Editors and Proofreaders or the Publishing Training Centre. Yes, there are lots of other courses advertised in the paper, etc. These are the two that the industry in the UK recognises, that publishers send their editors on. The courses and exams are quite expensive, but so are the other ones. SfEP has a useful test on its website that might help you decide whether you’re suited for this work.
An admission: I’m not a member of SfEP and I don’t hold their qualifications. But, and this is a route you will need to take too, I have lots and lots and lots of experience. Most of that experience, pre-Libro, was unpaid – editing and indeed proofreading for local publications, author friends, typing theses back in the old days before everyone had a computer. Writing. Writing press releases and marketing material. Working with UK and US English. I’m nearly 40. Most of my working life has involved this kind of stuff. Oh, and the English Lang & Lit and Library and Information Studies degrees helped a bit, too.
If you go into this business, you will still need to take specific tests from prospective clients, even if you have qualifications. I tend to pass these tests with flying colours, so I can get away with not having the exams. If I was doing this again, and I didn’t have any experience, I would take those exams. I’m going to learn Indexing one of these days. I’m going to take the courses and exams for that: oh yes!
Are you suited for the work?
You might want to have a look at my previous post on deciding if you’re suited to freelance work at this point. In general, freelancing in whatever area you choose will have common points. Particular to editing are the facts that: you can’t usually do it with other people around, as it’s really concentrated work; it can be a bit repetitive if you’re working on one huge text or lots of things on the same subject (if you get into student work, clients tend to recommend you on within the same course); you really don’t get to choose the subject you’re working on, and it’s fairly rare to be something that you’ll be interested in on its own merits. There are plus sides to these points, of course: if you enjoy being alone, the first is fine, and you can take your marketing work, blogging, etc., to the local cafe; it can be soothing to press on with the same thing hour after hour; and you get to learn an awful lot about an awful lot of subjects, which can be handy for pub quizzes and the like!
And you’ve got to be happy to do this, day in and day out. You might have to miss a cinema trip with your friends. You might be poorly – but there’s not really sick pay as such (we’re lucky to have the NHS in the UK, of course – in other countries this point is even more important). Again, these are general points. In summary from the editing side of things: you need to be good at concentrating; nit-picky; good at going for hours with no distractions; good at finding odd topics interesting enough that you’re not wandering off to Twitter every five minutes; good at keeping to deadlines (it’s often someone else’s deadline you’re affecting if you run over time).
Dealing with clients
OK, I do have great clients who come through recommendation and send me work reasonably regularly. But I still had to prove myself to them in the first place, and I still have to send in my invoices on time and do the work when I say I will. You will need to be able to justify what you’ve done to someone’s work, make their work demonstrably better, come in to their deadlines, keep them informed. It’s not just a question of sitting nicely at a desk and playing with a sentence or so, just like gardening isn’t all wandering around in a big hat with a trug, snipping at a rose every now and again. You need to market yourself, be cheeky, throw business cards at all and sundry – you can’t just sit back and expect the work to come to you. Which brings me to my next point …
Building things up
It’s over two years since I launched Libro. Only now am I thinking of going full-time. Much of my work comes through repeat business (hooray for repeat customers) and recommendations. But that’s hard work in itself. If someone is kind enough to recommend your services to a friend, you have twice the pressure: do a good job for the client and make sure you don’t ruin their trust in the original client who recommended you. You have to do a really good job to get these recommendations, in the copyediting that you do and in the customer care and marketing that you do.
I have found myself diversifying over the years, so I now do transcription, writing, localisation from US to UK English and all sorts of other things. Do you have skills you can add in to your basic offering, that form a good portfolio (copyediting and clowning might work, but would be difficult to market, perhaps). The other way to go is specialisation. I’ve done this with my localisation work, building a reputation as someone who is good at turning US into UK English, and I know copyeditors who are very well-known in their field of, for example, editing medical journal articles. But you need an outside speciality you can bring to bear on your copyediting work if you want to go down that route (for example experience in other jobs, your previous education …).
Is this for you?
So, a summary. If you really want to make a go of a proofreading career, which we now know is actually a copyediting career, you need to:
- enjoy working on your own
- have a high attention span and a very high boredom threshold (I’m not saying that the work is boring: I love it; some people would be bored silly by it)
- write a very high standard of English (oh yes, and everything else that you send out into the world has to be perfect or people will spring on it with glee!)
- do a fairly expensive course or have demonstrably high levels of experience
- be prepared to work very hard
- be prepared to work on stuff you do not find interesting
- be prepared to do all the usual freelance stuff of losing your weekends and evenings “just to turn this project round”
- be prepared to do marketing and customer care and maths stuff as well as playing with the order of words to make the most elegant sentence
- have other skills you can diversify into
- or have a very particular skill you can specialise in
I don’t want to put people off, I really don’t. But hopefully this has given you some insight into the kind of person you need to be to do this kind of work, and the kind of work it actually is. Think of copyediting as a positive choice rather than a fall-back position, and you’ll be fine. Drift into it, and you might get some work and payments, but you might be happier somewhere else.
LibroEditing proofreading, editing, transcription, localisation 
Alice Field (@AllesKlar71)
November 1, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Interesting article and clarification, Liz. I envy that you’ve made a career (albeit part-time so far) out of a specific set of skills and I’d love to know how that started; I have another very specific set of skills that I think could be marketable… if only I knew how to start. It’s just one set of skills that I usually use within a wider PA/secretarial career, but if I could turn it into a more focused career in its own right, there could be something in it. Keen to tap your experience… Ta!
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Liz at Libro
November 1, 2011 at 2:28 pm
Thank you for your comment, Alice. I’m pretty nearly full-time now with Libro, but I have diversified so I cover quite a wide range of skills now (see the skillset link on the category cloud for more info on all of those). You can see how I did it on my About Me page (link at the top) – a combination of having the skills there, realising what I could do, and working my way into a career, client by client. Not for the faint-hearted, and if you’re thinking of doing something like this, it’s worth looking at the “how to be a freelancer” articles I link to from this one, too. Good luck!
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Peter
June 21, 2012 at 10:27 am
Re: Get your terms right…One of the first things they tell you is that the word is ‘proofreader’ not ‘proof-reader’!
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Liz at Libro
June 21, 2012 at 11:53 am
This is a fair point, although, personally, I would have contacted me privately about this rather than making a public point. In my defence, this was a style choice made when I set up the website and blog, and I know the usage was consistent throughout, because in the time between me seeing and approving this comment, I have been through the whole lot and changed all instances to the Oxford approved usage, “proofreader”, etc.
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travellingcoral
November 1, 2012 at 8:07 pm
Reblogged this on travellingcoral and commented:
It ain’t easy!
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Donal
March 14, 2013 at 7:23 am
Hello Liz,
I have adopted Proofreading as my profession. Now my internship is going on in a [Link removed] in starting It was really hard for me to proofread a complicated document but now i have started enjoying my work and i am performing well..
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Liz at Libro
March 14, 2013 at 7:25 am
How enterprising of you to post a link to another proofreading company on my page where I am trying to help people learn about the career! I’m all for supporting colleagues in this area, and often link to trusted colleagues pages and recommend overflow to them, but don’t you think this is just a little bit rude?!!
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Donal
March 18, 2013 at 8:09 am
Hello Ma’am,
I have shared that link because that website also contains a blog section which i consider worth reading for novice proofreaders like me. That’s all. It was the only intention of mine. Sorry for the inconvenience.
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Liz at Libro
March 18, 2013 at 8:19 am
Thank you for your response. As you will see, I did leave your comment up rather than deleting it. I will put your note in with that comment for tidiness’ sakes.
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Kathy
March 6, 2014 at 6:01 pm
Is the phrase ‘tidiness’ sakes’ correct? I can see the belonging connection between the two words, i.e. for the sake of tidiness, but this composition of words doesn’t sound right. I am not a proofreader, merely a layperson interested enough to ask questions. Is the ‘s’ needed on the end of sake, for example? Please expand on this point, as you do work with words for a living – I am interested in learning more about the English language. Thank you in advance.
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Liz at Libro
March 6, 2014 at 6:07 pm
Thank you for your comment, Kathy. I have expanded a little on this in my post on the apostrophe here: https://libroediting.com/2011/04/20/apostrophe/ – to be honest, I don’t think that the s is needed on the end of sake in my previous reply to a comment on this post (I scoured the post itself, but I believe I only wrote it in a reply to a comment). This is why even editors need editors – we are not perfect. But the tidiness’ sake part still stands. I was going to go and amend it, but that leaves your comment looking odd, so I’ll leave as is. I might add a [sic] though. Consider yourself awarded a prize for finding such a comment to make in my writing!
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Bexoxo
November 22, 2014 at 3:55 pm
I have to say I would never use you for a proofreader. You obviously don’t realise that ‘I’ should be a capital letter!
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kams
May 21, 2013 at 6:53 am
very impressive….. i started work for proofreading…wanted to know if it would glamorous my life, i mean money and all. 🙂
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Liz at Libro
May 21, 2013 at 4:45 pm
I’m not sure that it’s particularly glamorous work – I earn enough money to live on, but only by diversifying what I do to cover other kinds of work, too.
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Amanda
June 10, 2013 at 2:09 pm
Liz, I can’t help feeling you’ve reposted this blog for me! Thank you! 😉 The good news is, I passed the ITI’s proofreading test (on their Orientation Course for new translators) with flying colours! So fingers crossed! 🙂
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Liz at Libro
June 10, 2013 at 2:33 pm
Good news – well done!
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Kabbyik Mitra
September 14, 2013 at 1:35 pm
Hi, my name is KABBYIK MITRA, from India, i am a post graduate in business management from Manipal, Karnataka, India, as far as my knowledge is concern, i am very good in English language and grammar and very fond of national and international literature, though i have a different background, but i wish to take up a career in proof reading, as i have more than 7 years of experience in different path like marketing, sales, backend operation, customer services and soforth, but wish to take up my career as a proof reader was my past long interest, and i have also done a basic proof reading course from my city (a short term one) and i came to know regarding the basic and the fundamental of proof reading, it is really very interesting and i like to do in my future, i just wish to know whether i need a advanced level course in proof reading and or need to work in this area first to acquire the knowledge and if it is helpful with any online course or offline one ? Looking forward for a quick and positive reply.
Thanks…………..Kabbyik Mitra
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Liz at Libro
September 14, 2013 at 1:45 pm
Hello Kabbyik, thank you for your comment. I hope that I’ve covered what you need to know in this post on proofreading as a career. It’s also worth looking at what potential employers in your area (geographical area and area of interest) are asking for, and making sure that you match those requirements. Looking at job adverts or pinpointing potential customers and looking at their recruitment pages should help you here. Good luck!
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Steve Cann
October 21, 2013 at 1:03 pm
Thanks so much for all the info on here Liz, and for being so generous with your knowledge.
As with you, I have no proofreading qualifications as such, but I do have a lifelong love of the English language, spelling and grammar.
I have recently successfully completed proofreading two new novels for a friend, and these are now published on Amazon.
I’m hoping I can extend this work out to other writers and authors, as I feel my work is of a very high standard.
How do I go about advertising and setting myself up? And what do I charge clients? And where do I advertise? Hope you don’t mind all these questions – thanks so much if you can enlighten me on any of this.
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Liz at Libro
October 21, 2013 at 1:34 pm
Thank you for your message, Steve, and I’m glad you’re enjoying your work. There is lots more information about setting up your business and marketing yourself on this blog: have a look at the menus on the right hand side to help you navigate. You might also be interested in my other blog which details my own experience running my business (at http://www.librofulltime.wordpress.com – click on Business on the right to get to those posts among all the book reviews, etc,) and I have also written a book on that process, details of which are on the librofulltime blog.
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Rebecca Bennett
November 18, 2013 at 2:53 pm
Hi Liz,
Thank you so much for this, I read it with avid interest. I am thinking of doing a proofreading course as well as becoming a member of SfEP, I don’t want to be cheeky but I just wondered whether it would make more sense to do a PTC basic proofreading course or a SfEP one? Or in fact would it be best to do both? I just thought they might cover the same material and therefore would be best investing in just one?
Sorry for the many questions!
Rebecca
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Sylvie Hone
January 15, 2014 at 1:07 am
Hello Liz,your blog(is that correct?) or interesting article on proof reading stood out,when I decided to find out more about this profession-I confess to my ignorance of not knwing it was actually a profession.I thought,rather like copy writing or just similar to reading and correcting spelling,grammar etc.This I understand,as I taught English for nineteen years in Zimbabwe,to senior school students.
Massive retraining courses are requred for me to undergo before I could teach here,and the whole structure of education so far removed from my experience,that its no longer a sensible option,I would be too strict,impatient with apathetic children,just totally unsuitable.Plus I’m told a degree in child psychology(a karate black belt)are practically a must.
Proof reading sounds good,I’m quite pernickity and pedantic! Though I definitely cannot afford expensive…or even cheap courses.Would it be an idea for me to approach local newspapers,to see if they require someone with a reasonably good command of English.Or,try foregn interpretation,for local councils.I need all the help and advice you can spare.Thank you Liz.
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Liz at Libro
January 15, 2014 at 7:00 am
Thank you for your comment, Sylvie. I think that contacting local organisations in the first place is a good idea. If you have a good command of another language, interpretation can be a good second option (think AND rather than OR, after all, I do lots of other things than proofreading). You might like to look at the SfEP site that I link to in the post and take their free test to see if you are suited to the work. Good luck!
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ragavi
April 10, 2014 at 5:41 am
i need proof reading job to work from home ,pls send me details which company is genuine to give such a work and payment
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Liz at Libro
April 10, 2014 at 5:50 am
Dear Ragavi, I would suggest reading this post you have commented on and my other ones in the careers section for guidance on how to go about finding such work. Best of luck with your new career.
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martin whitmee
May 11, 2014 at 7:40 pm
A very good read. Informative and honest. I am considering enrolling in a proofreading course with the PTC. What is the chances of a total noob succeeding in this industry?
regards
Martin
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Liz at Libro
May 11, 2014 at 8:45 pm
Thanks for your comment, Martin. Have you tried taking the self-test on the Society for Editors and Proofreaders’ website? As I say in this article, it’s worth taking a long, hard look at whether you have the kind of aptitude and experience for this kind of work, as well as for self-employment, which is how most proofreaders end up working these days, before embarking on any expensive courses. There’s lots to read about on this blog which should help, too. Best of luck with whatever you decide to do!
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martin whitmee
May 12, 2014 at 11:34 am
Hi Liz. I am already self employed so that part of the equation i am used to. I just took the self test on the Sfep website and scored 62%, which i didn’t think was too bad considering i have yet to embark on any formal training?
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Liz at Libro
May 12, 2014 at 11:49 am
OK, I’m not sure what they’re currently suggesting is a good score, they do courses as well as the PCT so you might want to compare those. What I would say is look at what your potential clients need and match the courses to them, e.g. if you plan to work mainly with companies’ web text and marketing materials, look at courses that cover online work rather than paper-based work, or look at the kinds of work you want to do and match the courses to that. But good luck, of course!
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Andrea
May 18, 2014 at 11:54 pm
Hello Liz,
I am somewhat interested in pursuing a career as a proofreader or copy editor. This is the first time I have considered it, so apologies for my ignorance. I have some (perhaps little, depending on how you wish to view it) proofreading experience, which I have gathered from doing favours for friends and work: mainly proofreading C.V.s, job applications, websites, scripts and workplace presentations and reports. I had an idea that perhaps this could be a skill I could sell, but I am a bit unsure due to a lack of qualifications, exposure to rare English vocabulary and generally not knowing whether my proofreading is up to the quality or standard expected within that market.
I also have some questions about proofreading and would like to ask you the following:
– In terms of English vocabulary, how knowledgeable do you need to be?
– What type of certification do you need, to be able to apply for any role (job with potential client) ? Is there any certification that stands out for them or one that is accepted but minimal?
Apologies for any vagueness, I am still in the exploration stage of considering this and would like to gain as much information about this as possible before making a decision.
Thank you,
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Andrea
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Liz at Libro
May 19, 2014 at 9:58 am
Thank you for your comment, Andrea. I would suggest looking at the SfEP’s test which is useful for seeing if you’re suited to the work. Regarding vocabulary, I personally think that knowing when to look something up in the dictionary can be more important than having the biggest vocabulary in the world, and being aware that words can be used differently in different subject areas or type of document. You might want to have a look at my books (available at a low price as e-books, all links on the website) which talk a lot about proofreading/editing, even if they’re aimed at the general small business, and/or the other careers posts on this blog. I will be putting together some workbooks and resources for this particular career soon, too, so watch this space!
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Jack Barton
July 10, 2014 at 2:03 pm
Hi Liz,
I’m about halfway through the PTC proofreading course. It’s going well, and I’m starting to develop an understanding of the industry as a whole, but I’m still vague on the freelance proofreader’s beginning to end experience of any given assignment.
I was hoping you could summarize the process of securing and completing an average job (or direct me to a post that probably exists already.)
One more question: obviously I’m learning the BSI symbols, but how frequently would one get a job that does not require their use? I’m thinking about small companies which farm out their proofreading jobs to freelancers and which don’t have anyone on staff to interpret the BSI symbols. Presumably in that scenario they just want annotated proof or even amended proof which they take on faith?
Many thanks,
Jack Barton
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Liz at Libro
July 10, 2014 at 4:13 pm
Hi Jack, and thank you for your message. I do mostly editing to be honest, but either way, it usually comes down to I receive request for quotation or a current client checking I am available, the file is sent to me electronically, I either work on it using Track Changes if it’s editing in Word, or mark up the PDF, if it’s editing (rare) or proofreading (more common), send back to the client. Sometimes, as with my current project, I have the chance to ask the author a few things, they reply via the client, then I amend the copy accordingly, sometimes I don’t get to interact with them.
I have to admit that I’ve only used the BSI marks once in over 1,000 invoices raised! But I work mainly editing files in Word, where you make the changes and use Track Changes and comments to mark up the text. But I hope this helps a bit, and best of luck with the remainder of your course.
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Katherine
July 11, 2014 at 1:55 pm
This is great advice. Often careers advice lists skillsets but little about the actual person you have to be. The only downside to this article is the lack of information about actually getting the job…work experience, contacts etc. Otherwise, it was an educational read.
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Liz at Libro
July 11, 2014 at 1:59 pm
Thanks for your comment. There’s loads more information in the business section of my blog about how to find freelance work in general, which should help: https://libroediting.com/blog/students-small-businesses-word-users/#bus gives a resource guide with links.
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fiona davies
September 5, 2014 at 9:12 am
Hi there, I am just starting to look into copy editing and your article has been very helpful. I have wanted to look into doing something different based on my interest of the English language and writing. I think I would be suited to this based on my qualifications and interests and actually feel a little excited by it! Appreciate your insight. Fiona
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Liz at Libro
September 5, 2014 at 9:18 am
Thanks for your comment, Fiona. You might want to have a look at my books over at http://www.lizbroomfieldbooks.com – lots about developing your career in the two main ones, which are written for all sectors but apply very much to this line of work. Good luck with your career!
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suzanne
September 19, 2014 at 11:40 am
Hello Liz. I just want to thank you for being so informative and sharing your experiences in this subject. Proofreading is something that I have been very interested in for a while now and although I have no formal qualifications, I have decided to throw caution to the wind.
Thank you again
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Liz at Libro
September 19, 2014 at 12:09 pm
Thanks for your comment, Suzanne, and glad I can help. I’ll be putting out a version of my business omnibus for editors and proofreaders soon, with questions to help you to mentor yourself through the process – I’ll put a note about it on this blog and talk more at my book website http://www.lizbroomfieldbooks.com so you might want to keep an eye out! Good luck with your career!
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Joe Abdow
October 30, 2014 at 2:57 am
Do you mean to imply that no one who knows the difference between a proofreader and a copyeditor would still rather be the former?
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Liz Dexter
October 30, 2014 at 9:05 am
Not at all, it’s just that in my experience, people who don’t know the difference tend to refer to someone being a “proofreader” when they don’t mean someone who checks PDF proofs for layout, consistency, page numbering and other issues, but someone who picks over commas and grammar during the process of producing the text, i.e. an editor. Both jobs are equally attractive; some of us do one, some of us do both (although no one should really do both on the same project).
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Jacqueline
November 16, 2014 at 1:13 am
Very interesting and informative; thank you for your honesty and truthfulness. Has given me ” food” for thought, will be continuing research and probably looking into more specific genres of writing. My desire is to write, I had just thought it would be a good idea to have an example what I can do additionally to earn an income.
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Liz Dexter
November 17, 2014 at 8:31 am
Thanks for your comment, and I’m glad I was able to clarify some things for you! Good luck with your writing career, too!
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Ingrid Nowlan
December 29, 2014 at 5:40 pm
Hi Liz, I have had an academic training in science and would like to set up an online proofreading company. Can you tell me where the greatest demand is for such a service? Thank you.
Ingrid
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Liz Dexter
December 30, 2014 at 4:11 pm
Thanks for your comment, Ingrid. Do you mean where in the world, what subject areas, or what kinds of companies?
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Angela
April 29, 2015 at 1:53 pm
I truly enjoyed your article, and found it to be helpful in my first tentative inquiries into this field. I couldn’t help finding one possible way to correct your work, however. In your last paragraph, you stated:
“I don’t want to put people off, I really don’t. But hopefully this has given you some insight into the kind of person you need to do this kind of work, and the kind of work it actually is. Think of copyediting as a positive choice rather than a fall-back position, and you’ll be fine. Drift into it, and you might get some work and payments, but you might be happier somewhere else.”
If it were me editing this paragraph, I would tell you that the second sentence is a bit unclear. I would advise the correction:
“But hopefully this has given you some insight into the kind of person you need to be in order to do this kind of work, and the kind of work it actually is.”
I guess being cheeky is something I’m quite good at. 😉 Thank you for a great article!
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Liz Dexter
April 29, 2015 at 1:55 pm
Well, look at that – something thousands of people have read and no one has noticed (or told me!). Revision now made, and thank you. You obviously have a glowing career ahead of you!
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Nada Sabbagh
May 4, 2015 at 9:05 pm
Thanks for this. I realized not long ago that I really do enjoy nit-picking and can spend a long time reading texts and correcting/changing around sentence structure, general grammar etc. It’s a career I’m going to start considering and your blog has helped me think about it a little more.
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Liz Dexter
May 5, 2015 at 8:15 am
Great – glad I could help. Watch out for my new book on careers in editing coming soon (you might want to look at http://www.lizbroomfieldbooks.com although I will mention it here, too). Best wishes for your future career decisions.
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Rick
July 4, 2015 at 7:53 am
Dear Liz,
I run a small proofreading agency. We noticed that sometimes the volume of orders shoots up while sometimes it sharply drops. According to you, is the proofreading market seasonal? If so, what are the patterns? A big thank you in advance!
Regards,
Rick
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Liz Dexter
July 6, 2015 at 7:03 am
I think some parts of the proofreading business are indeed seasonal – certainly students, with the big peak in essays and Master’s dissertations in April and August/September. I also find that PhD students like to get finished over the summer and in January. In other markets, self-publishing authors seem to keep me busy in the spring, maybe due to New Year’s Resolutions to get that book out there.
What I do to avoid these peaks and troughs is
a) work in different markets around the world
b) work for different types of customer (students, translators, marketers …)
c) diversify into different areas entirely – I do transcription and localising as well as proofreading and editing
I hope that helps
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Alice O'Malley
August 4, 2015 at 3:53 pm
Thank you for posting this article, it’s very informative and helpful. I’ve just finished some qualifications with the SfEP, but now I’m stuck on how to source clients. I don’t suppose you have any advice on where to look? How did you find yours? I’ve done some unpaid proofreading and copy editing for friends who have business blogs and websites, but now I’m desperate for paid work
any advice you have would be greatly appreciated. many thanks in advance 🙂
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Liz Dexter
August 5, 2015 at 7:08 am
Thanks for your comment, Alice, and good luck with your career. If you have a look at the careers section of my website https://libroediting.com/blog/careers-advice/ you will find a post on how to find freelance work which should give you some pointers.
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AKLBROOKS
October 13, 2015 at 3:49 pm
Thank you! I am now feeling inspired and a little more informed. I am looking to change careers after teaching for 21 years and I do think this could be a career which I would enjoy. I have researched proofreading on a few websites and I am currently looking to buy a beginners online course. However, I am not really interested in being freelance; I would rather work for a company. I presume these types of jobs are difficult to come by. Do you have any advice for my next steps? Thank you in advance
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Liz Dexter
October 13, 2015 at 3:52 pm
Thank you for your message, and I’m glad this article has helped you. There are not many in-house jobs labelled proofreader around, although you may be able to get in-house work at a publisher in time. But many marketing and contract writing positions demand proofreading as well as writing skills, so that might be something you want to look into. Also do have a look at Louise Harnby’s books and website, as she talks more than I do about working with large publishing companies, which might be a way into an in-house role. Good luck!
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pride ramela
April 21, 2016 at 9:01 am
how do i go about to do proofreading as a career.? Do i have to register for any course? And where and how long? In my ordinary life, people refer to me as a moving dictionary because of my command of the Queen’s language from an early age.
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Liz Dexter
April 25, 2016 at 9:20 am
Thank you for your comment, if you read through the article, you will find information that covers all of these questions.
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Shilpa
October 5, 2016 at 8:51 am
Hello Liz,
What a great advice in such a succinct write-up. Actually I have just started out as a ‘part-time’ freelance editor and proofreader. I have been editing works for a little over two years now, but only recently have I been absorbed as an editor/proofreader in one of the leading publication houses of India. I absolutely love my work!
If only I knew of editing as a career option back in school (quite long back now), I wouldn’t have wasted so much time contemplating all sorts of odd career choices.
Anyway, Liz, in time I plan to expand my client base (quite honestly, a little difficult in India, where everyone is a self-styled English expert; and a writer ; and an editor too). Importantly, I want to be a better, more efficient editor. I do follow the editing and proofreading industry standards, but there is always so much more to learn – especially if one wants to be a fine professional. I was thinking of signing up for a course or two on SfEP also thinking of becoming an intermediate member. The advantages are many; and after reading your post I am sure that the SfEP courses and membership would be highly rewarding.
Thank you for this enlightening article. Your insights have been really helpful. It is always wonderful to hear from someone as accomplished and experienced as yourself.
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Liz Dexter
October 8, 2016 at 7:06 am
Thank you for your kind comments and I’m glad my posts have helped. I think SfEP certification would be a really good step for you as it would differentiate you. Best of luck with your career!
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Shilpa
January 4, 2017 at 10:52 am
Hello Liz,
Thank you for taking the time to reply to my comment and thank you for your kind wishes 🙂
I have been taking a look at the courses both by SfEP and PTC. I have been contemplating on taking up a higher level course – Successful Editorial Freelancing by PTC. But honestly I’m in a bit of a dilemma. I can’t quite figure out whether I should go ahead with this course without having completed a basic course either by PTC or SfEP (preferably SfEP because PTC is too expensive).
I would be extremely grateful to you if you could offer some advice on this. Again, thank you for your valuable insights.
Regards,
Shilpa
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Amber
November 23, 2016 at 2:39 pm
I was very interested in codyediting as a career until I completely bombed the linked test. Talk about falling at the first hurdle!
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Liz Dexter
November 30, 2016 at 12:24 pm
I’m sorry to hear that – but better to find out then than to pay out for an expensive course, I suppose …
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Eve
October 4, 2017 at 2:40 pm
An interesting read, but actually, I do want to be a proofreader – not a copyeditor. Well I’m not sure that I want to be a proofreader but I’m constantly picking up on and being irritated by spelling and typing errors in texts of all sorts and thinking that someone should have asked me to check it over before it was published. Noticing an error in the first line of the first chapter of a book from one of the most well know and well respected UK publishers recently has encouraged me to explore this option. And I came across your site. You’re clearly very knowledgeable. Good you give me some advice on finding work as a proofreader please. I’d like to know whether and how I might put my nit-picking tendencies to good use . . .
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Liz Dexter
October 5, 2017 at 3:48 pm
Thank you for your comment. If you have a look at the other posts in the series or at my resource guide, which you can find in the menu, there’s more information on finding work, etc.
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Pankaj
February 15, 2018 at 6:50 am
Hi, can we buy books and study them instead of going for courses?
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Liz Dexter
February 15, 2018 at 7:24 am
In the UK, the courses are accredited so if you want accreditation, you have to do those. If you are in a different region and your local editors’ organisation offers accredited courses via textbooks then that would be OK of course.
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Kate Kilbourne
May 30, 2018 at 12:01 pm
That was actually extremely helpful in a very practical way. Thank you.
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Liz Dexter
May 31, 2018 at 7:05 am
I’m glad I was able to help!
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