Starting out as a proofreader

[WineSpider]

I have spent 10 years in a demanding operations management role and am considering a big career change as freelance proofreader. Partly to fit in with family life and partly because I have an English degree and think I would be good at it (hope there are no misplaced apostrophes in this post!).

I've done some reading on the SFEP website and know I have a long way to go so wonder if anyone has any advice or experience? How do you build up your network and reputation when you start from scratch? How to you make it work for you? What is the money like?

Thanks in advance.

Is it specialist publishing you work in, Kitties? tell me who

The point is though that the SOfP is working alongside the NUJ to try to stop people working for stupidly low rates.
If people accept low rates then employers will continue to pay them.
If they cannot get anyone willing to work for low rates they will eventually have to pay more. The more people who accept low fees the less change there will be.
I work in a similar field and I won't accept a lower fee per word than the NUJs lowest rates- and use this as a means of asking for the right fee for the job.
As others have pointed out your fee has to include the running of a business - and then take into account tax,NI, pension contributions, your own marketing, etc etc. The hourly fee doesn't just cover the time you spend proofreading.

You're right, Gilbert - there are so many new people joining SfEP every month, many with no experience, who are willing to work for low rates, and that keeps prices low.

Having said that, most publishers pay low rates - especially today when many publishers use Indian-based project managers. The PMs have to have their cut too.

Proofreading student theses is one way of earning money - but I actually find it hard. First, many students have ESL and this can make it hard to work out what they mean. Second, you have to stick by their university's code of practice re using editors/proofreaders - some unis will only let you proofread a student's work, not change text, you can't change/check references, etc.

Businesses and self-publishing are both growing areas for editing/proofreading though - think about your subject specialties/things you know about. This can be your USP. Then contact businesses in those areas.

But first you need to find out if proofreading is for you. SfEP runs a one-day introduction to proofreading course for people who are thinking about changing career. Then after that you will need training - there's a lot more to proofing than just spotting typos and having good grammar. SfEP offers reputable training.

Offering to proofread for companies on a voluntary basis is a good idea, but I'd recommend getting some experience first so you know what you're looking for.

Being freelance doesn't always fit in with family life - you think and hope it will, but I often work evenings and weekends - so it's not perfect. But I do take time off in the week to go to the kids' school events and help out at school too, so it's not all bad.

PM me if you'd like to ask anything off-forum.

wine - English Lit degree and TEFL teaching since you ask

Hi OP, before I retrained as a teacher, I freelanced in a variety of roles somewhat related to what you want to do, however, the editing & proofreading was the least well paid and most demanding. To be honest, if you're going to consider a low paid job with little security, you might look at secondary supply/FE/HE English teaching/exam marking/tutoring before freelancing. I think one of the hardest things about freelancing is the boom and bust that others have describing - being underemployed and chasing work for a few months then having to work what feels like 24/7. You also have to be diligent about separating work from home, which can be hard to do when you actually work from home (I ended up renting an office).

Oh heavens, don't offer to proofread without pay for strangers' commercial companies. That's a whole can of worms in terms of what they might start expecting.

There's not a shortage of charities whose websites and leaflets need a look over, and I sometimes do a favour for friends starting in business, knowing they'll do jobs free or mates' rates in return.

Mmm... a big reality check coming through here. Thank you for your views.

I wonder if there are any more positive experiences out there?

With my background could I be considering something else that would use my skills, allow me to work for myself and around my family and get fairly paid? Or is that the unattainable dream everyone has?!

It may sound very far off what you would like to do, but if you have a fantastic eye for detail, what about book-keeping? There have been some more positive threads about that as a freelance option from home/going into small companies on a weekly basis. You do need initial training but I don't think it is too hard to achieve, and I think it would be interesting seeing the nuts and bolts of people's businesses.

I sometimes get £25/hour for editing (not proofreading). But I have a masters degree in Publishing Studies and have been in the industry nearly 20 years.

Yes, I get £25/hr for corporate copy editing work, but an average of £20 for everything else (sometimes as low as £15 if work is thin on the ground). I have 15 years' newsstand magazine editing experience, so wage is pretty depressing.