Clients from every background are looking for skilled proofreaders. For example, you may have to click Documents first to go to the Documents library. Having your own website is the easiest way to build an online presence so you can begin building relationships that can lead to future proofreading jobs. Thank you for the feedback. Clients submit their finished, unedited documents and you proofread them. Then give it a try, if you haven’t already! While you might not necessarily work for your local newspaper or the largest of publishing companies that print the works of authors like James Patterson, Stephen King, or J.K. Rowling, you can still be proofread books, articles, and documents that many eyes will still read. How to Be Your Own Best Editor: The Toolkit for Everyone Who Writes. Your tasks can include editing dissertation papers, detecting plagiarism, generating APA references, and glossing over articles that will be published in the Scribbr knowledge base. Is the meaning of each sentence clear? A general proofreader can tackle just about any document from academic papers to blog posts and even entire e-books. You may have to do this in "batches" for longer documents. General Proofreading . Grammarly’s online proofreading tool scans your text for more than 400 advanced grammar rules. Writing Clearly: Grammar for Editing. (One way to answer this question is to read your paper one sentence at a time, starting at the end and working backwards so that you will not unconsciously fill in content from previous sentences.) Cambridge Proofreading can be an exciting opportunity as average pay is between $20 and $30 per hour. Here, I'll present a checklist that you can print and use when you are proofreading your own document. There might also be a Show Meta Data button which displays more information for media files. (For additional tips, see our handouts on understanding assignments and developing an argument. Is the argument complete? And, you must also have at least two years of professional experience as a copyeditor, editor, or proofreader. That’s great to hear. You will be able to proof and edit works for major trade publishers and educational publishers from home! There isn’t a “job bank” at Proofread Anywhere, but, you can learn the skills to secure clients in any proofreading niche. * Check common errors - scour the document for problems that come up again and again, e.g. Prior experience is necessary to be hired. While they are not always in need of a proofreader, you can comb through their openings to see if any proofreading jobs are available at the moment. I greatly appreciate the many avenues for proofreading presented in this article. 1. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2006. Are all of your claims consistent? One technique that the majority of professional proofreaders use is to read the writing they are proofreading out loud. The important thing is to make the process systematic and focused so that you catch as many errors as possible in the least amount of time. Another freelance platform to check out is Fiverr. I see others have caught some of the, “oops”, in this article. It’s free to get started on Fiverr which makes it another excellent option to build experience when you are starting from scratch. If you like the idea of editing books, Kirkus Media can be an exciting opportunity. If you use this shorthand, be sure to explain it clearly to the customer in a note. You can’t go wrong with online training through General Proofreading: Theory & Practice. In the Check In dialog box, you can enter a comment, such as what you changed or added. 1. You reread your draft to see, for example, whether the paper is well-organized, the transitions between paragraphs are smooth, and your evidence really backs up your argument. Proofread documents in other formats are returned in various ways, including but not limited to, a separate Word document listing the errata. There are more writers than proofreaders, and that means there is always a demand from paid proofreaders. That’s awesome that you can find the “oops!” It’s also why I’m not a professional proofreader. You don’t need to be an English major to become an online proofreader, your previous training can give you a head start. Read each word slowly. Have you supported each point with adequate evidence? Lanham, Richard A. Revising Prose. While some proofreaders are only charging $5 per gig, other highly-ranked proofreaders are charging up to $200 per piece. Fiverr connects freelance proofreaders and other digital services to businesses. Searching job boards can require a little more hustle, but, the financial payoff can be well worth the extra effort. Plus, you can name your own hours which can be the main reason you are looking to make money from home, right? So my primary advice on avoiding typos is to have someone else proofread your work. When you are editing an early draft, you don’t want to be bothered with thinking about punctuation, grammar, and spelling. Here are some tips. You can also select “Show Markup” under the “Markup” dropdown (see first screenshot from this section) to customize exactly what you would like to see. Both Indeed and FlexJobs might be a better option if you are looking to work directly with a company instead of going through a freelancer platform that will keep a portion of your earnings as a commission. One or all of the following tips can help you catch mistakes before your document is submitted: Stepping away from your work. Print out the document if possible. Have you ever wondered where the word ‘proofreader’ comes from? OneSpace is an all-in-one editing and proofreading service. Josh is a personal finance writer with his prior professional experience as a transportation operations supervisor for an S&P 500 company. Check page numbering, column alignment, relative fonts, sizes, and other features of standard elements such as headlines, subheadings, captions, and footnotes. Their application process is fairly simple as you only have to correct a writing sample and submit your contact information. Auto-correct strikes again, huh? If you pass the test, you can expect competitive pay that exceeds the normal hourly U.S. proofreading wage. Content is important. As an English major, and part of a large hospital’s marketing team, I am often asked by friends, “Can you take a look at my paper?”, or hear the desperate cry of, “Help! If you also decide to pursue transcript proofreading, you will be proofing the works of court reporters. In addition to reviewing for correct spelling and usage, make sure that all the information in your text is accurate and up to date. Two of the basic requirements include: No formal training or previous proofreading experience is required to hop onboard Cactus Communications. Go for a run. Managed Editing will connect you with clients to proofread technical writing some of the following topics: Pay is hourly and you will be hired as an independent contractor. Is your use of gendered language (masculine and feminine pronouns like “he” or “she,” words like “fireman” that contain “man,” and words that some people incorrectly assume apply to only one gender—for example, some people assume “nurse” must refer to a woman) appropriate? Step 2 Click the “Review” tab. You spot typos in nearly any online article, book, or restaurant menu you read. EditFast lets you proofread a variety of different projects. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find the latest publications on this topic. If you want a work at home job that pays weekly, Domainite can fit the bill as they will send you PayPal cash each week. That means you don’t have to spend time bidding or pitching to clients. EditFast lets you proofread a variety of different projects. Thanks for the insight! American Journal Experts is constantly posting positions for a variety of niches. (919) 962-7710 If so, you can put your keen eyes to use as a proofreader. Many bloggers love to hire freelance editors for copyediting and proofreading jobs. The Copyeditor’s Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications. Read our Advertiser Disclosure. 2. I’ve done some proofreader jobs on paper over manuscripts! Keep an eye out for patterns of error; knowing what kinds of problems you tend to have will be helpful, especially if you are editing a large document like a thesis or dissertation. (See our handout on paragraph development.). You should try to proofread a paper copy of the document instead of proofreading on a computer screen. Put the paper aside for a few hours, days, or weeks. This tutorial models using the Track Changes feature in Microsoft Word to proofread a sample sentence in a document. Rereading your work in a different format may help you catch errors that you previously missed. You might also consider looking for proofreader positions on Indeed. This handout contains seven errors our proofreader should have caught: three spelling errors, two punctuation errors, and two grammatical errors. Click the ellipsis (...) in the toolbar and then click Check In. While you might think that only the major publishing companies hire a full-time proofreader with their own corporate office, think again! For example, if you notice that you often discuss several distinct topics in each paragraph, you can go through your paper and underline the key words in each paragraph, then break the paragraphs up so that each one focuses on just one main idea. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial. Since proofreading is such an important step in the writing process, it helps to know a few ways to improve your proofreading skills. They might not always be advertising proofreader positions, but when they do, you can earn $3,000 per project. Take a trip to the beach. If you notice that you’ve repeatedly misspelled a particular word, inconsistently capitalized a term, or switched between UK and US English, you can use the Find and Replace function to fix the same mistake throughout the document. While budget-conscious writers are happy to use free grammar checking tools like Grammarly to make corrections, these free services will not fix every problem. Print it out (on scrap paper), walk away from the distractions of your desk and give it all your attention. It’s worth paying attention to the details that help you to make a good impression. I generally select “All Markup” when I’m proofreading or bringing changes to a proofread document since it is the most comprehensive. To check the permission configuration of a file, use the command: ls –l [file_name] For instance, the command for the previously mentioned file would be: ls –l test.txt. This might be the first time you have ever heard that you can get paid to work at home as a proofreader. Go to the library where your file is saved. Can you fix it?”. Wait for the file to be uploaded and then click the “Check File Type” button. I thought it might be fun to try my hand at one of your recommended sources for proofreaders. While the rest just want to understand how our proficient proof-readers and editors will proofread their documents. Experiment with different tactics until you find a system that works well for you. Tarshis, Barry. When you’ve worked hard to develop and present your ideas, you don’t want careless errors distracting your reader from what you have to say. Step 1 Open Word and open the document to use with proofreader marks. You will see a sound icon; click it to have the text being read to you. Have you varied the length and structure of your sentences? Note: You can also right click the file, click Advanced or More, and then click Check In. Proofread Anywhere is founded by Caitlin Pyle, who created a proofreading business by sharing her expertise to help the next generation of proofreaders (including you) to succeed. If I was required to proofread against copy, the parcel would also include the galley proofs (a printed copy of the pages of raw text supplied by the author on which the copy-editor had marked initial corrections). After creating an account and uploading your resume, you will complete a 35-question test to finish the application process. Before submitting their documents some others want to be assured that our service will be worth their money. Better yet, give the paper to a friend—you can’t get much more distance than that. Sure, this takes a little extra time, but it pays off in the end. You create your profile listing your proofreading skills and prices. Legal Proofreading Avoid using words you find in the thesaurus that aren’t part of your normal vocabulary; you may misuse them. There are many different ways you can make money while you work from home as a proofreader. It’s even possible to earn benefits from this job, which is extremely rare in the freelancer world. These documents are typical representations of how we review and improve a text. Open up Word and go to the Review tab as shown in a screenshot. Is all of the information in your paper relevant to the assignment and/or your overall writing goal? Medical transcription is in high demand because it’s an advanced skill. Have you chosen the proper words to express your ideas? Since your future clients are not always going to ask if you can proofread their writing, you will need to show some initiative and seek your own clients. You must have an undergraduate degree and at least three years of editing, writing, or language-teaching experience. If it is required to do so, does your paper make an argument? When it comes to publishing a book, there are several different levels of editing that happen before a proofreader looks at a book.. Developmental Editing happens first. As long as we have a tendency to still write articles, books, and anything that may be browsed, there’ll be a requirement for proofreaders. ), Have you appropriately cited quotes, paraphrases, and ideas you got from sources? Let us know in the comments if you have worked any online proofreader jobs or editing jobs and what worked best for you. WordsRU will let you proofread the following documents: They do have some rather selective criteria to be hired. Each example has three parts: "Before" – This is the original document that has been submitted Proofreading is about more than good manners. As a note, sometimes it’s hard to indicate that a space should be added in PDF texts. View samples of our proofreading and editing work. And, all jobs 100% remote-based! ), Does each paragraph have a clear topic sentence? Proofreading might be an excellent income-making opportunity if you find yourself doing any of these behaviors on a regular basis: As long as we continue to write articles, books, and anything else that can be read, there will be a demand for proofreaders. Proofreading means examining your text carefully to find and correct typographical errors and mistakes in grammar, style, and spelling. And the best part about proofreading is that you can do it from home, on the road, and, you can finally put your “eagle eyes” to good use! This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 License. It’s better to work with a definite plan that helps you to search systematically for specific kinds of errors. Since you’ll work from home (or anyplace with an online connection), you’ll work as many hours as you would like. For example, you must hold a Master’s degree, Ph.D., or equivalent professional experience. Transcript proofreading is more technical, and, pays more as a result. According to the current job listings, you will need an extensive knowledge of the Chicago Manual of Style, Merriam-Webster, and Microsoft Word. One way to check the structure of your paper is to make a reverse outline of the paper after you have written the first draft. (See the UNC Libraries citation tutorial for more information.). There are many things which you need to check for during the proofreading stage. On the other hand, I know this isn't possible for things like e-mail or rushed projects, so here are four proofreading tips I've collected over the years. Yes. SmartBrief hires editors, writers, and content developers to offer curated business news. If you know that you have an effective way to catch errors when the paper is almost finished, you can worry less about editing while you are writing your first drafts. Sorry! Editing is what you begin doing as soon as you finish your first draft. Some of the links included in this article are from our advertisers. Searching for clients on Indeed can be more lucrative as you might be able to secure work with a client that offers a higher salary and might even include benefits. Do you repeat a strong word (for example, a vivid main verb) unnecessarily? Otherwise, I find mistakes everywhere, even cookbooks. On the first proofreading pass, read your paper to yourself out loud. We’ve corrected it. Then you should download or go to certain websites to check and see if you had any spelling or punctuation errors. You might even find that you really like it. This makes the entire writing proccess more efficient. Can someone who did a lot of medical transcription and proofreading break into this field? Plus this is one of the simplest work from home jobs you can start as a side hustle, grow to part-time, and perhaps full-time. The only book I’ve ever read that didn’t have any spelling or grammatical errors was the Bible. You probably already use some of the strategies discussed below. * Take your time - if possible, create some distance between you and the document by leaving time between writing and proofreading. A copy of the more lucrative opportunities will be a more recent version the Bible personal finance with. 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