Having flawless spelling and grammar skills is beneficial to a wide variety of people who work with language: writers, bloggers, journalists and business and professional people.
However, many don’t have the skills or time to develop a strong command of spelling or grammar, and rely on proofreaders and editors to hone their written words to perfection.
In fact, if you have superior language skills, you can earn over $35,000 per year as a proofreader.
Because of the popularity and growth of the internet, self publishing, and blogging, there is an ever increasing demand for freelance proofreaders. Journalists, bloggers and self published authors needs proofreaders to help their content shine with perfect grammar and spelling.
No professional blogger with a following of tens of thousands wants to put out blog posts filled with spelling mistakes. No self published author wants to put their ebook up for sale on Amazon and have grammar and spelling mistakes every few pages. Even freelance journalists, before submitting their copy to the editorial desk, need to ensure their work is 100% error free.
That’s where you, as a freelance proofreader, come in. You can make money from home with remote proofreading jobs.
What is Proofreading?
Proofreading is going over a piece of writing, examining it for any mistakes in spelling, grammar and style. Proofreading is done at the very end of the writing process. Think of it as the final polish before the document, book, text or blog post is ready to be published for others to read.
The Difference between Proofreading and Editing
Is there a difference between proofreading and editing? This question comes up often, and job postings online may blur the boundaries between the two. In some cases, job posting may even confuse the two. Let’s have a look at what tasks are done in each.
Proofreading
- Proofreading is done on a computer
- Spelling mistakes are corrected
- Grammatical errors are corrected
- Vocabulary is improved
- Reading flow is improved by fixing small errors
- Tracked document showing all changes is supplied
Editing
- Editing is done on a computer or with a pen on a printed copy
- Spelling mistakes are corrected
- Grammatical errors are corrected
- Vocabulary is improved
- Style consistency is checked
- Facts, names, places, dates and links are checked
- Flow, sentence and paragraph structure is improved
- Structural edits are recommended
- Tracked document showing all changes is supplied
As can be seen, proofreading and editing require similar skill sets, with editing requiring further skills in understanding the structure of duments. For this reason, proofreading is easier and quicker to learn for beginners.
Do I Need Proofreading Training?
In most circumstances, yes! Proofreading jobs do require some form of either online or more professional training. However, you’re in luck! In many cases, you can obtain some form of training either for free, or for a very reasonable fee.
Below, we’ll have a look at the top 7 online courses you can start right now, and set yourself up on the path for a profitable work from home business as a proofreader.
