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The Editing Blog: for Editors, Proofreaders and Writers

FOR EDITORS, PROOFREADERS AND WRITERS

7 things you should know about starting a proofreading or copyediting business

5/1/2017

14 Comments

 
Are you thinking of switching careers and becoming a proofreader or copyeditor? I have 7 tips to help you decide whether it's right for you.
7 tips for starting a proofreading career
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At the time of writing, I’ve had 5 requests in 5 days for advice on transitioning to a proofreading/copyediting career.

​Self-reflection isn’t uncommon at the turn of a new year – we use the time to think about what the future might bring and what changes we can make to achieve our life goals and business objectives. Here's a summary of the advice I offered my five enquirers based on the questions they asked.
​

This brief article only scratches the surface, but I hope it gives those who are considering a new career some food for thought.
​

​1. Do I have the right background?


​Probably! See how I answered that without knowing a thing about your educational and career experience?

​Here’s the thing – if you want to specialize in medical editing for publishers and you have a degree in economics, a rethink’s in order. Social science publishers, though? That’s more like it.

Ultimately, it’s about aligning your experience and skills with those who speak the same language.
​
  • My background education and work experience is in the social sciences. I don’t know medicine like my doctor pal, Jon. So if I’m proofreading a file that mentions both inulin and insulin (which Wikipedia tells me are both connected to sugar in some way or another!), I’m unlikely to have a clue about whether the mentions of either are correct. At best, I’ll be querying my heart out; at worst, I’ll fail to spot an error.
  • Give me a book on politics or social theory and it’s a different story. I know when those two little dots in Jürgen Habermas’s and Loïc Wacquant’s names have been omitted – I don’t have to look ’em up!

​So, yes, you do probably have the right background to enable you to transition to a proofreading or copyediting career.

​Just make sure you focus (initially) on targeting clients to whom you have the best chance of offering an exemplary service – clients who’ll think you’re interesting and hireable because you’re comfortable with the language of their subject.

That doesn’t mean you have to specialize forever, or stay with the same specialization over the course of your career.

When I launched my editorial business, I worked almost exclusively for social science publishers. These days, I work mostly on fiction, specializing in proofreading and copyediting for indie authors. A lot can change in a decade.
​

​2. Is training necessary and worthwhile?


​In a nutshell, yes. Why?
​
  • Professional training provides a confidence boost when you’re on track … and plugs the gaps when you aren’t.
  • Training is one way of helping potential clients to identify your professionalism. It’s therefore a great USP (unique selling point). I like knowing that my electrician learned how to do the job. I don’t let unqualified dentists near my teeth. My kid’s taught by people with an appropriate educational qualification. I think clients are more likely to think I’m a catch because I can demonstrate that I’ve invested in industry-recognized editorial training.
  • Training focuses your mind on the technical aspects of following a brief, marking up according to industry-recognized standards, and knowing when to change, query or leave well enough alone.
  • There’s more than one way to mark up. Paper markup isn’t yet dead, but it’s not far off – some clients will want you to work in Word; others will prefer PDF; yet others specify another digital platform. Being able to work in the way that the client prefers is essential, otherwise you’re limiting your customer base. Furthermore, if you want to work as efficiently and effectively as possible, you’re advised to embrace a range of tech tools that combine traditional and contemporary skills. Training will help you prepare for these demands.

​Take advice from your national editorial society on the most appropriate training course. The list I’ve linked to includes organizations in Australia, Canada, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States.
​

​3. Where’s my market?


​Perhaps a better question is: Where isn’t my market? Most proofreading and copyediting is done onscreen these days. Even traditional page-proof markup, using proof-correction symbols, is increasingly taking place in a digital environment. That means geography is not the barrier it once was.

Thirty years ago, an author from Colorado wouldn’t have hired me to proofread his crime thrillers – not because he didn’t want to, but because he couldn’t find me. Now, thanks to Tim Berners-Lee, he can and he has.
​
  • If you live in Dublin, your market isn’t just Dublin.
  • If you live in Tromsø, your market isn’t just Tromsø.
  • I live in Panxworth (it’s a hamlet in Norfolk, England – even the satnav struggles to find me). If my market were limited to Panxworth, I’d be unemployed before breakfast.​

​If you live in Dublin, your market is people who want to work with someone who lives in Dublin, and people who want to work with someone who lives in Ireland, and people who don’t care where you live but believe you have the skills to solve their problems. Same kind of thing applies to the Tromsønian and the Panxwegian.

It’s not always about where you live or where your clients live, but whether you can find each other, and whether, once you have, you can instil a belief in those clients that you’re the right person for the job.
​

​4. Will the pay be enough to earn a living wage?


​This question gets rehashed over and over. There’s no quick answer. Here are some thoughts:
​
  • What do you need to earn? You can’t work out whether your freelance editorial business will be viable unless you know what your baseline is.
  • Rates vary within and between client sectors, and within and between countries. There isn’t a market rate, whatever anyone tells you. Instead, there’s what you need to earn, what you want to earn, how much time you have available to work for those earnings, and what the clients who can find you are prepared to pay. Somewhere in the midst of that is a little bit of paradise where all four align. Don’t expect paradise to land in your lap – it takes time.
  • Some editorial societies offer suggested minimum rates. These are guidelines not facts. They reflect neither the maximum that some clients will be prepared to pay, nor the minimum that some clients will hope to pay.
  • In the start-up phase of your business, you might decide to accept lower rates than you want because of other benefits – glowing testimonials, a strong portfolio and superb experience. All of those things can be used as USPs that can make you more attractive to better-paying clients further down the road – future leverage. 
  • A client’s value cannot be measured purely by the fee they pay, especially when the editorial pro is starting out. I used to work with a publisher who put a shed load of work my way. I considered their rates low but the experience, volume of work, references and full schedule were worth every hour I spent on their books. I no longer work for them because I’m now visible enough that I get better-paying offers. I’m not critical of their fee structure (they have a business to run, too); instead, I’m immensely grateful for the opportunity they afforded me.​
​

​5. Do you think I’ll be able to find clients?


​Yes, if you’re prepared to be an active marketer.

Don’t wait – start thinking about your marketing strategy as soon as you can. Marketing is about being interesting and discoverable.

If you’re not interesting, it won’t matter who finds you because they won’t feel compelled to hire you. If you’re invisible, it won’t matter if you have a wardrobe full of USPs because no one will know you exist.
​
  • A good marketing strategy uses multiple promotional tools across multiple channels. That’s because different clients use different platforms to source us.
  • Those tools and channels are interconnected. The website you build, the useful content you share, the social media platforms you engage with, the directories you advertise in, the networking meetings you attend, the business cards you hand out, the CV you publish, the portfolio you build, the testimonials you acquire, the emails and letters you post, and more, should all be branded consistently so that clients and colleagues can recognize you and your editorial business.

​If you’re not ready to do what’s necessary to make yourself visible to good-fit clients, you’re probably not yet ready to run your own editorial business. There's nothing wrong with that. Some people are best suited to employment rather than self-employment.

If you think that word of mouth will be enough at the start of your editorial career, think again. I do have a few colleagues who’ve relied, successfully, on that but they’re few and far between, and they have a lot of experience (and clients to spread the word).


Being active puts you in a position where, over time, you acquire choice. Choice is the road to alignment – where what you need to earn, what you want to earn, how much time you have available to work for those earnings, and what the clients who can find you are prepared to pay all come together in a way that works for you and your business.
​

​6. What kind of information is relevant?


​It’s always about the client. When you’re creating content, put yourself in your client’s shoes and ask, ‘If I were searching for a proofreader, what would I want to know and what problems might I have?’

Some experts would say that my website has too many words and too many pages, that the portfolio is too cluttered, that there’s too much information below the fold, that my blog titles are too long ...

I do break some of the ‘rules’ of online promotion; I also follow many of them. I’ve tried and tested different ways of doing things and found what works for me. Next year, I might be doing things differently. Nothing’s set in stone.


If you’re struggling to organize your message, ask yourself the following questions. If the content you create answers them, you’re on the right track.
​
  • Who are you?
  • Who is the client?
  • What are their problems?
  • How can you solve them?
  • How can they contact you?
​

7. But will it be lonely?


​If you’re still excited about building a freelance editorial business, then there’s an international community of colleagues waiting to welcome you.

​Thirty years ago, freelancing could be a lonely business. In 2017, independent proofreaders and copyeditors chat, ask for advice, share knowledge and expertise, and learn … together. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and editorial-society forums provide just some of the online spaces that editorial pros use to connect with each other.

We work solo but the digital watercooler has never been busier. See you there!
Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with crime, mystery, suspense and thriller writers.

She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.

Visit her business website at Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader, say hello on Twitter at @LouiseHarnby, connect via Facebook and LinkedIn, and check out her books and courses.
14 Comments
Richard Adin link
10/1/2017 07:55:44 am

Excellent, Louise. One thing I would add is that it is always worthwhile to look for professional blogs, like Proofreader's Parlour, that offer in-depth, high-quality advice on working in the editorial world. Such blogs are rare (too many give too little information, what I call teasers), but when found are very educational.

Reply
Myriam
19/2/2017 01:34:49 pm

I discovered your blog via a link on the SfEP site, and I've found so much useful information here. Thank you for sharing so much of your knowledge!

I'm interested in freelance proofreading on a part-time basis. I'm employed in an editorial role for four days per week, but I'd like to develop my skills and do some freelancing outside of my office hours. But I was thinking that it could deter potential clients, as I would only be available for one working day (plus weekends) per week. I've given it quite a lot of thought and I'm considering enrolling on the PTC distance learning course. Do you think it's unrealistic to think that I could fit freelance proofreading around my day job? I certainly don't want to give up the day job!

Reply
Louise Harnby link
19/2/2017 08:33:34 pm

Hi, Myriam.

If you're offered a small job with a 24-hour turnaround that falls on the days when you're in-house, then you won't be able to accept the work. If it's a 40-hour job with a two-week turnaround, you won't be able to accept the work. If it's a fast turnaround job that falls on a Friday, you're good to go. If it's a longer project and the client is prepared to wait a month, you're good to go. Your position is no different to mine. We're either available or we're not. I'm booked up until early June. Anyone who contacts me today will either be prepared to wait or they'll choose to work with someone else. The fact that my weeks up until June are filled with work paid for by independent clients, whereas four days of your weeks up until June are filled with work paid for by your employer is neither here nor there! Some clients will be prepared to wait while some won't. That's just the way it goes. You'll be available three days a week for your own business. What you do outside that time is no one else's business but yours. Don't feel you have to justify it; just be honest and realistic about whether you can fit the work in so that you can meet the deadline.

Reply
Myriam
2/3/2017 12:18:25 pm

Hi Louise,

Thank you for your reply. Your response made me look at part-time proofreading from a new perspective, which is really helpful.

I'm looking forward to getting started on my freelance business.

Charlotte
25/4/2017 08:33:36 am

Hi Louise
This is a very helpful article, thank you. But ... just wondering what happened to tip no. 7? :-)
Charlotte

Reply
Louise
25/4/2017 11:12:05 am

The Weebly gremlins stole it! Gawd - I need to go and check my original Word file to check whether I've deleted it or just can't add up! Cheers, Charlotte! Will amend one way or another!

Reply
Sally Asnicar link
5/5/2017 12:08:36 am

I receive regular emails of this kind too, Louise. After answering all the similar questions with similar answers, I usually then direct them to do some further reading - via your books, or those of Liz Dexter. :)

Reply
Louise Harnby
5/5/2017 10:36:39 am

Hi, Sally! Indeed, Liz has some wonderful advice for small business development and ownership on her site and via her books, not to mention all that useful stuff on working with Word.

Thanks for being such a brilliant sharer. I love that about the international editorial community!

Cheers!
Louise

Reply
Richard Adin link
1/10/2017 08:42:47 am

Good morning, Louise.

As always an excellent article that offers excellent advice. I've been an independent editor for more than 30 years and I still always find something useful and new in your essays.

I'm writing because I would like to suggest to your readers that they take a look at my An American Editor (www.americaneditor.wordpress.com) blog for detailed essays on the what-to-charge issue and rate surveys (search for "what to charge" and "survey" -- no quotes -- to find relevant essays). Of course, there are many other essays at AAE, written by myself and contributors, including yourself, that your readers might well find valuable, but the ones about rates are, I think, particularly useful because the subjects are the ones that are the most frequent topics of discussion on editorial forums.

Rich

Reply
Louise Harnby link
1/10/2017 03:43:09 pm

Delighted you've commented with that link, Rich! I've found your An American Editor articles about what to charge and the effective hourly rate to be hugely instructive over the years! I frequently recommend your blog to editors and proofreaders struggling with rates issues - it's an excellent resource.

Louise

Reply
Rebecca Reynolds link
30/12/2019 04:27:58 pm

Thanks Louise – straight and to the point. I particularly like the advice about making yourself interesting as well as discoverable.

My problem is branding, since I do quite a few things – teaching, editing and proofreading, journalism, even a bit of Spanish-English translation. It doesn't really make for a consistent brand. I'll see if the New Year brings any new ways of approaching this!

Reply
Louise Harnby
2/1/2020 03:30:37 pm

Cheers, Rebecca!

I think of a brand as what people say about you when you're not in the room ... how you make them feel. So if you can present your various services in a way that has a cohesive message behind it about the kind of person they'll be working with, the values you stand for, you're halfway there. The emotion-based approach that I teach in my editorial branding course is based on how I went about creating a brand identity. You can find out more via the Courses tab on this website if you're interested.

Reply
Sarah Smith link
22/4/2021 05:13:32 am

I appreciate your information that it is best to have proofreaders that have a background of education in the topic of your piece. My husband is trying to get a paper published, but he needs someone to check over the grammar first. Do you know where we could find a Spanish proofreader?

Reply
Louise Harnby
23/4/2021 09:58:28 am

I know only of the Asociación Española de Redactores de Textos Médicos (AERTeM) in Spain so unless your husband is publishing medical material, you'll need to Google. The CIEP (might well have editors and proofreaders who speak and write Spanish. You could search its Directory of Editorial Services (ciep.uk/directory).

Reply



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