Setting up a proofreading business: 10 things you need to know and 10 more you need to do

Considering setting up a proofreading business? Or perhaps you're already on the journey. Here are 10 things you need to know and 10 more you need to do.

​10 things you need to know ...

1. There’s a lot of competition.
2. The work won’t land in your lap overnight. It takes time to build a healthy small business.
3. Owning an editorial business requires hard work, commitment and patience.
4. Proofreading is not the same as copy-editing or substantive editing. And proofreading isn’t necessarily easier than other types of editorial intervention; it’s a different (though related) discipline. The Society for Editors and Proofreaders offers excellent guidance.
5. There’s no magic formula when it comes to earning potential – rates vary according to customer type and each freelancer's business model.
6. Having a good eye for detail and a strong grasp of language is only the start. For example, depending on which customers you work for, you might be required to use a particular mark-up language, utilize specific software or understand particular industry-standard conventions.
7. Quality training is not a waste of money – it’s an investment in your future business success.
8. Marketing is an active, not a passive, activity and requires creative, strategic thinking and planning.
9. There is more than one customer type, and different customers have different expectations (e.g. publishers vs self-publishers vs corporate clients vs students).
10. “I’ll proofread anything” isn’t an effective or professional pitch that inspires confidence in a potential client.

10 things you need to do ...

1. Make a business plan – you’re about to become a business owner; it's important to behave like one. In particular, be realistic about the length of time it will take to get your business up and running.
2. Become an effective marketer – if your customers don't know you exist, you won't get work, even if you're the most able proofreader on the planet.
3. Network – other editorial freelancers are a virtual goldmine of information. Nearly every day one of my colleagues teaches me about a new resource, tool or idea. Join the editorial groups on social media and connect via your national professional editorial society.
4. Research the field so that you understand the profession and what your customers’ expectations are. For example, publishers might have different needs and expectations to self-publishers.
5. Put yourself in your customers’ shoes – once you understand who your customers are and what they want, make sure that both the language you use and the information you highlight when pitching to them reflect that understanding.
6. Think in a joined-up way – all the things you do when you build your proofreading business are connected – for example, the way you communicate on social media will have an impact on your colleagues’ and customers’ perceptions of you.
7. Make sure you’re fit for purpose – do the appropriate training to prepare yourself for market. Contact your national editorial society for guidance.
8. Get the tools you need for your home office that will enable you to do your job. A pencil and a red pen are not enough, though you will need those!
9. Act like a professional business owner – from every email you reply to, to the way you brand your letterhead, to the way you communicate your pitch in your promotional media, to the invoices you post, to the way you organize your accounts.
10. Consider specializing when you start up your business and target the appropriate customers – your prior educational and career background will help you to develop a strong pitch that sells your skills. You can always diversify later.

If you'd like more comprehensive guidance about starting a proofreading business, my books might be just the ticket. Written for those with no prior publishing or editorial experience, these practical guides take the new starter, step by step, through the basics of planning an editorial career and marketing their services.

Louise Harnby is a line editor, copyeditor and proofreader who specializes in working with independent authors of commercial fiction, particularly crime, thriller and mystery writers.

She is an Advanced Professional Member of the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP), a member of ACES, a Partner Member of The Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and co-hosts The Editing Podcast.
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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.