FOR EDITORS, PROOFREADERS AND WRITERS

Do we still need to learn how to use traditional proof-correction symbols given that most proofreading work is done onscreen these days?

My answer is an emphatic “Yes, you should learn them!”

As I'll show below, knowing how to use them will increase your efficiency, productivity, clarity, marketability, and professionalism.

Traditional proofreading: Checking typeset proofs
Many proofreaders work directly in Word, making actual changes to the text.

In my experience, it's primarily self-publishing authors, academics, students and businesses that commission such direct intervention; almost all of my publishers want me to use the proof-correction symbols.

That’s because I’m not editing the text; rather, I’m annotating pages that have been professionally designed – the pages appear as I would expect to see them if I walked into a bookshop and pulled the published book from a shelf.

In this situation, I'm not just looking for spelling and grammar mistakes. I also need to annotate for problems with layout, for example:
​

• misaligned text
• incorrect indentation
• inconsistent line or paragraph spacing
• the wrong font
• heading design problems
• widows, orphans, and short lines
• chapter-drop inconsistencies
• incorrect positioning of different elements on a page, from boxes to images to tables
• bad word breaks
• recto word breaks

So, if you plan to work on page proofs that have been professionally typeset prior to publication, and you hope to acquire this work from mainstream publishing houses, you will need to know how to annotate the pages correctly with these symbols, even if you are proofreading onscreen.

What do the marks look like?
It depends where you live. If you need guidance about proof-correction marks in your particular region, contact your national editorial society. In some countries, the UK’s BSI marks are accepted for proofreading and copy-editing practice.

In the UK, there is a single set of industry-recognized symbols. These have been prepared by the British Standards Institution (BSI) and are entitled “Marks for copy preparation and proof correction”. Over time they’ve been updated. The current marks are identified as follows: BS 5261C:2005.

If you’re working for Canadian or US clients, read Adrienne Montgomerie’s article, “The Secret Code of Proofreaders” (Copyediting.com, 2014). As she points out, the Canadian Translation Bureau’s Canadian Style guide marks are quite different from the marks preferred by the Chicago Manual of Style.

Why are proof-correction marks useful? 
When we proofread typeset page proofs, there’s little room to indicate what we want to change. Recall that each page we’re working on appears almost as it would if the printed book had been published. 

Using industry-standard proof-correction marks is an efficient way to annotate the page with the desired corrections. The symbols are a short-cut code of instructions that tell the designer exactly what to do. Once you’ve learned all the symbols by heart, they’re much quicker to use than long-hand text and take up minimal space.

Open the nearest book you have to hand and look at how much white space there isn’t between the text and the margin – it’s not uncommon for me to work on page proofs with a 2cm margin either side of the text.

Notice, too, how small the space is above and below a single line of text.

The book has been designed and there's little room to annotate. 

Now imagine that in a given line there is a missing comma, a spelling mistake, and a word that needs decapitalizing.

The example below illustrates how these problems would be marked up using the BSI proof-correction symbols.

The long-hand alternative might be something on the lines of <Change “fax” to “fox”> in the left-hand margin, and <Insert comma after “grass” and decapitalize “Legs”> in the right-hand margin.

Given that we only have 2cm margins to play with, that each line is spaced closely to its neighbours above and below, and that in a real set of proofs there may be several corrections in multiple lines, any instructions to the typesetter are likely to become cluttered and confusing.

​Proof-correction symbols solve the problem.

The use of proof-correction symbols therefore offers increased efficiency, productivity, and clarity. And if you’re a proofreader-to-be who wants to ensure you’re marketable to as wide a range of clients as possible, acquiring the ability to use this mark-up process is a no-brainer.

Attending to professional standards
In addition to enabling you to work efficiently, productively, and clearly, and maximizing your marketability, there is also the issue of professionalism. Membership of a professional editorial society often requires knowledge of the relevant nationally approved mark-up symbols as a standard of good practice.
​

• The Australian standards for editing practice, 2nd ed. (2013), states, "Editors should be up to date and proficient in the following: [...] A6.6 Standard mark-up symbols and conventions for copyediting and proofreading."
• Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP) Code of practice notes at section 5.6, Proofreading printed materials: Basic skills, "A proofreader should be competent in the following skills: [...] 5.6.4 Proof-correction symbols: Use current British Standard proof-correction symbols or terms, and colour coding for corrections (if required by the client) to permit accurate apportioning of costs."
• The Editors' Association of Canada's Professional Editorial Standards: "E. Standards for Proofreading" says: "A professional proofreader requires a mastery of Part A: The Fundamentals of Editing and meets the following standards. [...] E16 When working on paper proofs, mark clearly and use standard proofreading marks unless another system has been agreed upon."

Where to find the UK marks 
The BSI provides a laminated 8-page summary sheet of all the marks you need to know for proofreading. Also included are short notes that enable the proofreader or copy-editor to identify the correct mark for both marginal and in-text mark-up, colour of ink to be used, and positioning of the symbols.

The CIEP has an arrangement with the BSI whereby members can purchase the sheet for a reduced price.

How to learn to use the marks
Any comprehensive proofreading course worth its salt should test your ability to use the marks according to industry standards. It's not just about using the right mark so that the instruction is unambiguous, but also about knowing when to use the mark and when to leave well enough alone.

In the UK, the CIEP and The Publishing Training Centre are examples of organizations offering industry-recognized courses that attend to these issues. If you live outside the UK, ask your national editorial society for guidance.

Further reading
If you’re considering embarking on a professional proofreading career, you might find the following related articles of use:
​

• Proofreading checklist
• Not all proofreading is the same: Part I – Working with page proofs 
• Not all proofreading is the same: Part II – Working directly in Word
• Does training matter? What publishers say about proofreading & editing courses 
• Thoughts on proofreading and the art of leaving well enough alone
• The proofreader’s corner: Page proofs and the domino effect
• Proofreading: Using training to learn the appropriate mind-set 
• Editorial business building books
• Roundup: PDF proofreading stamps (quick-access links)

I recently received a phone call from someone thinking about a career in proofreading. “I just wondered if you could spare five minutes to tell me how to go about starting a proofreading business.”

She was really sweet but at the word “five”, alarm bells started to ring. I can’t imagine a scenario where I would ever have thought that I could learn what I needed to know about running a business in five minutes …

“I love books. I've always loved books. I read two books a week. I'm a voracious reader! Always have been, always will be.” The alarm bells were getting louder.

The thing is, I love eating (and I have a waistline to prove it). I've always loved eating. I eat three meals a day (at least). I'm a voracious eater. Always have been, always will be. But that doesn't make me a chef. It doesn't mean I can run a restaurant.

So I let her talk for a bit longer and then I gently suggested that it’s a big decision – that it’s great that she loves reading – but that my best advice was for her to think about the other stuff, too: the clients she’s going to target, what training she needs to do, how she’s going to promote herself, what knowledge base she can bring to the table in terms of specialist experience (prior job, hobbies, education, etc.).

I told her that there are a lot of us out there already doing this, which makes it competitive.

• I suggested my book to her (Business Planning for Editorial Freelancers), which she can use as a road map to help guide her through the basics of starting out.
• I told her about the books my colleagues Val Rice (Starting Out: Setting up a small business) and Liz Broomfield (Going it Alone at 40: How I Survived my First Year of Full-Time Self-Employment) have written, which take a slightly different angle on freelancing and provide equally supportive advice for the new business owner.
• I referred her to my national editorial society (the UK’s Society for Editors and Proofreaders) and The Publishing Training Centre in London.
• I told her about some of the fabulous resource centres that offer free online advice about working in our business: Kathy O’Moore-Klopf’s Copyeditors’ Knowledge Base, Kate Haigh’s Kateproof blog and the Parlour (especially the starting-out archive). 

I could have talked for hours but I don't have hours to spare. And she asked for five minutes so that’s how long I talked for.

I thought I’d done quite well (given the time span available) to point her in the direction of a small but substantive group of resources – none of which would cost her more than six quid, and most of which are free – that she could use when making the monumental decision to set up a new proofreading business.

A silence followed on the other end of the phone. I assumed she was frantically scribbling down all this information. “The thing is, I really want to make a career out of this but there’s so much to get your head around. That’s why I called. I just need to know how to go about it. I've always loved books, always loved reading. I think I’d be good at this. I notice spelling errors when I read magazines and books and newspapers and I really love words.”

I sensed I'd not told her what she'd hoped to hear. I don't for a minute think she expected me to hand her a client list on a plate. She seemed very pleasant, genuine and passionate.

Rather, I suspect she'd thought that the task might be easier or more straightforward; that in these days of reduced employment opportunities, editorial freelancing would be something that was relatively simple to slip into. 

I tried to move her back to the issues in hand, reiterated that the resources I'd pointed her towards would help her work out "how to go about it", and I emphasized that it’s not a love of books and words that will enable her to run an editorial business. Because that’s not enough.

The fact is that in the list of things that enable a proofreader (or any other type of editorial freelancer) to run a successful business, loving books is so far down on the list that I've yet to be convinced it's worth giving it a number.

There is a lot of information to read and a lot of issues to consider. And so there should be. Running an editorial business isn't something you can learn to do in five minutes. It requires research, patience and commitment. It requires the wearing of many hats. It requires perseverance, business savvy and hard graft.

If you love books, words and reading – great. But all that tells you is that you love books, words and reading. It doesn't tell you if you have skills such as planning, marketing, time management, financial management and accounting, client-appropriate training, an understanding of industry expectations, taking the ups with the downs, creative thinking, client negotiations, networking, and business development.

And if you want to run a proofreading or editing business you’ll need all of the above in spades or you'll have to want to learn them. I’ll say it again, loving books isn't enough.

There are no short cuts. Your dentist doesn't get to stick a needle in your gum by taking short cuts. Your cleaner doesn't get to make your house sparkle by taking short cuts. Your five-year-old doesn't learn to read because their teacher takes short cuts.

While colleagues will be delighted to advise you of various different approaches and tactics to help you on your way, ultimately you'll have to put in a lot of hard work. It doesn't matter whether you're Richard Branson, Bill Gates, or lil' ol' Louise Harnby – when you set up a business, the basic rules of the game are the same. Do the planning, do the research and never, ever forget that you’re considering running a business first and foremost, whatever your likes and dislikes are. 

If you still think becoming a proofreader (or editor) sounds like a great idea, welcome on board. It really is a great job, and there’s a huge international community of editorial colleagues waiting to engage with you.

​And if you happen to love books, reading and words, all the better. Just as long as you remember that, in itself, that's not enough.

Good luck, and see you on the other side!

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. 
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.

If you’re building your editorial business, you can’t afford to sit back and hope the work will come to you – too many colleagues will be taking a more proactive approach.

So, this time around, I thought it would be fun to pretend to be someone else – someone with a different educational background and career history.

​I’m going to pretend that I’m new to the field but that I have completed some sort of recognized training in proofreading/editing and have joined my national editorial society. My technical skills are there but I’ve got to work out how to get myself noticed, and how to make myself stand out.

​So who am I today? My name’s Basil Rhoueny [it’s the best anagram I could come up with – alternatives on a postcard].
​

• I used to be manager for a large financial services company.
• I have a partner, a child, a guinea pig, and a mortgage. I love the first and the second, I tolerate the third, and frankly I’d like to be shot of the fourth (though I’m a realist, too). I’ve moved all around the country with my job but currently I reside in Ely.
• I’m a good runner. I love to run. I came eighth out of 450 other guys in my age group in the Cambridge half-marathon last year and have had an article published about the experience in Runner’s World UK magazine.
• I have a blog about running called JogMeBlogMe.
• After two decades in business, I was made redundant 14 months ago.
• Following some considerable discussion with my partner, I decided to retrain and set up a home-based editorial business. My partner works 9–6, so I’ll fit the childcare around my freelance work.

So how am I going to create awareness of my new business? I know it’s not going to happen overnight, but I have a plan! That plan starts with providing clarity for myself about who I am and what I have to offer.

At first glance, this is me:

I write, I blog, I run, I (used to) manage staff, and I scamper around the garden with my kid (and the guinea pig when it escapes). I’ve retrained as a copyeditor, but which element of my experience will help me develop the best editorial business brand? All of them?

​Perhaps later on down the line I can expand my portfolio but right now I need a focus, something that I can really get my teeth into so that I can target my services.

As I said, I have 20 years’ experience of working for a large financial services organization.
​
I understand the language of business: money, insurance, capital, funds, investments, portfolios, stocks, shares, corporate culture, management, organizational behaviour.

Those terms trip off my tongue without a second thought. I can edit this stuff with my metaphorical eyes shut.

So that’s how I’m going to sell myself. I want a tight message that I can sell to people and I don’t want to confuse potential clients as to what my niche is. I’m not going to talk about running, or writing, or blogging. Not yet, anyway.

​So, now, this is who I am:

Now that I’ve sorted out who I am, I need to think about who my potential clients are.
​

• There are publishers galore whose lists include titles in the fields of management and organization studies, marketing, training, business, accountancy, finance, and corporate governance.
• There are students writing Master’s dissertations and PhD theses in the same areas.
• There are companies (like the one I used to work for) who produce business reports and marketing materials.
• There are professional societies who publish journals and magazines in these areas.
• There are academic researchers and business professionals looking for people to polish their work before they submit articles to these publications.

​Now, things are looking like this:

I now need to think about widening my net to make my niche as comprehensive as possible.

A quick browse through the management sections on only two large publisher websites tells me a great deal about the sub-disciplines that are being written about.

The world of business and finance has a lot of options that I can focus on – key words that will demonstrate my wide-ranging specialist knowledge.

​Now, this is who I am:

Next, I need to decide where I’m going to put this information.
​

• I’m going to place this information in the key proofreading and editing directory listings, on the new website that I’ve built, in my résumé, and on my LinkedIn profile. And I’ll place summarized versions on my Twitter and Facebook accounts.
• I’m going to contact every single publisher and related professional society in the country whose book/journal lists include my specialist areas, either via email or by letter.
• I’m going to investigate strategies for building relationships with corporations and independent business professionals.
• I’m going to think about how I might work with and target students in management/business/finance university departments.

I need to think about networking, too. Fellow freelancers who have established businesses may be able to refer work to me once they get to know me.

I’ve decided to join the local chapter of my editorial society so that I can meet some of my colleagues face to face. I also aim to build up a network of freelance colleagues on Twitter and Facebook.

​I might pick up some good business-building tips as well as make some online friends who’ve taken the journey that I’m now on. But I’m going to take it further than this …

I’m going to take a look at what’s being tweeted about in the business world, both from an academic and a trade angle.

One of my goals is to build a Twitter network that stretches beyond the freelance world and into the world of my clients. If I want to get followers who are potential clients, I need to give as much as I take. I need to tweet about news, tools and resources that will make me interesting to these business people.

Since I’m branding myself as an editorial specialist in the fields of business and finance, I’m putting JogMeBlogMe to one side and attaching a new blog to my editing website. I might call it BazBizBlog (then again, maybe not!).

​Regardless of the name I choose, it will be solution-based and feature links, news, articles, resources, tips and tools related to business – about business people, and for business people.

• Some of the features/links will cover editing and proofreading, but from the point of view of a client (tips for report writing, good-grammar guides, working with a freelancer, etc.)
• Others will focus on business tools and tips based on my previous career knowledge (financial planning, good management practice, staff motivation, time management tips, latest research, etc.)
• Still others might explore useful tools and apps for on-the-go business professionals.

The point is to make the content interesting to the kinds of people who might also use my services. And it will drive up my Google rankings because the freshness of the content will generate juice for my site as well as answering questions that people search for answers to in the search engines.

I have a lot of work to do, but I’m focused and I know what I need to do. The results of my labour may take months to bear fruit, but I’m investing in the future success of my business so I believe the hard work is worth it.

Now I’m off for a run. Did I mention that I’m good at running?

You don’t have to be Basil to try out the strategy above. You can take the same principles and apply them to your own background with a little bit of tweaking.

Maybe you’re an ex lawyer, teacher, accountant, sales manager, soldier, nurse, or social worker. Perhaps you have a degree in politics, biomedical science, or psychology.

The point is to focus on your specialist area and then mine the field to see what the associated areas and sub-disciplines are.

Your profile, and the content you create that's associated with it, will provide relevant key words that will help you get found when potential clients are searching for editorial freelancers with specific skills.

It’s not the only strategy by any means – it’s simply one for you to consider if you’re starting out.

I’ll not claim the ideas above are mine alone – they’re more a culmination of time spent watching, listening and talking to my successful colleagues about how they network and market themselves to fellow editorial freelancers and potential clients by making the most of their specialist skills.

​They are editorial professionals now, but they came from a variety of career backgrounds: science, law, academia, education, management, publishing, journalism, and much more besides. I’d name each and every one of them if I had the space, but there are far too many. I thank them, anyway, for their wisdom and their knowledge sharing.

• Booklet: Beyond editing qualifications: Gaining author trust
• Blog: Branding for editors and proofreaders – beyond me-me-me
  
• Course: Editor Website Essentials
• Book: Marketing Your Editing and Proofreading Business
• Guides: ​Business growth guides for editors and proofreaders
• Courses: Business growth training courses

An open letter to new proofreaders (in fact, editors of all descriptions) ...

Dear newbie proofreader,

I’ve told you a lie – I don’t hate the term “freelance proofreader”. “I’m freelance”, “I went freelance in …”, and “since I’ve been freelancing” are phrases I trot out all the time to explain the way I organize my work life.

I'll be frank with you, though – I do sometimes worry that the term “freelance” doesn’t quite cut the mustard.

If I’d spent 15 years working as an electrician for an electrical installations company and then decided to go it alone, I’d never have described myself as a "freelance electrician". I’d have told people that I was now running my own electrical business.

Does “freelancer” really reflect the level of business acumen required to do my job? And it’s not just my ability to make sound judgements and take the right decisions. It’s bigger than that – it’s that whole sense of business-cultural embeddedness that’s at stake. If I don’t think of myself as a business owner, then am I in danger of not acting like one? And if I don’t act like one, why would anyone else think to treat me as one?

Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs does not consider me a “freelancer”. Rather, I’m a sole trader. I’m the owner of a business that employs exactly one person.

I carry out tax self-assessment on an annual basis just as if I was that business-owning electrician I mentioned above.

Just like the electrician, I’m hired by a number of different clients to carry out professional services.

Just like the electrician, I set my own rates (though perhaps unlike our electrician I may agree to – or decline – an offered fee).

Just like the electrician, it’s up to me to decide whether I want to accept a client’s offer of work or decline it.

Just like the electrician, I work the hours I choose to work and take holiday leave when I decide to.

And just like the electrician, the only person who can fire me is, well, me.

Does a freelancer work in a different way to that of a business owner? This one doesn’t. So what’s the problem with referring to myself as “freelance”? I don’t think there is one as long as I’m clear in my mind about what needs to be done – and being a business owner is more than just a being a proofreader (or an electrician).
​

• I take care of my own accounts
• I need to acquire a solid understanding of the market in which I am competing and the methods I am going to use to get noticed in order to generate business leads and paid work
• I have to do my own financial forecasting
• I organize all my training and continued professional development to make sure my skills are up to date
• I take responsibility for my tax and national insurance liabilities to ensure legal, healthcare and pension provisions are met
• and I manage any personnel problems that arise (such as when I get upset on the rare occasion that someone doesn't pay me).

​I could say more but I have a work deadline to meet and a child who's complaining of a sore throat, so there isn’t time right now. I hope this gets you thinking, anyway.

So, dear newbie, if in your own head the term “freelance” doesn’t conjure up an image of these many hats, then I’d advise you instead to start thinking of yourself as a business owner first and foremost.

To do otherwise may leave you ill-prepared for the myriad functions that you’ll need to perform (and that you may have little experience of) when you start out.

You'll be the luckiest editorial freelancer in the world if the work just lands in your lap. It's far more likely that you'll have to work very hard to get yourself established.

Become “freelance” by all means, but do your business planning just like any other new business owner. 

With best wishes,

Louise Harnby | Fiction Editor & Proofreader

Contact information: To enable me to deal with your query as quickly and efficiently as possible, please contact the relevant department.

​Owner: Louise Harnby
President: Louise Harnby
Chief Executive Officer: Louise Harnby
Marketing Director: Louise Harnby 
Web Developer: Louise Harnby
Sales Manager: Louise Harnby
Professional Development Director: Louise Harnby
Training Coordinator: Louise Harnby
Financial Controller: Louise Harnby
Distribution Manager: Louise Harnby
Human Resources Officer: Louise Harnby
IT Executive: Louise Harnby
Office Manager: Louise Harnby
Proofreader: Louise Harnby
Copyeditor: Louise Harnby

A short question on this blog about which training course I would recommend for someone considering a career in proofreading prompted a rather long reply from me. It made me realize that the issue deserved a post of its own.

Professional proofreading training
​Please note that this article isn’t designed to recommend one particular course over another. What you choose will depend on a number of factors, e.g. location, career stage.

​Readers of this blog who’ve searched my training archive will know the course I chose – the Publishing Training Centre's Essential Proofreading.

While I found this course to be outstanding, this accolade is based on my business plan, my place of residence, my knowledge of the market I chose to focus on, and my training budget. It won’t necessarily be the right choice for, say, a Belgian with a different niche market in mind, or a Canadian whose pockets are feeling a little shallow at the moment.

Instead, the aim here is to give voice to some of the basic issues that are worth considering when choosing what, where and how to train for a career as a freelance proofreader, wherever you live and whatever your budget.

What’s on offer?
​The options are numerous. Distance learning and on-site; online and book-based; and DIY and professionally assessed. Some cost hundreds of pounds while other options cost less than the price of a family cinema outing. Googling for proofreading training courses throws up lots of information but little guidance on how to make a choice. Here are some ideas to get you on the right track.

Is there a national or regional professional society you can contact?​
This is probably the best place to start. Get in touch with your national editing/proofreading society and see what they recommend. Their membership is full of people who were once in your position, so they will have some great advice to share, and at no cost. Visit my Editing & Proofreading Societies page to locate your national association or regional chapter.

​At what stage are you in the process?
Consider what point you’re at in the process of your career change. Are you definitely looking to become a professional proofreader or are you at the earlier stage of considering it as one of several options? If the latter, you might opt for a cheaper, preliminary short course to see if the work suits you before you invest a larger amount of money in a more time-consuming distance learning course.

If you've recently completed some training you might want to consider a mentoring programme. The Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP) runs a mentoring programme in the UK. Contact your national editing and proofreading society for more details on mentoring opportunities in your own country.

What kind of client are you hoping to target?​
Case study 1
You’re an ex-solicitor/attorney who’s decided that the law’s not your bag after all. You decide you want to focus on publisher clients, possibly those with lists in criminology, law and policing.

Do some research to find out which houses publish in these fields and give them a call. Ask to speak to the production manager, or the person in charge of hiring freelance editorial staff. Ask that person what their criteria are for freelancers. They'll be able to tell you the training providers they recognize.

They’ll also be able to give you some ideas about any experience or expertise they are looking for. You may be surprised to find that they accept a qualification that you hadn’t considered.

And it may not be the most expensive one on the market. Even if you do find out that you would be better off going for one of the more expensive training courses, at least you know that it will be money well spent and that you’ll get the return on your investment once you start applying for paid work.

Getting a feel for what publishers want is a good start because they are one type of client that is in a position to offer you repeat work.

Case study 2
You’ve worked as an English-language teacher for years in a school or college, helping young adults improve their literacy skills. You decide to focus on independent fiction and creative non-fiction authors who are looking for the final polish before they submit their manuscript to an agent, in-house commissioning editor, or custom-publishing organization. You need to do the same research.

Start networking with writers’ groups and online networks and ask the people themselves what training and experience they expect a proofreader to have. They may have a set of very different preferred externals based on their experiences of commissioning freelance editorial services.

Join social networking forums such as LinkedIn where existing freelancers congregate and ask what training routes other freelance proofreaders in your country, who work with the type of client you’re interested in, took to get their careers off the ground.

The point is to research your market and find out what people want and expect. Every training provider on the market will tell you that their course is the best, and they wouldn’t be doing a good job of marketing themselves if they claimed otherwise. Asking the end-users, however, is the key to ensuring you make the decision that best suits your business strategy.

Assessed or not?​
Assuming you’ve decided proofreading is the job for you, and you need a training course that is going to give you the confidence and readiness to do the job to a professional standard, find out whether your training provider offers an assessment element. 

It’s best to iron out the creases while you are training, rather than alienating unhappy clients further down the line.

​Or to quote an old proverb: What the fool does in the end, the wise man does in the beginning.

I wrote this post about proofreading training years ago. However, I'm confident the advice still stands. While these days I work primarily for indie fiction authors who find me via organic search, I think publisher work is still incredibly valuable.

How far will training get you in the editorial freelancing market?
Publishers and editorial freelancers understand each other. We have the same expectations regarding the level of editing being undertaken (e.g. developmental, line/copy, proofreading), which saves both parties time.

Publishers are in a position to offer repeat work, thus taking some of the stress out of marketing. Plus the portfolio- and testimonial-building opportunities are excellent.

And so while the rates are sometimes an issue (though not always by any means), publishers are a brilliant client group to target. It's therefore important to bear in mind where they see the value when hiring editorial freelancers.

Here's what I found out ...

Is training useless?
I’ve just landed on a blog where the author calls proofreading courses a "scam" and "unnecessary", and the qualifications "useless". The rant continues, the author arguing that they’ve never been asked to produce evidence of any qualification or completion of a course by an "official" body.

And luckily for anyone looking to enter this extraordinarily crowded and competitive field, said author offers a far cheaper alternative to all those "rip-off" courses: their very own proofreading course in the form of an ebook.

Back in 2005, I spent seven months doing just the type of course this author was decrying. I opted for Essential Proofreading, a distance learning course run by the Publishing Training Centre (PTC), an industry-recognized body.

I also joined the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), formerly the SfEP, and did the necessaries to qualify for membership.

So did I waste my money? Was I ripped off? Did the training I took on help me get to where I am now or was I kidding myself?

Should I have instead invested in an ebook course that would have given me change from a twenty-pound note?

I discussed this issue with some of my clients, all of whom are established and respected publishing houses or project management services in the UK.

What came out of the conversation led me to conclude that the training I undertook was definitely worthwhile, and membership of the CIEP/SfEP has provided me with wonderful information-sharing opportunities as well as the right to advertise in their Directory of Editorial Services.

Nevertheless, there was much food for thought in the responses I received.

Thumbs up for training courses …
Out of House Publishing consider only the CIEP/SfEP and PTC courses to be "useful and relevant" and Managing Director Jo Bottrill stated that he "certainly consider[s] freelancers who have completed such training much more seriously".

Constable & Robinson’s website states, "Please note our minimum requirements include training from recognized establishments such as SfEP or the Publishing Training Centre."

Aimée Feenan from Ashgate concurs, saying that most Ashgate staff have undertaken some sort of training at the PTC, and knowing that freelance staff are able to work to the same editorial standards means they are more likely to be hired. They also recognize the CIEP/SfEP as a trusted source.

And at SAGE Publishing, training is considered important, with the CIEP/SfEP and PTC again being the two most trusted external suppliers.

Elizabeth Clack at Edward Elgar felt "that the Publishing Training Centre and CIEP/SfEP courses are good quality and are well-regarded, so it would be a plus point if someone had taken courses with them, although that's not to say that we would only consider freelances who had taken courses with these bodies".

She added, "it indicates to us that the freelance has reached a certain level of proficiency and has some understanding of editing/proofreading procedures and 'best practice'. Training is especially relevant if the freelance does not yet have much work experience."

Also of note here the fact that she felt that proofreading courses took away some of the risk of the unknown when taking on a new or inexperienced freelancer.

But training in itself is not enough …
Training in itself is not always enough, and some publishers feel they have had their fingers burned by relying too much on freelancers’ training credits. Increasingly publishers are using their own tests in order to evaluate competence.

Jo Bottrill was cautious of advanced membership and accreditation status within the CIEP/SfEP, feeling that these did not always ensure that a freelancer met his exacting standards.

Instead, he's "put[ting] more emphasis on the assessment of our own tests and analysis of live jobs. Our quality control and reporting procedures have developed over the last couple of years to ensure we have an appropriate safety net."

For Edward Elgar, "another factor when considering whether to work with a freelance is whether they have experience in a particular subject area, because many of our books are quite specialized. For instance, freelances working on our law books may have law qualifications or a background in legal work."

Ian Antcliff, one of SAGE Publications’ senior production editors, stated that training, though important, is seen as an add-on. For him, in-house experience makes for an attractive prospect, not because the editors/proofreaders are better, but rather because "it usually ensures that they are sympathetic to and understand the pressure that in-house staff are under (especially with regard to budgets and deadlines)".

Ashgate acknowledge that not every freelancer on their books has received formal editorial training – they do have people who were just exceptionally good at learning on the job and being an expert in a particular subject area is also a real plus.

Polity’s production manager, Neil de Cort, takes a stronger line. For him, a speculative letter with a list of training courses is of no relevance. Like most publishers, Polity receive a large number of speculative letters every year from freelancers looking for work. Experience counts every time – Neil wants to see that a freelancer has experience of working in the social sciences, and references from other publishers are key. Completion of a training course alone simply won’t get you on their books. 

Confidence to take on the task
The training I’ve completed to date did indeed get me looked at by several clients when I was starting out. Polity, though, gave me work because of my knowledge of their field of publishing and a good reference from Salt Publishing. Constable & Robinson noticed me, despite the fact that I already met their minimum requirements, because of a recommendation from the Edward Elgar production team.

However, proofreading books published by the likes of Cambridge University Press, Polity and SAGE, who, like all of my clients, have precise and exacting publishing standards, can be daunting to the newbie.

And expanding into new publishing genres, in my case from the social sciences to trade, is a different type of challenge. Externally assessed training under the wing of a skilled industry-recognized body gave me the confidence to take on these challenges and feel assured that I was ready for the task in hand.

On-the-job CPD and upgrading skills
As for the future, I’ve been wrestling with the issue of whether to upgrade my CIEP/SfEP membership status. For me this will mean undertaking more training courses, since I qualify on all other fronts. [Update 2020: I've now been an Advanced Professional Member of many years.]

I’ve no doubt that further courses will provide me with new knowledge and provide excellent networking opportunities. But will I get more work? It depends on what that training is – if it involves ensuring I can mark-up onscreen, use the preferred software packages, and deliver my projects in new formats, then yes.

Ian Antcliff at SAGE emphasizes how essential it is for freelancers to have up-to-date skill sets "with regard to both onscreen editing and Word, and also with ancillary software generally – Adobe, etc. – increasingly so as we move towards onscreen mark-up of proof PDFs".

Talking to clients (or reading their blogs and tweets) about what their needs are, how the market is changing, and new ways of delivering our service may be just as informative as any course, and is probably the first thing we should do before deciding where to spend our hard-earned training cash.

In a nutshell …
So all in all, the message from my clients was that initial basic editorial training is more likely to get us noticed by publishers, but that it’s not the sole factor in determining whether they place us on their books.

Experience counts for a lot, but so does flexibility over the formats in which we work. Continuing to update our skills in whatever way best suits the needs of our clients will give us the best chance of remaining their freelancers of choice.

As for that £19.99 ebook course? It simply wouldn’t have cut the mustard.

(With thanks to Edward Elgar, SAGE Publications, Ashgate, Polity, and Out of House Publishing for their generous contributions.)