Proofreaders-to-be: Loving Books Isn’t Enough

19/8/2013

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!

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.

25 Comments

Alexandra Uth

20/8/2013 07:33:22 am

I've had this experience and have been recommending your book all over the place; it's a great resource! I'm also going to check out the other resources you recommend. Thanks for another great post.

Louise Harnby

20/8/2013 01:22:11 pm

Cheers, Alexandra! I really appreciate the degree to which you've shared my resources with your network.
Louise

C Tilley

20/8/2013 09:19:22 am

Excellent practical advice, which I thoroughly endorse. However, I do think love of books or words or similar is essential rather than a low priority. Most people who succeed in business (including those you mentioned, Richard Branson and Bill Gates) always say its only worth going into business if you have a strong interest in what it is you are doing. Both Gates and Branson started with little more than a passion for a particular subject or activity. It was this love of computers or music, or whatever, that inspired them to build successful businesses. Someone passionate about food would probably make a better restaurant manager than someone who simply wishes to make a living or a lot of money. It is only this kind of interest that can sustain the level of effort and commitment required to build a successful business.

20/8/2013 01:40:05 pm

Hi C Tilley. I do agree with you. It can absolutely be the driver that propels you in that direction and motivates you to learn your trade, but it only gets you so far when it comes to making a living out of it. I love reading, too, but that isn't why my actual business is successful. Loving reading is useless if I don't also have the market awareness and communication skills to get that message out there to my customers, especially since my clients often offer me projects that I wouldn't read for pleasure. Plus, too many people think that it's an easy career to make a living from and then get a shock when clients don't fall into their laps! Of course you're right that we should use our interests to guide us but that has to be backed up, and seriously so, with a clear understanding and commitment to all the other things that will make for sound business practice. I think it's important to emphasize the realities of running a business and if someone wants free consultancy from me, and expects solutions in five minutes, I'm going to cut to the chase because five minutes talking about their love of x or y is not going to help them!

Valerie Brooks link

20/8/2013 10:43:10 am

It's so refreshing to hear that other editorial professionals go through this. I can't tell you how many times I've had someone say to me, "I think I'd be a really good proofreader (or editor). I absolutely love books."

20/8/2013 01:40:54 pm

Glad to know I, too, am not alone, Valerie!

Hannah Martin link

20/8/2013 11:01:42 am

I'm a freelance copywriter and can't tell you the number of times I've had a similar conversation! I still haven't quite worked out what people want to hear. 'Oh you just do A and then you'll magically have a successful freelance business'?

The truth (as I can see you well know!) is that a successful career has to be learned and built. You can help with starting points, but you can't - and don't want to - simply inject someone with years of heard-earned knowledge. I've passed on valuable contacts and gems of wisdom to so many desperately keen would-be copywriters, and to date none of them have followed through. But then I guess the really determined ones are out there learning and discovering it all for themselves!

20/8/2013 01:48:44 pm

Couldn't agree more, Hannah!

Natalie Murray

22/8/2013 11:09:57 am

Hi Louise,

I contacted you recently by email with a couple of questions. Your replies were extremely helpful and I've just started the Basic Proofreading course with the PTC. This article has added fuel to the fire and made me even more determined! Thanks!

22/8/2013 11:18:44 am

Hi Natalie!

Lovely to hear from you again. And great news about the PTC course. You sound like you have your head in the exact space it needs to be, so good luck to you.

Keep in touch!

Gemma

23/8/2013 04:35:37 am

You're so right that liking reading isn't enough. Reading for proofreading/editing is completely different to reading for pleasure (research suggests even the way you move your eyes changes) and the satisfaction you get from working on a text is, in my experience very different to that from reading as a leisure activity.

Loving reading might equally be a good reason not to go into proofreading as after reading all day for work, it can dull your appetite for reading for pleasure. I still read, but it's been a long time since I spent a whole evening reading a novel.

23/8/2013 09:15:58 am

That's a really good point, Gemma. So many of us proofread or edit material that is very different from our leisure reading. Also, certain clients such as publishers want very specific things from us that the complete newbie might not be aware of - reference styles, layout issues, leaving alone when it's appropriate to do so within a given brief, and much more besides.

Thanks for highlighting this issue.

Bill Peschel link

23/8/2013 07:50:40 am

With a little tweaking, this is good advice for anyone interested in starting a business. You have wrap your head around the idea that what you love will not be your entire job. Yes, you love reading. Good, cause in this job you'll do it a lot.

But you need the skills to pick the nits. You need the social skills to sell your services. You need the knowledge of the technical side of the business (licenses, accounting, billing, etc.). And you need to do this every day, for a long time.

23/8/2013 09:18:41 am

Agreed, Bill. And though you'll be reading a lot, as Gemma points out above, you won't always love what you are reading!

David VanDyke link

23/8/2013 08:05:07 am

Sorry, I believe you are overcomplicating things. You seem to be throwing the kitchen sink at this woman who just wants to know how to fix a leak. Being a proofreading freelancer is not as complex as you make out. Is there more to it than she thinks? Sure, but she doesn't have to learn all that stuff up front, any more than a bicycle mechanic who wants to start a garage business needs to learn everything up front. How do I know? I do some freelance proofreading/editing myself, besides writing. I started out by doing it for fellow author friends for free. Only after I had proofed six novels did I start charging, and I started cheap and slowly raised my rates. I learned along the way how to run the business side of things, but the most important thing I did was always deliver exceptional value for money. Even if my service was not perfect or even great at first, "free" is a price that's hard to beat, and "cheap" followed hard on its heels.

To be clear, I was not and am not doing this full time, but if I needed to, I could work up to that. Right now, it's a sideline to make a few extra bucks. Maybe that's what your friend really needed to hear: a simple, straightforward way to ease into the work, and see if she is cut out for it. I knew I could do it because I have almost thirty years of technical writing under my belt, and your point that merely loving to read is not a critical qualification is well taken. However, your analogy about restaurants missed the mark; a proofreader is not (by analogy) a chef or manager: she's a critic or inspector, except instead of reporting to a magazine or agency, she is there to help, and even if she doesn't catch everything, every typo she does catch will be an improvement.

By analogy, writing fiction is also easy to attempt but hard to do well. If someone had slugged me with the whole load of what I would have to learn to write decent fiction when I was starting out at a young age, I might have given up. Instead, I dabbled, I wrote, I improved, and now at the age of fifty I am putting out some pretty good product and making half a living at it.

I can't be sure of your motives so let me generalize, and apologize in advance if I miss the mark. I've seen many blogs, essays, and columns that say (about any business or skill), in effect, "this is harder than it looks." Okay, granted. But the undertone and subtext of many of those, including yours, seems to me to be one of putting up barriers. From what I read, it appears that instead of looking for ways she could dip a toe in, and perhaps find out for herself how difficult it really is (or how easy, if she turns out to have the talent), you just tried to dissuade her from even starting.

Michelle Stevenson

4/11/2016 12:40:54 pm

Hey David,

I am currently researching how to become a proofreader and came upon this thread. I can't tell you how much I needed to hear your words, which I wholeheartedly agree with.

Unfortunately as I have no experience in this field I am putting myself out there for free. And yes I may fail miserably but I will have tried and isn't that the whole point !

Thanks again,
Michelle.

23/8/2013 10:07:52 am

Hi David, I don't agree that I dissuaded her! I listened to her and offered some resources that would help her on her way, in the process reminding her that x or y isn't in itself enough. If I'd been aiming to dissuade her I'd have told her that I don't offer free consultancy, wished her all the best, said my goodbyes and put the phone down. I didn't do that. I get a lot of calls and emails like this and I always offer advice that is, I hope, realistic and constructive.

And I didn't 'slug' anything at her. I'm running a business. I don't have hours to spare on free telephone consultancy. If someone asks me how to get their business going, and they want it done in five minutes, I tell them what I think they need to focus on. I tell them I developed this blog for people like them, that I wrote a book for people like them, that if they have their heads screwed on they can make it work for them and that it's a great job. And that there's a massive support network, so they won't be alone.

If I've given the impression that I was rude and curt with this woman, forgive me. I honestly was gentle and accommodating. I listened to her. And I hope I gave her some good pointers about how to proceed. That's what she asked me for, after all.

You said: 'it appears that instead of looking for ways she could dip a toe in, and perhaps find out for herself how difficult it really is (or how easy, if she turns out to have the talent), you just tried to dissuade her from even starting.' I don't understand how you might garner that from my post. I guided her towards three cheap starting-out books, one professional organization (one with a vibrant community of new starters and local chapters), a brilliant training organization, a fantastic free online resource centre, and four free blogs that all offer loads of advice for new starters. And I talked to her and listened to her. What more do you want from me?!

And my motive? I set up this blog over a year and a half ago with the intention of helping new entrants to the field make good decisions early on, decisions that would help avoid any shocks or surprises. It's not about putting up barriers. It's about helping people avoid the horror of setting up a new business and then thinking, six months later, 'This isn't working - I've got no clients, and I don't know how to go about getting them.'

There's nothing wrong at all with toe-dipping and dabbling as a way of testing the water and gaining experience. There's nothing wrong with building your business gradually. There's nothing wrong with experimenting with different pricing structures in order to gain client experience and gain testimonials. But all those things you mention, and more besides, are exactly what I advocate elsewhere on this blog, in my book, or they are covered in the other resources I suggested, so why would I regurgitate the information? That's exactly why I suggested those things to her in the first place! If someone contacts me for business advice, I give it to them, and I do so in a way that I hope is friendly but also efficient. But remember, every minute I spend on the phone is a minute I'm not proofreading for my clients. That means I have to make up the time lost. Yes, it means I cut to the chase. But I'm running a business, and it's either that or I don't pick up the phone. I'm not toe-dipping or dabbling any more. This is my job and I guess that's why this proofreader-to-be called me in the first place. And I'm confident that the information I gave her will be really useful to her!

23/8/2013 10:48:01 am

As the abundant qualifications in my comment should have made clear, I am giving you my impression of your blog post. Because I only have your side of the conversation in front of me in print, that's all I can evaluate by. I stand by my impression of your blog post.

23/8/2013 11:11:46 am

And your views are very welcome, David. I'm open to learning, too, and your impression has given me food for thought. I apologise for not expressing that in my initial reply to you.
L.

Jane Hammett link

29/8/2013 03:40:32 am

Thanks, Louise! Fantastic article. I have had a couple of people enquire about starting out as a proofreader, so I have referred them here. Thank you!

29/8/2013 06:48:22 am

Cheers, Jane! Glad you found it a useful resource.

Sarah Dunwoody

3/10/2013 05:22:00 am

Thank you for all the useful information in this blog. After much procrastinating (and I'm talking years...), I am finally taking the first steps towards proofreading. I have worked in printing for over twenty years, and proofread much of our work, but have no formal qualifications. Finding clients is the scary part for me, but hopefully working through the Grammar At Work course, then PTC Proofreading, along with the books you suggest, I may actually get there this time. So thank you again!

3/10/2013 10:57:43 am

Good luck, Sarah. I agree that the client-building side of the business is the most demanding for some, but I think that a planned and strategic approach can really make a difference. You might be interested in the marketing book I have coming out in 2014. More info here: http://www.louiseharnbyproofreader.com/book-marketing-your-editing--proofreading-business-forthcoming-2014.html.

Best of luck!

Julia Gibbs

24/5/2021 07:32:53 pm

If I had a pound for every time I've been asked this question, I'd be a rich woman! I absolutely agree with you, Louise. My latest enquiry was a chap who said that he loved books, was always pointing out typos, how could he get work proofreading, etc etc. I like to take my time to answer people, because I want to be helpful if I can. So I sent him a long email telling him how I started, how you have to be an avid reader before you even contemplate this career, why a course alone will not help you do the job or get work, that you have to work out how you're going to support yourself when you first start out on your own, marketing yourself, social media etc etc. It took me quite some time to put together. I received a one-sentence reply, thanking me for my email! Not that I wanted effusive gratitude, but I got the impression that I had pointed out something that he didn't want to hear, i.e. that there is no quick route to becoming a good proofreader.
I have also heard from people who've taken those short courses they see advertised in the press, which promise them work after completion, and then find that there is no easy 'in'. One lady said to me, 'I suppose it's a closed shop'. But as I told her, I had to start from the ground upwards. I always say to them, you have to make your own job.
Excellent article, thanks.

2/6/2021 10:50:33 am

Thanks, Julia! I think one of the problems is that proofreading is often presented as some easy and quick 'side hustle', and that's just not the case.