Seeking advice

hahart

Earned thick skin elsewhere
Registered
Joined
Mar 27, 2015
Messages
10
Reaction score
1
I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this, being a newbie here and all--if not, let me know, and I'll move it.

I am interested in providing some low cost proofreading (not copy-editing at this time) services to indie and self-publishers, but I need some feedback about how to go about doing this without stepping on toes or swimming badly in an industry I'm pretty ignorant about.

My inspiration comes from reading self-published books that really need a good proofreading and the many comments out there from self-publishers about how they can't afford to hire professional editors (Yes, Yes, I know they should, but many just don't).

I don't have a huge amount of "official" editing experience outside of being the go-to person for friends and family for the past 25 years for editing and proofreading. Nevertheless, I do have some experience copy-editing cookbooks and experience working as an assistant to the editor for a medical journal doing copy-editing for scientific papers.

I also have an M.A. in English, a doctorate in a Humanities field, and I have taught writing in all kinds of different capacities for the last 20 years, as well as graded, like, thousands and thousands of student papers and corrected their grammar.

However, there's some things I'm trying to take into consideration.

I've read some threads here and there from editors who don't like places like elance etc. because there's low-cost "editors/proofreaders" on there who underbid professional, experienced editors and who take away their clients, or who do bad jobs for low prices. I don't want to be that person, but I want to help self-publishers with the skills I have.

I plan to charge .003 per word, and I know that based on my education etc. I am underpricing myself. Also, I know that this is not a professional going rate, but the point is to be affordable specifically for self-publishers and indie writers.

I also not sure how to market this service, either, other than go through some of my twitter connections and connections from my blog.

I'm not looking for tons of clients either or to make a living with this as I have plenty of other income streams. It's just something that I'd love to do on the side and that I've thought about doing for years.

Any feedback you all have is more than welcome. Now off to run errands!

Cheers!
 
Last edited:

cornflake

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 11, 2012
Messages
16,171
Reaction score
3,734
I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this, being a newbie here and all--if not, let me know and I'll move it.

I am interested in providing some low cost proofreading (not copy-editing at this time) services to indie and self-publishers, but I need some feedback about how to go about doing this without stepping on toes or swimming badly in an industry I'm pretty ignorant about.

My inspiration comes from reading self-published books that really need a good proofreading and the many comments out there from self-publishers about how they can't afford to hire professional editors (Yes, Yes, I know they should, but many just don't).

I don't have a huge amount of "official" editing experience outside of being the go-to person for friends and family for the past 25 years for editing and proofreading. Nevertheless, I do have some experience copy-editing cookbooks and experience working as an assistant to the editor for a medical journal doing copy-editing for scientific papers.

I also have an M.A. in English, a doctorate in a Humanities field (for which I wrote a 400 page tome that everyone was impressed with the lack of errors in), and I have taught writing in all kinds of different capacities for the last 20 years, as well as graded, like, thousands and thousands of student papers and corrected their grammar.

However, there's some things I'm trying to take into consideration.

I've read some threads here and there from editors who don't like places like elance etc. because there's low-cost "editors/proofreaders" on there who underbid professional, experienced editors and who take away their clients, or who do bad jobs for low prices. I don't want to be that person, but I want to help self-publishers with the skills I have.

I plan to charge .003 per word, and I know that based on my education etc. I am underpricing myself. Also, I know that this is not a professional going rate, but the point is to be affordable specifically for self-publishers and indie writers.

I also not sure how to market this service, either, other than go through some of my twitter connections and connections from my blog.

I'm not looking for tons of clients either or to make a living with this as I have plenty of other income streams. It's just something that I'd love to do on the side and that I've thought about doing for years.

Any feedback you all have is more than welcome. Now off to run errands!

Cheers!

Here's the thing - it's nice you want to help people out, but charging for a service you're not really qualified to provide, even if you don't charge much, isn't really helping.

There are at least a half-dozen errors in your post a proofreader should have caught. Everyone makes mistakes; that's why editors use editors. The errors, combined with your lack of experience and education in what you're offering - English degrees and people unfamiliar with proofreading complimenting your editing are nice but not germane - don't suggest, to me at least, that you should be charging people.

If you want to offer to beta read or look over stuff for people you know, that's a way to help people out and catch errors they may not, without setting up expectations you may not be able to meet.
 

T Robinson

Born long ago, in a different era
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 22, 2013
Messages
1,282
Reaction score
212
Location
Southern USA
.003 per word? Why bother? You would make more picking up aluminum cans. Seriously.

Check the various threads here. Your question has come up many times.
 

Osulagh

Independent fluffy puppy.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Sep 4, 2013
Messages
1,488
Reaction score
222
Location
My dog house.
If the reason why you're offering yourself for editing is because you see a lot of self-published authors out there with badly proofed works, IMO that's bad motivation. Self-publishing has--for hundreds of years--and always will be dependent on the author backing their work. If a author does not have the will to invest the time and effort to proof their own work correctly (as in learning how to proofread) or the money to invest in a professional proofreader, IMHO they're delusional and a inexpensive proofreader isn't going to help them. If they think that their work is "good enough" and push it onto the market, let the bloodbath begin.

You are not a rare case and there's hundreds of similar threads on AW about people who have less experience offering their services or thinking of doing so. While you're not the least experienced one to cross AW's path, you don't have any experience under a professional that would evaluate you--making hiring you a very risky experiment. How are we to tell your skills? If you're going to be paid so little, how sure can we be that you're going to put the work into proofreading? Good will and promises? Based on the level of mistakes in your opening post of this thread, I wouldn't hire you at all. Personally, I wouldn't pay for anyone's service without an extensive portfolio backing them. It might be worth proofreading friends or a few hopeful self-published author's works for free to get some work under your belt before offering your services, but both free work and cheap labor might not be in your best interest because the time and effort spent for the outcome just might not motivate you enough to do the best job possible--methinks.
 

chompers

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 19, 2013
Messages
2,506
Reaction score
384
I'm willing to give people a try even if they don't have the professional experience behind them. You got to start somewhere, right? But you better have the chops to give me a reason to give you a chance instead of someone who does have the professional experience. And your post had too many errors for me to want to give you my business, sorry.
 

hahart

Earned thick skin elsewhere
Registered
Joined
Mar 27, 2015
Messages
10
Reaction score
1
Well I started out on the wrong foot, now didn't I?

I freely admit I don't proof my own posts on discussion forums. It's just not what I see as a professional setting, so I write less formally. But if that's the norm here (yeah--duh--of course not--it's a forum on editing), and I need to prove myself on an informal discussion board, then I guess I'd better get my act together and write like a grown up.

Thanks for the feedback, all. Back to the drawing board.
 
Last edited:

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman
Super Moderator
Absolute Sage
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 12, 2005
Messages
22,454
Reaction score
4,956
Location
In chaos
I freely admit I don't proof my own posts on discussion forums. It's just not what I see as a professional setting, so I write less formally. But if that's the norm here (yeah--duh--of course not--it's a forum on editing), and I need to prove myself on an informal discussion board, then I guess I'd better get my act together and write like a grown up.

Thanks for the feedback, all. Back to the drawing board.

I've worked with lots of editors, copy editors, and proof readers over the years and one thing the competent ones have in common is that they all write clean copy, and check it without thinking, no matter where they're writing it.

It's not that they (we!) would write less formally in places like this: it's that if we don't have that instinct for what's right, and a desire to always present our best face, we're not likely to be good at the job.

Don't take this personally. Editing well is difficult. Few people can do it, and few people realise how complex the work is. You are not the first person to suggest this, and you definitely won't be the last.
 

infinitefrank

Padawan
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 25, 2015
Messages
591
Reaction score
124
Location
East Coast, USA
Website
infinitefrank.weebly.com
You could try online freelance proofreading jobs. Pitch your qualifications and pricing scale to authors who need proofreading work and if they choose you for a job you can work out the specific details.