Last Updated on September 6, 2022
During the covid 19 pandemic, there has been an upswing in search of freelance jobs. And online proofreading jobs are a type of work from home hustles being sought by thousands of people. Even after covid 19, it is expected that job boards and job listings will continue receiving high volume searches for freelance work.
The good thing…
Proofreading job opportunities are available even for startups. Meaning, even if you have not done it before, but you have a knack for reading and eagle eyes to spot errors, you can learn in a short period and get yourself online proofreading jobs that will earn you $60 plus per hour.
Here is what you will take away from this post…
- An understanding of what a proofreading job is all about
- Where to get training(free and paid) to get started with proofreading jobs
- Resources to help you with proofreading jobs
- A list of 23 platforms where you can get proofreading jobs
So, let’s dive in…
Proofreading: What it is and What it is not
Proofreading and editing are oftentimes confused and used interchangeably.
Editing involves removing errors.
Proofreading involves removing errors.
So… what’s the big deal?
Here is the difference…
Editing comes first before proofreading and focuses on major changes to content, structure, and language in order to make sure the document makes sense as a whole.
Proofreading on the other hand involves reviewing the final draft copy to ensure accuracy and consistency in grammar, punctuation, spelling, and formatting.
So, that is the major difference between proofreading and editing. But can you easily be trained as a proofreader?
Training for proofreading jobs (Free and Paid)
Most jobs require training. A proofreading job equally requires that someone must be trained to handle the job. If you are not already a trained proofreader, you need to do so for you to take on freelance jobs. Before you freak out, here is some good news…
The training can be done online and in a short period. Here are some training programs you can pick on.
Free training for proofreading jobs
You may not find completely free courses on proofreading readily available. In most cases what you are likely to find are introductory training programs to wet your feet before you enroll for premium programs. Some free training may however be quite generous on what they offer.
1. The 7-day proofreading e-course
This Get Started with Proofreading is a free 7-day introductory e-course. It will bring you to speed with all the details of what it takes to build a freelance business as a proofreader.
You’ll discover the truth about the amount of money you can make as a proofreader. You’ll also learn how to tell if you are the right fit for proofreading jobs.
The course is filled with videos, printable content, case studies, and freebies and templates. It is offered by Caitlin Pyle the developer of Proofread Anywhere.
2. The No-Nonsense Proofreading Course
The No-Nonsense Proofreading Course is promoted as a proofreading course that costs a fraction of what other proofreading courses cost.
The beautiful thing though is that before you even think of reaching for your credit card, the website is loaded with free proofreading exercises that will keep you busy for some time.
Beyond that, when you provide your email address, they will send you additional proofreading exercises every day for two weeks. I think it’s a beautiful way to explore the world of proofreaders.
3. Proofreading 101
Proofreading 101 is an introductory course for proofreading jobs that will enable you to grasp the foundational knowledge needed by every proofreader.
You’ll get 5 days of lessons sent to your inbox for free. The program is a 5-part framework providing the foundation for working in editorial jobs.
You’ll learn about the proofreading industry and how it’s changing. You’ll discover marketing techniques for proofreaders. You’ll also learn about mindset, skills, and business.
Paid training for proofreading jobs
There are several proofreading training programs available online that you can pick on now and begin immediately. A number of these programs are tailored to suit several interests.
For example, if you’re a beginner proofreader you are likely to find a tailored program. One popular source for proofreading training programs is Udemy. Here you will find several popular training programs some of which are very well priced if you’re on a budget.
1. Proofreading academy
This academy offers you a comprehensive proofreading course. This 40 hours course will take you from a complete beginner to a confident trained proofreader who is ready to start work.
When you complete the course, they give you a final assessment. And if you score above 80%, you are guaranteed freelance work with their proofreading partner.
This course is offered at $295. After which you’ll be ready to start your flexible new career working from anywhere as a freelance proofreader. However, they also have tailored programs that are priced at a budget-friendly rate of $75.
2. Proofread Anywhere
Proofread AnywhereTM is a very popular online training for anyone seeking proofreading jobs. It was developed by Caitlin Pyle who has been a proofreader since 2007.
Even if you are starting from scratch, Proofread AnywhereTM will take you by the hand and help you earn extra income from anywhere in the world.
To help you get started, Caitlin offers a free introductory workshop in general proofreading. You can start today and make proofreading a profitable side hustle.
3. Udemy courses
Udemy is a great source for courses in various niches. Udemy aims at improving lives through learning and is a leading global marketplace for learning and instruction.
Udemy connects students from across the world to the best instructors in a view to help individuals reach their goals. It has more than 35 million learners and over 135 thousand courses in different languages.
You will discover that most of the courses on Udemy are affordable. And for you to find a proofreading course that suits you just search for proofreading in their search window.
Now, here is the list you have been waiting for.
23 Online proofreading job sources(alphabetically arranged)
1. Book Editing Associates
These guys need ghost writers, copy editors, proofreaders, and publishing consultants with experience. You must be based in the US to apply.
Book Editing Associates require copyediting and proofreading applicants to pass the find-the-errors proofreading test to be able to offer these services on their sites.
The preferred applicants are those who are committed to long term freelance work. You must have considerable experience to apply for positions.
2. Cactus Communications
Cactus Communications is a global scientific communications company with customers from over 190 countries. They collaborate with researchers across academic disciplines, universities, publishers, societies, and life science organizations.
To join them, you need a minimum bachelor’s degree or expertise in one or more subject areas in physical sciences, engineering, materials sciences, healthcare, life sciences, medicine, and surgery.
You should also have excellent English editing skills and attention to detail. A track record of prior experience would be a boon for you.
3. Click Worker
Click Worker is an online service that utilizes the power of crowdsourcing to provide fast and efficient processing of client projects.
You can earn money as a Click Worker in the category of proofreading. To become a proofreader on ClickWorker, you must have a good command of the language and enjoy correcting as you abide by the job instructions.
When you sign up as a Clickworker, you’ll be required to showcase your skills by taking the tests offered on the platform.
4. EditFast
If you’re a skilled editor, proofreader, or freelance writer then you have a chance to get a job with EditFast. I’m not talking about full time jobs but freelance work.
EditFast is a platform that will connect you with clients for writing jobs, editing jobs, and proofreading jobs. There are 4 steps to complete for you to register for these positions. If successful, your profile and webpage will be activated.
EditFast requires you to have a degree from a recognized university. You must also have past editing and proofreading experience. When you complete a project, EditFast keeps 40% of the project cost.
5. Editor World
Editor World is a platform that provides editing and proofreading services to its customers through the registered editorial staff on their site.
Editor World recruits skilled editors to do remote work as independent contractors. You ought to be a native English speaker with the ability to meet strict deadlines.
With this platform, you do not need to bid on jobs or pitch to clients. Once you have completed the job, they will pay you promptly. Currently, this platform is only accepting people with a Ph.D. and/or science background.
6. Enago
Enago is another trusted name in author services for the global research community. They have provided services to researchers in more than 125 countries across the world.
Enago is looking for freelance editors in several subject domains. These include medical and clinical sciences, life sciences, physical sciences and engineering, economics and business management, as well as arts, humanities, and social sciences.
You must have at least 5 years of relevant academic copyediting, substantive editing, or proofreading experience. Extensive subject matter expertise is also required.
7. English Trackers
English Trackers gives you the opportunity to work as an online professional academic editor. They do client marketing and handling while you concentrate on your area of expertise. That is writing, editing, and proofreading.
You’ll have a flexible schedule as you can only take on work when you want. English Trackers pays you on the 15th of every month for the work done in the previous month.
To join English Trackers you must be a native English speaker with a minimum of 2 years of professional academic editing experience.
8. Fiverr
With a traffic of more than 1.4m visitors per month, Fiverr is a very popular platform for selling freelance services of different sorts.
That gives you a chance to list your editing jobs or proofreading services. The pricing is based on 3 incremental levels, basic, standard, and premium.
You can define the service you offer at each level and the price. I have seen someone offering to proofread up to 15,000 words in 10 days for a basic price of $125.
9. FlexJobs
Here is one of the best sites where you can find jobs to work from home. Whether you are a freelance writer, proofreader, and many other jobs you’ll find them listed.
In fact, FlexJobs has job listings even for full time and part time jobs. You’ll find more than 5K companies offering remote and flexible jobs.
You’ll find a horde of proofreading jobs on FlexJobs. However, to have full access to the listings and be able to apply for the proofreading jobs, you need to subscribe at $15 a month. It’s cheaper when you choose a longer subscription period.
10. Freelancer
With more than 48.9m registered users, Freelancer is one of the major platforms to pick on work from home jobs in a wide range of categories.
To get started you have to complete your profile by selecting your skills and expertise. You then have to go through the verification center checklist.
As a proofreader, check the available job posts in the category to pick the one that interests you. Put in your best pitch and get ready to work once you get hired.
11. Managed Editing
Managed Editing is a service by Wordfirm Inc. They provide editorial services for nonprofits, government agencies, publishers, and others. These services are mainly copyediting and proofreading.
At times Wordfirm Inc. is in search of skilled editors to work as independent contractors. These are freelancers who work from the comfort of their homes.
The editors are required to have a minimum of a college degree and at least 5 years of practical experience in editing. They have an online application form.
12. OneSpace Freelancers
OneSpace Freelancers is a platform that is designed to manage your freelance career. On their website, they list the positions they are recruiting. If you see that proofreading is not listed, just submit your application and it will be considered when the opportunity becomes available.
Of course, as a freelancer, you have the freedom to create your own work schedules and you can work from anywhere anytime.
OneSpace Freelancers pays you quickly with daily payments for your approved work. Payments are issued via PayPal.
13. Polished Paper
Polished Paper offers editing and proofreading services to a varied clientele. These include business or corporate, academic or student, personal, and authors.
To maintain their service quality, Polished Paper aims at registering exceptional editors to carry out the work.
To be considered, you need to register for a user account and upload your resume. You will then have to go through a 35 question editor test. You can use outside resources to complete the test.
14. ProofreadNOW
ProofreadNOW has proofreaders and editors located throughout the world. They require editors who are native speakers of the language in which they proofread.
To get started with them, be prepared to undergo a rigorous recruitment process because their standards are very high. Most of their proofreaders specialize in medicine, law, finance, and technology.
For ProofreadNOW to hire you, a minimum of at least five years of experience as a professional proofreader is required. You should also have up to date software tools that include Microsoft Office and Adobe Acrobat Professional.
15. Proofreading Pal
When you register with Proofreading Pal as a proofreader, expect to earn between $500 to $3,000 per month. To be recruited, you must be a graduate or postgraduate student in an accredited United States college or university and have a minimum GPA of 3.5.
You can also be recruited if you are already a graduate with a minimum of five years of professional editing and proofreading experience.
If you have the above qualifications, you’ll be required to answer a short independent contractor questionnaire. You’ll also have to undergo a comprehensive timed examination.
16. Proofreading Services
Proofreading Services is well known for combined editing and proofreading and resume writing services. But they have grown to offer more than 25 services to businesses, academics, and authors.
Their unique selling point is that a client in need of their proofreading services can choose a turnaround time from as low as 3 hours to 7 days.
This is a work from home opportunity and they hire full time and part time proofreaders from any country. Their pay for this job ranges from $19 to $46 per hour.
17. Scribbr
The main specialty of Scribbr is to edit study-related documents. They proofread essays, papers, theses, Ph.D. dissertations, and so forth in 10 languages.
To become a Scribbr editor is quite challenging. You must first pass their rigorous language quiz after which you must prove to be the type of editors they look for.
You then have to undergo a month-long training before you can join the team of qualified Scribbr editors. On average Scribbr editors earn approximately $24 to $30 per hour.
18. Scribendi
Scribendi offers freelance editors and proofreaders the opportunity to work from home. You pick the assignments you want to work on depending on your interests, expertise, and schedules.
As a freelancer, you are considered an independent contractor. And you can choose to work full time, part time, or occasionally.
You are required to have a degree in a relevant field. And at least three years of experience in editing, writing, document production, or language teaching. You must accept payments in US dollars.
19. Upwork
Upwork is another great platform where someone looking for a side hustle can find work from home editing jobs and proofreading jobs even for entry-level proofreaders.
To get hired, Upwork makes it easy by highlighting projects you are a great fit for. You must therefore start by creating an account on Upwork with a great profile and learn to submit compelling job proposals.
If you complete your job successfully through Upwork, you are assured of getting paid because all projects include Upwork Payment Protection.
20. WordsRU
WordsRU is an online editing company. They specialize in providing proofreading and editing services to businesses, academics, and writers.
With a mission to offer punctual and cost-effective editing and writing solutions for their clients, WordsRU recruits the services of highly qualified copy editors and proofreaders.
Among other requirements, applicants ought to have a Master’s degree, Ph.D., or equivalent professional experience in any academic discipline.
21. Wordvice
Wordvice provides services to researchers, scholars, students, and professionals. Wordvice is a global leader in the language editing of academic documents.
Wordvice has a team of over 500 freelance editors with advanced graduate and professional degrees. Their editors are recruited through a rigorous application and recruitment process.
They accept editors with extensive experience with a master’s, doctorate, or equivalent degree. You can join them from across the world and enjoy the flexibility of working remotely.
22. Writer’s Job Shop
The owners of the Writer’s Job Shop have a wide range of clients across the world. Available job opportunities are collated on a single board for their editors, proofreaders, and writers to select jobs according to their skills and time availability.
Freelance writers, proofreaders, and editors at Writer’s Job Shop have access to a range of different jobs without having to endure a bidding or application process.
To join as a proofreader, you must have outstanding English language skills and a degree in any subject. Your application will be reviewed within 7 working days.
23. Writing Jobz
If you have been searching for writing jobs, editing jobs, and proofreading jobs, WritingJobz promises you to skip the hunting and find jobs on their platform.
You get started by applying on their website and you’ll gain access to hundreds of gigs. WritingJobz offers a wide range of proofreading jobs. Even those without prior experience can look for entry-level proofreading jobs.
This is a work from home proofreading job opportunity. And the types of proofreading you’ll be largely doing are academic, manuscript content, online articles and blogs, and books.
Resources for proofreading
For any undertaking, it is important to have resources at hand that will help you reach your desired goal efficiently. Proofreading is not an exception. Here are resources that will prove to be very handy as you embark on proofreading.
I must be quick to point out that these are not the only resources available for proofreaders. There are still quite a number of them. But I’m sure you’ll find these to be very useful.
A. Software tools
1. Grammarly
Grammarly provides you real-time correction of detected errors in grammar, punctuation, contextual spelling, sentence structure, and writing style.
It features a browser extension and has a generous free version. Its premium version however is pegged at $29.95 per month.
2. PerfectIt
PerfectIt is regarded as proofreading software for professionals. It features advanced checks beyond spellings. It checks consistency, locates undefined abbreviations, and works with all documents among other things.
PerfectIt offers a 14 days free trial with all software features included and no credit card required. It is available for Mac or PC and costs $70 per year.
3. Ginger
This is an easy to use software with features that include grammar checking and sentence rephrasing. It also has a text reader which allows you to hear your words out loud and can translate text into multiple languages.
You can use Ginger on both desktop and mobile. It has a free version available. The premium version costs $20.97 per month.
B. Proofreading jobs reference guides
The manual or guide you choose to use is dependent on the type of writing and English you are considering. The type of writing could be journalistic, academic, fiction, and so forth. And the English could be American, British, Canadian, etc. Here are 3 prevalently used guides. These manuals will be essential as you tackle your editing jobs and proofreading jobs.
1. The Chicago Manual of Style
The Chicago Manual of Style 17th Edition is one of the most used style manuals in North America. It is considered a must-have for every proofreader. It addresses word usage, grammar, punctuation, citation, numbers, and formatting.
You can get this style manual in print or online paid subscription. They offer a free 30-day trial subscription after which you have to pay $41 annually.
2. The Associated Press Style Book
The Associated Press Style Book or commonly known as the AP Stylebook is widely used by proofreaders, writers, and editorial staff for grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, abbreviation, and word and numeral usage.
The AP Stylebook is regularly updated and is available in print, online, or ebook. The book was originally intended for journalists but it is widely used by many in the writing industry.
3. New Hart’s Rules
New Hart’s Rules is a wonderful guide for British English. This is an authoritative guide for writers and editors that comes in a small handbook format.
It covers all aspects of the editorial process including layout and headings, notes and bibliographies, indexing, punctuation, and illustrations. The book is available in print or ebook.
Questions being asked about online proofreading jobs
1. What qualifications do you need to be a proofreader?
The job description for proofreaders is, of course, tailored to particular employers. But the hallmark of any proofreading job demands attention to detail, to be able to spot spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.
A proofreader job position, therefore, require demonstrated skill and experience. A good communicator and someone able to do the job independently as well as meets strict deadlines.
Some proofreading job offers require someone to have a bachelor’s degree in English. Other proofreading positions demand an advanced degree in a particular field. For example, a medical background would be useful for proofreaders of medical documents.
Generally, to succeed as a proofreader, you need to demonstrate your understanding of the written language.
2. How much money can you make proofreading?
How much money you can make from proofreading jobs largely depends on a few factors. These include whether you are working as a freelancer, in-house worker, or a full time remote worker. But it also depends on the employer or platform where you are plying your proofreading skills.
Other factors affecting how much money you can make from proofreading jobs include education, certifications, additional skills, and the number of years you have spent in your profession.
Let’s look at the statistical figures.
According to Salary.com, the average salary for a proofreading job in the United States is $52,849 as of November 2020. This is pretty close to what is reported by Indeed.com which pegs the average salary at $52, 469 per year.
3. Is there a demand for proofreaders?
Written content doesn’t seem to be slowing down now and there is no credible indication anywhere that it will slow down.
That’s good news!
It means the demand for proofreaders will not slow down either. Maybe unless someone comes up with an app that can overtake human intervention in proofreading.
Content writers and thousands of writing jobs are in search of proofreaders. Millions of books are written and published every year. Every second there is content that goes live on the internet. All these are opportunities for a proofreader.
Aside from general proofreading, there are also specialized requirements like transcript proofreading, medical, and other specialized areas.
Here is the point.
You can be an experienced and well-trained proofreader, but if you can’t let those who require your service aware of your availability, you are likely to wrongly think there is no demand for proofreaders.
4. Can you be a proofreader without a degree?
The short is yes!
To get started as a proofreader, you ought to have at least a high school education and be good at grammar, spelling, punctuation, and mathematics.
Often, those recruiting proofreaders, require that they undergo an aptitude test. This is to validate your knowledge of grammar, spelling, and punctuation as well as your skill in picking up errors.
However, there are some areas of proofreading where publishers require that proofreaders are conversant with a technical language or have higher training in a specialized field. For example, law, medicine, or engineering.
In such circumstances, a relevant qualification at a degree or higher level may be required. Such job postings or job boards requiring the desired qualification will expressly say so.
Conclusion
If you have eagle eyes to spot writing errors, then proofreading jobs will be a good fit for your side hustle. It’s also one of the jobs you can pick on as your mainstay remote job income generator.
If you make a job search on google for proofreading jobs, the results you get that also includes job boards will be proof enough that this service is in high demand.
So the opportunities are readily available. Get yourself started and start earning from online proofreading jobs.
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