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How to Become a Freelance Proofreader Online
Over the years, I have discovered so many great stay-at-home jobs such as transcribing audio files, data entry, freelance writing, bookkeeping, and blogging. But, perhaps one of the lesser-known ways to make money from home is by proofreading.
Yet there is an incredibly high demand for proofreaders worldwide! If you Googled terms like “stay-at-home jobs,” you would find a lot of freelance proofreading jobs online.
Millions of business owners, bloggers, or eBook writers need your skills. Proofreading is also a very lucrative stay-at-home job and the best part? You don’t need to be in any specific location to do the job… it’s all from your tablet or computer!
But first, what is proofreading?
Proofreading is often confused with editing, but there are distinct differences between the two.
With proofreading, you review content that other people have written for errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, formatting, and more to make it perfect.
It takes a certain “eagle-eye” ability to be good at proofreading, and it’s obviously not for everyone. But, if you are the type of person who loves to correct grammar and you always notice spelling mistakes on a restaurant menu, this could be the gig for you!
Editing and Proofreading Jobs Comparison
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An editor edits a written text at a structural level. Editors may change the sequence or order of thoughts or improve the sentences without changing their intended meaning.
Proofreading, on the other hand, is the final stage of text preparation. As a proofreader, you do not modify the text at a structural level. Instead, you correct errors and inconsistencies in grammar, punctuation, and spelling, among others.
Your goal as a proofreader is to polish and perfect a properly-edited text and make it ready for publication.
You might believe that proofreading is as easy as replacing commas with periods and that using a sophisticated proofreading program would be enough to spot these errors.
In reality, professional proofreaders follow a systematic approach to spotting and correcting errors. And this is where learning this approach is key to becoming a successful proofreader.
Proofreading Online Rates: How Much Do Proofreaders Make?
Professional proofreaders make a decent income. According to Indeed, the average hourly wage for proofreaders hovers around $19.24 as of February 2019.
Meanwhile, according to Glassdoor, proofreaders can make around $36, 290 annually.
However, you could be making more with a freelance proofreading business or if you work as a court transcript proofreader. According to ZipRecruiter, as of October 2019, the average annual pay for a legal proofreader in the US is $48,439 a year.
Benefits of Working from Home as a Proofreader
Now, you might be asking, “Why should I choose to become a proofreader?”
Well, working as a proofreader has a myriad of benefits, including:
1. You can work from home.
Proofreading is one of the best stay-at-home jobs that are perfect for moms who want to earn money on the side, even full time.
You don’t need any real office to work on proofreading online jobs, as you can bring this work anywhere and even while traveling!
2. You only need a computer and internet.
At most, you just need a computer or laptop and an internet connection to get paid to proofread online.
As you establish your reputation and credibility, you may want to invest in your own website down the road. Still, it’s a tiny investment (best price here!) for the income you could generate with high-paying, legitimate proofreading jobs online.
If you need help with setting up your professional proofreading services website, just simply click this button below for easy-to-follow instructions.
3. You can command your own hours and rates
Proofreading is such a flexible job that you can easily integrate into your daily routine. You can work very early in the morning before the day gets busy, or late in the night.
Proofreading online rates vary–from an average of $25 to 40 per hour. Your rates may increase considerably as you establish experience and credibility as a proofreader.
4. You can get a lot of clients
Proofreader jobs are not limited to written publications, books, and novels. Your clients could include digital authors, bloggers, and website owners.
If you Google terms like “online proofreading jobs for beginners,” you would find a ton of full-time or freelance proofreading jobs from home for websites/blogs and digital authors.
But, that’s not the only field that needs online proofreaders. Proofreaders are also in demand in the legal and medical fields. Legal proofreading jobs and medical proofreading jobs are among the highest-paying remote proofreading jobs you can do from home.
How to Become an Online Proofreader and Get Paid to Proofread
There’s no doubt you can earn money proofreading with online proofreading jobs from home if you lay the right foundations.
To get get paid to proofread, you must:
1. Have a love for reading.
Proofreading means reading a text over and over again to spot the mistakes and errors. Reading helps you get acquainted with various writing styles as well as broaden your knowledge with different niches and subjects.
2. Be computer-literate.
Proofreaders these days use various computer programs to make their job easier. For instance, a client may send you a project via email, so make sure you have one you can use for business. Additionally, it is essential to use a word processor to correct and track changes while proofreading.
3. Decide on a niche and learn the skills.
You may opt for legal, medical or general proofreading. General proofreading does not require a degree or certification, although taking proofreading courses will help polish your skills and help you land more home-based proofreading jobs.
If you prefer to specialize in a particular niche, legal, for example, you may need to acquire a proofreader training focused on it or get a professional proofreader certification to make yourself more marketable.
Thankfully, there are proofreading classes online.
Free Proofreading Workshop
A great way to learn how to become a proofreader and jumpstart your proofreading business is by learning from successful proofreaders themselves.
Thankfully, you don’t need to pay to learn how to become a proofreader online and start making money.
Caitlyn Pyle, a six-figure proofreader and who’s taught over 4,800 students how to proofread professionally, is currently offering a FREE proofreading workshop to help you jumpstart your career. I highly recommend taking this free workshop to see for yourself where your proofreading skills are at.
Who is Caitlyn Pyle?
Caitlyn started out as a proofreader for court reporters, and later on figured that she could actually make more money as a freelance proofreader than on her day job.
She built her own freelance proofreading business, and in 2014, she earned around $48,000 proofreading online part-time.
Now, she’s teaching people how to become a proofreader online using a process that works. She’s already helped a lot of women make a full-time income with legitimate proofreading jobs online.
How to Become an Online Proofreader: Places for Online Proofreading Jobs for Beginners
If you’re confident of your proofreading skills and want to get started now, you can head over to the following companies to find online proofreading jobs for beginners.
1. Upwork
Upwork is a vast marketplace that caters primarily to freelancers. You can offer all sorts of freelance services here, including freelance writing, editing, or proofreading.
At Upwork, you need to create a profile, submit bids to potential proofreading gigs, and you can start working as soon as a client contacts you and sends you an agreement. The site charges 10-20% of your earnings, but if you’re dedicated and work hard, you’ll find plenty of proofreading opportunities here.
People Per Hour is pretty much similar to how Upwork works.
3. Flexjobs
This is an online portal for a wide variety of online money-making opportunities, and there’s a dedicated section for proofreading jobs.
You have to pay a $15 monthly subscription fee, but it also exposes you to numerous proofreading gigs, along with other remote jobs. You can find good-paying clients here, which makes the monthly fee worth it. If not, you can always choose to cancel the subscription at any time.
4. Babbletype
Babbletype is a specialized job board that caters primarily to transcribers and proofreaders. The site accepts proofreaders from native English-speaking countries like the USA, Canada, and Australia. Pay at Babbletype for proofreading gigs can range from $0.13 to $0.18 per word.
Proofreading Pal, a website that provides professional proofreading services to clients, is always hiring proofreaders. You must have a degree to get in, or at least studying in college.
Additionally, the requirements in Proofreading Pal tend to be more stringent than others as they implement the rule of having two proofreaders go over a single document for quality check.
But once you get in, you could earn at $500 to $3,000 per month!
To work for Proofreading Services, you need to pass a screening test that runs for 20 minutes. It’s an excellent platform if you’d like to set your own hours and still be able to earn a good income out of proofreading.
7. Gramlee
Gramlee is another excellent platform that gives you great proofreading opportunities. But before you can work with Gramlee, you need to make sure that your English grammar is topnotch. Other than that, getting into Gramlee is fairly easy.
Gramlee’s job board is accessible 24 hours a day, perfect for people who want to work at various times of the day.
You can take a task late at night when the kids are asleep or early in the morning when everything is quiet – whatever works for you! You just need to make sure that you can proofread quickly without sacrificing quality because Gramlee’s turnaround time is 24 hours for a 3000-word text document.
8. Kibin
Kibin is a platform that provides proofreading services primarily to students, especially those who need their thesis and essays checked. The job board is open 24/7, and freelancers may get work on demand.
Kibin is also known for its fair rates and sound management handling, as well as perks and bonuses.
If you’d like to work with Kibin, make sure to check back every couple of hours because the workload can fluctuate every so often.
9. Scribe Writing
Working with Scribe allows you to get in touch with editors and authors. It’s also a great venue to further level up your skills and improve quality because there will be a few more professionals working on the same document.
Scribe Writing also offers wonderful perks to full-time proofreaders, but there are also lots of work for freelancers as well. You may be able to earn an average of $50 per hour, so working with Scribe can be lucrative.
10. Work As Independent Contractor
You may want to apply for a couple of the proofreading job boards above so that you never run out of work, but also consider doing it solo by working as an independent contractor.
It may be a daunting venture because you’ll be in charge of everything–from marketing, pitching to clients to meeting deadlines. But it’s also the best opportunity to set your own rates and hours. If you’d like to do this, consider putting up a website where you can advertise your services and demonstrate your skills.
Ready to Learn How to Become a Proofreader Online?
A lot of people and businesses are willing to pay for high-quality proofreaders, and it can very well be a business that you can offer from the comforts of your own home!
Proofreading can give you plenty of opportunities to make money from home, or anywhere for that matter. You may decide to find jobs from online freelancing sites, or you could establish your name as a skilled and professional proofreader – whichever works for you.
If you enjoy proofreading and you apply for the right jobs or establish your own career in this field, your income should start rolling in at no time.
And in case you feel a little rusty about grammar, spellings, and all, you could always take Caitlyn’s free workshop or invest in her proofreading courses to brush up your skills. Who knows, you could be good at this, and the time and financial investment you make could pay off, way more than you imagined.
Originally published on March 1, 2019. Last updated on October 14, 2019.
I could not sign up for your newsletter as a Google ad was covering the bottom section. I would like to receive it.
Sorry to hear that. I disabled some ads. Please let me know if you still can’t sign up. Thanks!
No luck with your link and there was not a banner or ad in front of it. Any other place to sign up?
I stayed through the seminar on May 11, 2020 @ 6 pm, when I went to put a comment, I was required to sign in again but I lost you. Would it still be possible to receive the “Work at Home Survival Guide”? Thank you so much for this kind of course, money is super tight with the Covid-19 craziness. As soon as I can, I will be back.
Hi Cheryl,
It’s my friend, Caitlyn, who’s the creator of the “Work-at-Home Survival Guide.” You can get it here: https://proofreadanywhere.com/work-home-survival-guide-2/ Thanks for stopping by!