Potential Earnings from Proofreading

[chocoholicat]

My husband is trying to discourage me from becoming a freelance proofreader. He believes that work would be scarce and that I'd be far better off going out and getting a job. I would like to generate a part-time income in the region of £10k gross per annum. Obviously I'm not asking for any guarantees, but in your experience is there enough work out there for a competant proofreader to earn this level of income as a part-timer?

Chocoholicat

[Kateproof]

To be honest, how long is a piece of string...?

There are so many ifs and buts to this question that it's difficult to know what to say really and I am trying not to get too emotional or personal on this as I am aware that everyone approaches freelance differently.

The SfEP recommends an hourly wage just over £20 so you'd need to work 500 paid hours (exc. admin/marketing/networking etc.) to earn the 10k you are aiming for, which equates to 10 hours a week or so... In principle, that sounds achievable but who are your clients, what do they expect, when do they want the work doing, how much of the 'on the side' work do you need to do etc.?

When you say part-time, are you going to dictate the hours or take work as and when it comes but don't want a full-time job? The reason I ask is that freelance is all about peaks and troughs - some weeks I work 8 hour days solidly proofreading as well as at the weekend and then only have to work a couple of hours the following week and catch up on admin, which suits me fine, but if you can't take on the load in the 'peak' then you may struggle.

Also, how quickly do you need to be earning this money? I know very few people who have started out in freelance and got lots of paying clients straight away, even if they have lots of industry contacts.

Personally, and for me, most importantly, if I didn't have the support of my boyfriend (or husband in your case) I don't know if I could have achieved what I have. When I first started, I got very little work but it was him spurring me on and saying not to give up, and it worked out brilliantly, but if you're battling your partner as well as the bank (?) and your own fears, I don't know how easy that would be...

[sarahcat]

Hello Chocoholicat,

I am also embarking on a proofreading career and my husband is similarly wary of the financial side of things. While he does support my aim to become a proofreader in principle, it helps that I have a part-time job which covers our needs(and he now works on a self-employed basis for part of the week, so...).

After some research I decided that it was probably going to take a while to train, set myself up and then go hell-for-leather promoting my service. I have had to change jobs recently and have managed to find a new one that will allow me time to do all of this and then, I hope, take on work. Perhaps that might be a solution that would work for you too?

Regarding potential earnings, I am hoping that mine will(think positive!)be significant enough to make a difference to our income, but haven't dared to put a figure on that particular hope yet. I imagine that other members of the forum might have some advice about that side of things.

Think we both need to remain determined in the face of a little adversity!
Sarah

[curdles]

chocoholicat

I concur with Kate that it's definitely a piece of string question.

It could take a long time to get one job let alone regular work, and now that firms/companies/instituitons, etc. are cutting back on spending, it's easy for them to think that proofreading is something they can do without, rather than seeing it as important to their business. At the best of times, you have to sell yourself with all the imagination and guts that you've got and even more so now. But, I believe, work is there, if you persist.

I don't know what skills/qualifications you have - and in what areas - but given the high number of people now chasing every job, it's unlikely that you could just go out and get a job, as your husband suggests. So while he may be right that proofreading work won't instantly come your way, what makes him so sure that you'd be that much better off going out and getting a job? And does he know of loads of jobs available? Besides, isn't proofreading what you really want to do?

Perhaps your financial circumstances will force or dictate your decision, but I hope you can do what you want to do.

[Louise Harnby]

Hi, Chocoholicat!

I'd concur with all of the above. Building up a client portfolio takes time. You can earn this kind of money once you're established but it doesn't happen overnight, unlike the office job where you start on Monday and get paid a month later. I think training is important, too. As is getting some experience.

I'd also add that it's worth factoring in the hidden savings. When I lived and worked full time in London, my annual tube ticket cost over three grand, and that was a few years ago. I hate to think what it costs now! I have a child so if I was office-based I'd have to pay for childcare during the holidays. Good quality childcare doesn't come cheap - nor should it - so that's another saving. There's also the issue of work clothes. This may sound trivial but in some workplaces there's a certain dress code required and that will cost you; I, on the other hand, can proofread in my PJs if I want to! I also used to spend a lot of money on lunch when I was in the office - and those little trips to Pret add up! I could go on but you get the picture - it's not just about what you earn but what you don't spend!

For me there are the emotional savings, too. I like the flexibility that this kind of work allows me. Kate's point about peaks and troughs is important because sometimes these are imposed on you, but sometimes you impose them on yourself because it suits you. I take the month of August off because I want to look after my child rather than having her in various summer camps or in day care.

Being freelance is about being patient, strategic, and taking the long view as you build up your business. I would imagine these factors apply to anyone looking to become self-employed! It's also about lifestyle and individual choice. What works for me might not suit you, Kate, Curdles or Sarah. And of course it's about money, too - there's no getting away from it, especially with the economy as it is at the moment.

You may also be interested in the following article on my blog: Proofreading – Does it Pay? There are also posts on training, starting out and getting noticed that may be of use - look in the Archives on the left-hand side bar. I'll also be posting a series of three articles on developing a business plan in a month or so. I think that anyone proposing to become self-employed needs to do this and it echoes the other comments about considering where your market is, how you're going to reach it, what skills you need to be attractive to your chosen client base etc.

One final point and then I'll shut up. If you do this you'll be building your own business. That's a hugely important cultural shift. Every step you take on the journey will be an investment in yourself. Every piece of training or work that you do will be for you and your business. Office-based part-timers (I've been one) typically put in more hours than they're paid for in order to be seen to 'keep up'. They don't always get the same breaks as full-time colleagues or have the same degree of influence within a department because they're not always on site. This is where the cultural shift happens in our line of work - I don't consider myself a part-timer; rather, I'm a freelancer. I'm not an employee; I'm self-employed. I'm not even just a proofreader - I'm also the owner of a business, the chief accountant, the marketing director, web manager, coffee maker, and the errand runner! And I'm really proud of that. Maybe you could try to explain this side of things to your husband. Like Kate, I think having the support and encouragement of a partner when you're doing something as important as setting up a business is crucial. My husband has supported, encouraged, consoled and advised me at various stages of my journey since 2005 - sometimes in the early days I couldn't see the wood for the trees and it really helped to have him there to offer an alternative perspective or just help me to chill out over a problem and come back to it in the morning.

Obviously, if the immediate financial issues outstrip all else this argument may not cut the mustard. Only you know the ins and outs of your particular situation. But if that's the case why not try Sarah's route and grow your freelance business on the side while you do office work? It would require some extra commitment but you'd not be putting all your eggs in one basket, at least!

Good luck with your journey, however you choose to proceed.

Louise

[sarahcat]

Hi Chocoholicat,

I expect that you will need to take time to digest all of our views but I think that the comments from Kate, Curdles and Louise are really helpful(and they confirm many of the things that I have read about or suspected to be the case with freelance proofreading).
It's tough out there, but then isn't it tough everywhere at the moment? Not many people can say that their job is 100% secure(I certainly can't). But, as Curdles says, that is surely an argument for freelancing, rather than against.

I can certainly recommend Louise's blog - it is most informative and helpful. Also, I stumbled across a book called 'How to Succeed as a Freelancer in Publishing' by Emma Murray and Charlie Wilson. Both encouraging and realistic, it is another source that has helped me to make up my mind about how to go about becoming a proofreader(and it also made me realise that it is not going to happen overnight, despite some publicity out there saying the opposite). It covers the practical, financial and emotional pros and cons of freelancing, which is really useful. Kate makes a really good point that the emotional side of becoming self-employed is a factor not to be underestimated.
Anyway, might be worth a trip to the library?

If you do decide to pursue a proofreading career, I'm sure that there this plenty of support to be found among the lovely members of this forum(and perhaps, as fellow learners, we could offer each other a bit of countenance too!).
Best wishes,
Sarah

p.s. Haven't had time to proofread my proofreading postulations, as have to dash! Expect there are some clangers...

[gpuss]

The wonderful comments here have opened my eyes to how similar we all are in so many respects. I've found myself nodding along to this entire page.

I too was lucky enough to have a partner in full-time employment and the reduction of risk that that represents cannot be understated. I was also lucky to have a first client that not only understood my inexperience but also gave me lots of work. People often ask me for advice on finding work and I'm always reluctant to attempt an answer because so much of it would be anecdotal and down to chance. Yes, I wrote dozens of letters to publishers and typesetters to get that one positive response, but had that one letter not hit home, I don't know where I'd be now - probably not giving out work-seeking advice! Also, this was all happening just as the internet revolution was about to break, so the world of publishing was very different - and so were the means of self-promotion.

I do think you need a bit of a thick skin to freelance, as there will inevitably be busy periods and barren periods. And you'll lose clients, too, which can be hard to take, especially when it's not because of your own mistakes. In my past life I have been made redundant from companies who have had slack periods, as they only had the option of paying me and making a loss or "letting me go". With freelancing, such periods mean you earn less money but you're still technically "employed". As the master of your own outgoings, you can mitigate this up to a point, as long as you've not blown all your earnings during the good times. And I don't know about anyone else, but I find I'm pretty terrible at finding the time to self-promote when I'm busy, but use these slack periods to make a few enquiries or update my website. Although I'm not actually earning money directly this way, I'm only doing what a business's marketing and PR dept is doing, so I try to remain positive.

So I'd say if you've got some kind of safety net (e.g. a working spouse, plenty of savings or a paid-off mortgage), it's surely worth a crack. It's an exciting ride!

[chocoholicat]

Thankyou all so much for your time and advice which has been brilliant.
My background is in banking, but we have just relocated to lovely Cornwall which has given me the opportunity to consider a career change. I particularly wanted to work from home having had enough of despotic managers, office politics, performance targets and customers!
With no mortgage and some savings, I am very fortunate in having some breathing space to consider retraining, and proofreading appealed to me. It's going to be a steep learning curve, but it helps to know what fantastic support there is on this forum. Thanks again.

Chocoholicat

[Deborah]

I'm still relatively new to all this and agree that it's not easy to get proofreading work, but persistence seems to be the key. I've recently been doing some manuscript typing and received an email from the project co-ordinator the other day saying that he hopes to have some proofreading work for me later in the year. While I'm quite happy to sit and type all day (I find it quite therapeutic actually) it's not really what I set out to do, although it is nice to be paid for something. Hopefully though it may lead to me getting some proofreading work. I realise it's important not to be seen as a Jack of All Trades, but it is another way of getting your name 'out there'. Anyway, good luck with with whatever you decide to do.

Deborah

PS. Apologies for any mistakes - my glasses broke this morning

[gpuss]

PS. Apologies for any mistakes - my glasses broke this morning

I hate it when that happens. You just can't judge how much you're taking when you drink straight from the bottle.

I don't think typing and proofreading are so removed from each other to make people question your commitment. Once you get into editing you'll probably spend a lot of time at the keyboard anyway, so it's definitely an asset.

[Louise Harnby]

I realise it's important not to be seen as a Jack of All Trades, but it is another way of getting your name 'out there'

In the US they call this being a Virtual Assistant! I really like the term because it basically describes a wordy jack of all trades. There's definitely a market for those all-round skills, so nothing wrong with selling yourself in this way. Like you say, if it's bringing in the money ...

[proofreadmyessay]

I think you have to convince your husband.. as i know freelance proofreader can have opportunity to get paid good money as freelance work...

[proofreadmyessay]

My husband is trying to discourage me from becoming a freelance proofreader. He believes that work would be scarce and that I'd be far better off going out and getting a job. I would like to generate a part-time income in the region of £10k gross per annum. Obviously I'm not asking for any guarantees, but in your experience is there enough work out there for a competant proofreader to earn this level of income as a part-timer?

Chocoholicat

What's your final decision?