How To Become A Proofreader: Complete Guide

Do you want to become a proofreader? Here is the complete guide of how to become a proofreader.

Proofreading is one of the best jobs to do from home. There are lots of website owners who want proofreaders to help them in their writing. They hire proofreaders to correct spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors. For finding errors in their text, they will pay you legit money. If you have good writing skills and have a good eye on detail then you can easily make extra money as an online proofreader.

Here we are going to talk about how to become a proofreader. If you want to become a proofreader then you must develop some skills. Otherwise, you can’t become a proofreader.

So, let’s see which are the skills that you need to develop.

How To Become A Proofreader

1. Good-Reader

If you want to become a proofreader, you need to be a good reader and love to read. If you love to read then you can easily understand various types of writing styles and also you can gather knowledge. Proofreader’s first job is reading the text. If you don’t love to read then how you can be a good proofreader. So, you need to develop a good reading skill in you first.

2. Grammar & Punctuation

If you want to become a good proofreader then it is the most important skill that you need to develop in you. If you don’t understand grammar and punctuation mistakes then how you can be a good proofreader. Specifically, website owners hire proofreaders to find grammatical and punctuation errors. So, you need to be good at grammar and punctuation mistakes.

3. Computer skills

Computer skills are a must for proofreaders. Because you have to control everything via a computer. Your clients will send a text to you via email or any other way. That is why you need to familiar with computer editing tools such as Microsoft Word. If you like to edit the text using Microsoft words then you need to know how to work with this editing tool.

Also, some of your clients might tell you to print out the text, proofread it manually, and fax it back. In that case, you need to know how to use a printer and fax.

4. Minimum Qualification

Before jumping into this job, you need to be a qualified person. Otherwise, you can’t do this job perfectly. For example, if you are at 8th standard then you might fail to understand anything. That is why you need a minimum qualification of high school to become a proofreader. You can take high school courses in English, journalism, and literature to develop proofreading skills.

5. Gather Dictionaries

When you don’t find any meaning of anything, what we use? Obviously we use dictionaries to find answers. That is why you need to gather some dictionaries to work for your clients. For example, if you working with medical clients then you need to have medical specialized dictionaries in order to find mistakes. At the end of the day, dictionaries will be your weapon.

Also, you can use dictionary.com as your partner to find errors smoothly.

6. Read Books & Articles

When you read different types of books and articles, you learn so many things that will help you to find errors. You can take a deep look at the text to find errors. It will help you to develop proofreading skills.

7. Practice Proofreading

After learning, we need to practice. There is one famous verse “Practice makes a man perfect.” If you don’t practice then you can’t do that thing perfectly. When you start proofreading to find mistakes, you will learn so many things that will help you in the future. So, before jumping into it, practice proofreading in your home by reading other articles.

How to find proofreading job

Now, its time for finding a proofreading job. There are lots of freelance job sites available, you can provide this service there.

• Fiverr: Fiverr is one of the best freelance sites to get freelancing jobs. You can provide your service on Fiverr.

• Freelancer.com: This is another best site for freelancers. Lots of website owners post jobs here. You can bid for a proofreader job.

• Contact Directly: You can directly offer this service to website owners. Search for websites that have got lots of content and contact with them via contact us page.

• Use Social Media: You can use social media to find proofreading job. You can connect with pages and groups on proofreading. There you might find clients for proofreading.

• Build Own Website: If you have a website or blog then you can offer this service on your website or blog. If anyone wants your service, he or she will contact you.

• Flexjobs: Here you will find proofreader job at your locality.

• Indeed: Try indeed to find proofreader job at your locality.

So, these are the perfect ways to find proofreading job. You can use these methods to find clients.

Important Things For Proofreading

There are a few things that you need for proofreading. Without all of these, you won’t be able to do this job.

• Computer or Laptop: Obviously, if you want to do online jobs then you need a computer or laptop.

• Internet Connection: Without an internet connection, how can you go online. So, you need an internet connection, preferably broadband.

• Email account: Nowadays, professional works happening via email so that you need an email account.

• Grammarly: Grammarly is a tool that will help you in grammar and punctuation. If you edit text online.

• Microsoft Word: You need Microsoft Word if you edit your text in your computer.

• Printer: For printing page proofs for publisher clients.

• Fax: If your clients want to send text via Fax or want text in fax.

All of these are important thing for proofreading job. So, you need to have all of these things.

WrapUp

If you want to be a good proofreader then you must develop these skills in you. Without all of these skills, you can’t be a good proofreader. So, I hope you will develop these skills in you to become a good proofreader.

Proofreading job is not so high paying so if you want to make more money then you should provide extra services such as writing and copy editing. That way you can earn more money.

Hope this article helps you to know about how to become a proofreader. If you like this article then share it with your friends. If you have any questions regarding this topic then let me know in the comment section.