What types of freelance proofreaders exist?
There are a range of specialisms within proofreading. So, while you might enjoy working across a variety of client projects, some freelancers will prefer to specialise in one area to increase their expertise and standing within that profession.
Some of the distinct areas include;
- Legal proofreading: Court reporters transcribe legal proceedings, but before these can become official records they need to be checked for accuracy and errors.
- Publisher proofreading: If you love reading, then you may choose to work for book publishers to check novels for issues. And obviously this has the potential to open up specialisms in any popular genre. You may become an expert in proofreading romantic novels, or nonfiction historical texts.
- Academic proofreading: This can be assisting undergraduates or post grads with their thesis or dissertations. Or working on research papers in specialist areas including science or medicine. The knowledge required to understand and spot issues in these areas can command much higher rates.
- Technical proofreading: Manuals, guides and technical documents need understanding of how the text will be used, and to ensure facts, formulae and details are correct and consistent throughout. This often requires a specialist knowledge of the subject area (engineering or software development, for example), as much as spelling and grammar.
- Translation and Bilingual Proofreading: We’ve all seen amusing errors when text is translated into another language. But they can be potentially offensive, or completely change the meaning of the copy. So this area of proofreading needs to ensure the meaning aligns with the original intention after being translated, and any different stylistic rules or conventions are followed.
These aren’t the only ways to specialise as a freelance proofreader. But they certainly demonstrate how much human specialists add more value to the process than simply checking for typing mistakes.
More resources and support for freelance proofreader:
- Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading
- Association of Freelance Editors, Proofreaders and Indexers of Ireland
- Editors’ and Proofreaders’ Alliance of Northern Ireland
- List of proofreader’s marks
- IPSE – the UK’s only not-for-profit association dedicated to the self-employed.
- Researching other freelance careers? Why not check out our other guides:
- How to become a freelance SEO consultant
- How to become a freelance web designer
- How to become a freelance writer
- How to become a freelance Virtual Assistant (VA)
- How to become a freelance event planner or organiser
- How to become a freelance business analyst
- How to become a freelance coach
- How to become a freelance structural engineer
- How to become a freelance photographer
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