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For Dummies is a registered trademark of Wiley Publishing, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Used here by license.You can’t pick copyeditors or proofreaders out of a crowdThey’re people just like you and me. Some are full-time wordsmiths, and some are stay-at-home moms and dads fitting jobs in between the kids’ naps. Some make copyediting or proofreading their sole profession, and some use their language skills to supplement an unsteady (or steadily low) income.
If there’s one thing that is true about copyeditors and proofreaders across the board, it’s that they are all fantastically beautiful and charming. And funny.
Opportunities aboundAs literacy rates and the global population grow, so grow the markets for proofreaders and copyeditors. If the job opportunities available in the United States aren’t quite vast enough, you can always market yourself to firms in countries with significant English-speaking populations. A lot of people across the globe speak English as their first language. (I could tell you how many today, but that population explosion would keep proving me wrong.)
Here’s another reason you should have no trouble finding work as a copyeditor or proofreader: the World Wide Web. Before the Web came along, there were already lots of words being printed every day that needed to be copyedited and proofread. But with Web content thrown into that mix of (constantly changing) written communication, the possibilities for someone with your skills are limitless. Who knows? You could become the official copyeditor or proofreader of a Web site just by spotting an error and sending a friendly e-mail with your résumé attached.
Paid educationTell me if this advice sounds familiar: “Get a good education so you can get a good job!” That was my dad, the proponent of higher education. Well, we editorial types have good jobs that give us great educations.
My job as a copyeditor and proofreader is to get educated — oftentimes, with information I never would have happened upon in a library or bookstore. Whether you want to work with books, newspapers, Web sites, magazines, corporate reports, advertising copy, or bubblegum wrappers, I can pretty much promise that you’ll be introduced to information you never knew existed.
Career mobilityIf you’re looking for full-time employment that comes with an office (or at least a cubby), mobility may not matter much to you. But if you’re given to roam, you’re considering the right professions.
Copyediting and proofreading can be done from anywhere in the world. If you freelance, or if you work for a company that allows telecommuting, you can work from your bedroom, on an airplane, or at the beach — no one will care as long as the job gets done well and on time. To make this happen, you may need to invest in a quality laptop computer.
Even if mobility isn’t your key concern right now, the skills you develop as a copyeditor or proofreader can help you get work wherever you may wander during your lifetime. These days, few of us stay put for decades on end, so investing the effort in a career with this kind of portability makes a whole lot of sense.
Flexible hoursAgain, you may prefer (or need) a full-time schedule that comes equipped with health benefits and the other perks of a salaried position. But proofreading and copyediting professions can also offer a flexible schedule. How flexible is flexible? Well, it’s 1:22 a.m. right now, and my home office (which happens to be a few steps from my bed) is open. As a freelancer, you can copyedit or proofread at 9 a.m. or 3 a.m. — the person giving you the assignment doesn’t care as long as you meet the deadline.
And another key perk of this flexibility is that you can say yes to as many or as few jobs as you can handle at any one time. If you’ve got other obligations that will demand a great deal of time in certain weeks or months, you have complete freedom to keep your copyediting or proofreading schedule clear during that time period. As long as you deliver quality work (on time), your contacts should be happy to hear from you when your schedule lightens and you’re available to accept assignments again.
Can lead to a writing careerReading published work — or about-to-be-published work — can help you develop your own writing skills. Obviously, you could just read these pieces on your own and gain the same benefits.
But why not get paid to do so? Besides, the process of copyediting or proofreading requires digesting text in ways that are atypical of a pleasure read. When you’re hired to help make a publication as perfect as it can be, you pay some serious attention to every word on the page.
And if the on-the-job writing education isn’t enough of a perk, the networking opportunities are another selling point. I wouldn’t encourage you to try to sell yourself as a writer as soon as you finish the first proofreading job for a new employer, but over time, as you prove how adept you are at wielding a pronoun, you may be able to identify writing opportunities that fit your skills.
Makes interesting discussionWhen you bump into an old acquaintance and he asks what you’ve been up to, won’t it be fun to rattle off the latest books, magazines, or Web sites you’ve worked on? This line of work makes for good conversation. Don’t be surprised if people ask you how they can get into it too.
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For Dummies is a registered trademark of Wiley Publishing, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Used here by license.