How To Become A Proofreader and Earn Online from Home

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As a proofreader, you can make money online from home at your convenient time. The average salary for a proofreader in India is ₹18,944 per month, according to Indeed. You too can earn money from proofreading.

This article is about how to become a proofreader and earn successfully. Although the article is primarily focused on job seekers in India, it is also for anyone in the world who wants to start and make money from this work/job. First, let me start with what it is as likely you are a beginner in this field.

how to become a proofreader

What is proofreading?

Proofreading is about examining any text carefully to find and correct spelling, grammar, style, and punctuation mistakes. Wikipedia says it is the last step in the editorial cycle. There is a difference between proofreading and editing. Editing involves making changes and suggestions to improve the overall quality of the text. Editing involves proofreading the document to eliminate spelling, grammar, and other errors of the language. 
 
Apart from offline publication works, the demand for proofreaders is steadily growing with the rise of the internet, blogs, and social media. You can take this opportunity to earn money online.
 

Who is suitable for this work?

Anyone who loves to read, write, find errors and correct them can do and earn from the work.
 

What are the skills required to have?

Ability to speak and write in English with native-like fluency if you work in English. You can work in other languages if you can. Excellent reading skills and the ability to follow the instructions are also required. If one has an average proofreading speed of 1000 to 1500 words per hour, he or she can earn much from the work.
 

How to become a proofreader?

There is no special educational qualification to become a proofreader. But, a Bachelor’s Degree in English or journalism may be required. You should have the full knowledge of the language you are working on and the ability to detect grammatical, and spelling errors and more.
Although it seems easy, you need fluency and speed to become a successful proofreader. You need to learn from experts to successfully start your career. You should train yourself before entering a job. For this purpose, I suggest you read some useful books.
 
Recommended Proofreading Books
 

If you are looking for an online course, check out these Udemy courses.

Proofreading Software Tools

The human brain often makes mistakes and omissions. Hence, proofreaders use the advantages of software tools to get the work done quickly and accurately. Microsoft Word can do the job for you. But here are some of the best proofreading software to train yourself or use in the work. They are:
 

1. Grammarly

It is one of the most popular and best tools for you. It checks errors in grammar, spelling and writing style. You can start with the free version and then use the premium version when you are in your professional career. It comes with tools for corrections, a sentence structure checker, a plagiarism detector and more.
 

2. Ginger

Ginger software is one of the world’s best grammar and spelling checkers. It is available in free and premium versions. Ginger Premium includes a translator of many languages.
 

3. ProWritingAid

It fixes writing and grammar, helps in word choice and vernacular, conforms to your writing style, and helps to improve writing over time. It is also available in free and paid versions.

4. WhiteSmoke

WhiteSmoke is also one of the most popular English proofreading software like Grammarly. It consists of a grammar checker, spell checker, style check, punctuation checker and translator. The web-based tool translates your emails, contracts, websites and more into several languages. In the premium version, it comes with a one-click instant proofreading tool.

How To Get a Proofreading Job?

The following are the ways to get a proofreading job or start a proofreading service from your home. Some of them may offer you jobs with no experience required:
 

1. Proofreading Services

You can here apply for full-time and part-time online positions. They pay from $19 to 46 per hour. To get selected, you need to pass a 20-minute test consisting of 20 questions. The test is based on your English and Grammar fluency. The more questions you can answer correctly, the more chance you may get selected.
Click here to apply from anywhere.

2. Scribendi

Here offers you great flexibility in work. You can choose which projects to work on and when to complete them. They don’t conduct a qualification test. Those who have experience in editing, writing or language teaching will get a greater chance of acceptance. They also offer ESL proofreading jobs. All payments are sent through PayPal.
 

3. Proofreading jobs in India

If you are looking for such jobs only found in India, there are many job sites in India you can look up. But there is a job site of several job sites to find the right job for you. If you are looking for jobs anywhere in India, search for ‘proofreading jobs’. If you are searching for jobs for a specific location, type proof-reading jobs in Guwahati/Kolkata/Delhi/Gurgaon/Mumbai/Chennai/Ahmedabad, etc. When you want to search for jobs to work from home, search for ‘proofreading jobs from home’. Use any keyword to find the right results.
 

4. Freelance proofreading service

You might want to work with more freedom. If so, start a freelance proofreading business. But other services are selling the same service. So, you should have the selling skills to get more clients. There are many websites or portals for freelancers. Below are some best sites to start with:
 
Fiverr is one of the most popular freelancer sites. You can list there your proofreading service and sell it to make money. First, visit Fiverr and search for a service like yours to see how other sellers do listings for it, pricing and delivery. Then, list your service. The more you sell, the more you earn.
 
It is similar to Fiverr, although it has a slight difference. Sign up for a free account and list your service. People who like to hire you will bid and then the bidder who wins will pay for your service. Then, you complete the work for the customer.
 
Like the above ways, you can list your service on other great freelancers’ sites like Upwork.com and Guru.com.
 

5. Start a proofreading blog

You can start a blog and offer proofreading services on it. In this case, you have complete freedom. You are the boss of your proofreading business. You can price your service and schedule your own delivery time. You need to set up a payment gateway on your site to collect payments. However, you should have the skills to drive traffic to your site to get more paying customers. 
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