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Get rich as a proofreader
Everyone must have seen the; the ads that start 'I helped a friend with proofreading their book, and now I'm making a fortune proofreading, work only a couple of days a week from home and the rest of the time I spend on my yacht or driving my high performance car!' or variations on the theme. They are a scam. They crop up in newspapers and magazines constantly despite advertising standards legislation supposed to prevent dishonest advertising and scams, and are all over the net with blandishments to enroll for a course on proofreading or, for even more money, for copy editing, from which, of course, you will make even more money, a small fortune in fact. An example of this kind of offer is here http://www.mapleacademy.com/maple.nsf/Courses/Professional+Proofreading+Course
where it's actually stated 'I enjoy two foreign holidays a year, and I have a brand new Mercedes convertible standing on my front drive.' And all for £99.50! A bargain surely. The Maple Academy is not an academy, it is a commercial company. As a professional with more than 25 years in publishing, these ads infuriate me and I'm sometimes spurred to write to the perpetrators telling them exactly what I think of their criminal deception. They never reply, even to defend themselves. That's because telling people they can earn lots of money by merely reading books is a lie and they know it. By implying that anyone can do it, that all anyone needs is a short course and the riches will flow, these criminals are not only doing a disservice to the poor suckers who fall for the scam, but are causing huge hassle to publishers, who have to cope with the deluge of letters they get from these hopefuls, who expect to be immediately given work by a grateful publisher. I'm sure some of them order the luxury car before they've actually got any work! The truth is far from this picture, the sole purpose of which is to part the gullible from their money. Proofreading, far from something anyone who can read can do, is a skill which doesn't come easily, and many people just don't have the ability. This applies even more to copy editing; out of a dozen good proofreaders, only one is likely to be able to handle the complxity of copy editing. We occasionally get letters and emails asking for work from people who have fallen for the scams, paid out more money to join The Society for Editors and Proofreaders which is a professional body but a for-profit organisation which charges for membership. The fee for processing applications is £27.50, and in addition, individuals have to pay an associate annual subscription of £85.00. They also charge for information about jobs, and attempt to encourage high standards, although how they do this is unclear. We always turn these applicants down, and not just because we have no work for them. Often, the letters have grammatical or spelling mistakes! Publishing generally is strapped for cash, and the majority of fiction isn't copy edited or even proofread, except by the author's friends and family in an amateur, helpful way. Most are chucked together, sent to India or China to be typeset and printed, and delivered to the book chains. All mistakes are the author's. The only area of publishing which uses copy editors is academic, and to copy edit an academic, you need also to be in possession of at least a good degree, a masters or doctorate helps. Most staff in academic publishers are academics, they need to be to understand what they're dealing with, this isn't the fruit and veg market after all. But in academic publishing, because the costs are so high, and the demand for the books is low [this isn't the area for best sellers] the budgets are tighter than a nun's habit. To earn even a reasonable living as an academic copy editor, you have to work hard and long, be able to juggle around half a dozen books on the go at the same time, be able to meet deadlines consistently, be able to liaise with authors, make suggestions diplomatically without upsetting them, and get the book delivered in electronic form on time. Proofreaders generally get their work from copy editors, not from publishers, and they are paid from the copy editor's fee, so have to be fast, on the ball and efficient. Anything missed which gets through to print is a mark against the copy editor who will not be pleased with the proofreader, and a proofreader who doesn't do a good job every time is liable to see the work dry up pretty quickly. And as relationships are all, they will have to start again nurturing another source of work. People's perception of copy editing is largely that of the tip of the iceberg; they don't know what's hidden and often suspect that what they see is what there is. It isn't. Until you start trying to do it, or attend a proper course on the subject which at least prepares you to learn the job, no one has any idea of what it involves. It certainly doesn't just involve reading the manuscript and marking the odd typo up. There is the matter of consistency, cross-referencing, ambiguity, syntax, grammar, punctuation, style [whether US or UK, there's a huge difference], permissions for use of other's material such as quotes or illustrations [which is usually dealt with by a special perissions department at the publisher's, but a copy editor who neglects to check could cause a book to be withdrawn for copyright infringement or the publisher to have to pay compensation. The job carries a heavy weight of responsibility. The ideal copy editor will have a good degree in English Language, Linguistics, Philosophy or another 'useful' subject. They will have worked for a publisher for some years learning the business - starting as a junior assistant and working their way up as they gain knowledge and experience - and will then have decided to go freelance. With the contacts they have within the industry, they will get work initially, but will have to show they can do the job to the standard required or their good standing will evaporate. A few naturally talented editors have made it outside this route, completing a good course, and getting experience wherever they can, reading a lot about what is required of them, talking to others about the work, networking, and gradually building up a client base, or becoming an editor with a major publisher who supplies them with all their work [the danger of this is the eggs in one basket situation, fall out with them and you have no work]. A good copy editor, workaholic, with no social life, can probably earn in the region of £600 a week, but with the number of hours this entails, it's probably not far from the national minimum wage. Which doesn't allow for paying the mortgage off early, buying a high performance car, and doing a bit of work beside the pool when you feel like it. Instead it means long hours bent over a manuscript or staring at a computer screen, bad back, aching neck muscles and frequent headaches and upset digestion from being bent over too long. So, if you are looking for an easy job that pays lots of money, don't even think of publishing, try training as a plumber which does pay excessively well. This can be accomplished with a government training place, although the scammers are active in this area also as information here shows http://www.amicustheunion.org/default.aspx?page=4257, which states 'Research by the Plumbing & Heating Industry Alliance has shown that plumbing industry organisations are receiving an increasing number of complaints from people who have paid large sums of money for ‘fast track’ training to become plumbers only to discover that the training is inadequate, the advertised qualifications are not fully achieved and/or the promise of lucrative work is non-existent.' Sound familiar? |
http://www.iphe.org.uk/career/career_future.html
| http://www.learndirect-skills.co.uk/
| http://www.learndirect-advice.co.uk/helpwithyourcareer/jobprofiles/profiles/profile274/
| http://www.sfep.org.uk/pub/mship/joining.asp
PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
 |  | Pearl liked this intel. Jan 23, 2012 |
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