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Proofreading Business & Jobs
Starting your own online proofreading business

Proofreaders can earn a very good, steady income working at home. We will show you all the steps you will need to take to become a trained, certified proofreader and to start receiving assignments.

This job will take a little work and dedication on your part, which will included some studying, using online courses and possibly becoming certified.

In addition to what we will get you trained you on, we will get you set up with some online proofreading courses that are free to use. We will also show you how you can get proofreading jobs both off-line and online. 

How many times have you thought to yourself that you would be a good proofreader? You have a decent working vocabulary, you are able to construct a well-turned phrase, and you know when to hyphenate a compound noun (or maybe you don’t, but you could take a good guess!). You’ve always wanted to work at home, and you’ve thought about becoming a freelance proofreader.

But just how do you become a freelance proofreader who works at home?

You know who you are. You are the person who picks up the newspaper, reads a website, a magazine, or a book and shakes your head every time your brain stumbles over a typo, incorrect punctuation, a poorly worded sentence, or lousy page layout and design.

Your eye wanders down the right-hand margin taking note of the excessive word breaks and you turn the page only to find an orphaned line perched at the top of the page, sitting there all by its lonesome. "Didn’t anybody proofread this?" you lament.

You start thinking that maybe you could be a freelance proofreader. You’d really love to "be your own boss" and make your own schedule. What you don’t know, however, is how do you go about making this dream a reality.

You need only to look at yourself, your interests, and your own work experience and education to provide the fertile soil from which you can cultivate and grow your own at-home proofreading business.

What around-the-town publications do you encounter other than the daily newspaper? Does your town produce a monthly magazine? Are there any graphic design businesses in town that produce brochures, meeting materials, or advertising catalogs? Are there local organizations that put out newsletters? Is there a college or university in or near your area where there are students writing research papers? Does the company for whom you presently work have an in-house newsletter?

Does your church or your kids’ school hand out flyers or news bulletins? Who does the newspaper inserts? When the local stores advertise, who does the advertisements? When you surf the Web and visit websites, who proofreads these Web sites? This is just a few examples of off line types of work.

This does not even account for the hundreds of thousands of Online proofreading jobs that are available for outsource assignments.

If you think about it, printed text surrounds you. You encounter printed matter for almost everything you do. What you need to do now is narrow the field and determine where to find a likely starting place.

It is probable that you are not going to get an at-home proofreading job by simply showing up at a printing shop and announcing "I am a freelance proofreader, give me work." You might, but my guess is that this particular method of self-advertising is not going to score you enough work to allow you to quit your day job. What you need is experience and exposure.

If Someone wrote it, someone did the page layout, and someone probably proofread it. That proofreader could be someone like you.
 
We are going to cover all aspects of this proofreading opportunity in this program. We have broken this training down in sections which are presented in the training curriculum.

Training Curriculum For Part 1 - VIDEO



(To view in FULL SCREEN, click the arrows on right lower of video player)

Cant see video? CLICK HERE to view video in external link

Our proofreading training curriculum:
1. Introduction to Proofreading
2. Proofreading Apprenticeship
3. What You Will be Proofreading
4. Proofreading Skills and Tips
5. Proofreading Training and Certification
6. Proofreading Self-Help Practice and Quizzes
7. Proofreading Jobs and Assignments
8. Starting Your Own Proofreading Business
9. Where to Get Additional Proofreading Work in Your Area
10. Additional Training Guide For Proofreading

1. Introduction to Proofreading
Mark Twain once wrote about the importance of proofreaders which he wrote:

"The difference between the almost-right word & the right word is really a large matter--it's the difference between the lightning-bug & the lightning."

Mark Twain's well-known observation appears at the top of the "Language/Writing" page of a university's continuing education website--just above a blurb for "Mistake-Free Grammar & Proofreading."

(Here is the funny part of all of this)
Except that Twain's line is misquoted, and the word  lightning is twice misspelled as lightening.

Twain himself had little patience for such errors. "In the first place God made idiots," he once wrote. "This was for practice. Then he made proof-readers."

Yet as an old newspaper reporter, Twain knew full well how hard it is to proofread effectively. As he said in a letter to Walter Bessant in February 1898:

You think you are reading proof, whereas you are merely reading your own mind; your statement of the thing is full of holes & vacancies but you don't know it, because you are filling them from your mind as you go along. Sometimes--but not often enough--the printer's proof-reader saves you--& offends you--with this cold sign in the margin: (?) & you search the passage & find that the insulter is right--it doesn't say what you thought it did: the gas-fixtures are there, but you didn't light the jets.

No matter how carefully we examine a text, it seems there's always one more little blunder waiting to be discovered.

As we had mentioned in the overview above this section, if you had read this statement:

"You are the person who picks up the newspaper, reads a website, a magazine, or a book and shakes your head every time your brain stumbles over a typo, incorrect punctuation, a poorly worded sentence, or lousy page layout and design. Your eye wanders down the right-hand margin taking note of the excessive word breaks and you turn the page only to find an orphaned line perched at the top of the page, sitting there all by its lonesome. "Didn’t anybody proofread this?"

If this is you? Then you are probably a great candidate to be a proofreader.

Proofreading is not an innate ability; it is an acquired skill.

In a nutshell if you can aquire these three skills you can be a proofreader:

1. A good train of thought
2. Awareness of subject matter
3. Consistent quality of completed work. 

Anybody can learn proofreading by starting with these three skills. 

2. Proofreading Apprenticeship
Unless you have already been doing proofreading as an occupation for several years, then you are going to be considered an "apprentice proofreader," and that is okay; you have to start somewhere!
 
This proofreading program is designed to get you the apprenticeship needed to become a reputable proofreader, with the needed skills to complete the work you will be doing.

We will give you all the training, tools and skills that you will be able to use in this occupation. You just need to dedicate yourself to want to learn this program, and do exactly what we will show you. As with any work-at-home job, it is not for everyone. You have to be self-disciplined and able to devote quality time and concentration to the job at hand. If you can not deliver quality work, then you will never be successfully self-employed in any trade.

If you don’t have the skills or education, then you need to get some; and that is what our program is designed to do. 

Much of this program will do with learning the "tricks of the trade."  Everything we show you such as the proofreader's tools, tips, and acquired skills will help you complete the apprenticeship program we present.

3. What You Will be Proofreading
We will cover in this section what you will be proofreading as well as the most notable corrections that are made in proofreading.

Most common documents you will be proofreading:

Newsletters
Newspaper inserts
Advertisements
Brochures
Pamphlets
Business proposals
Business plans
Corporate summaries
Company handbooks
Bulletins
Flyers
General documents
Essays
Articles
Tutorial guides
Website and blog content
and much more...

Here is a general list of the most common proofreading corrections:

(We will present each with a link for a definition to sites such as Wikipedia and others. Click on the proofreading corrections below to get the appropriate definition for each.)

Typographical Errors 
Grammatical Mistakes
Run-On Sentences 
Punctuation & Quotation Marks 
Subject-Verb Disagreements
Sentence Fragments and Lengths
Spelling
Apostrophes
Comma Usage and Splices
Capitalization
Tenses

To download a copy of the detailed list of the "Most Common Writing Errors" CLICK HERE

The list above is just a general list of the most common proofreading corrections that you will be doing. There are several other components that you will be proofreading that is more based on your own styles.

As an example components such as "structure and theme;" which is your overall view of the how the article, newsletter, etc is structured to the reader. Or the "organization" of what you are proofreading; is it organized in a way that makes sense. Or the "audience appropriateness;" which you would need to determine is this article, newsletter layed out in a manner for the audience it is intended for. These are just a few of the examples of how your own style of perception will play a factor in your proofreading ability.

SAMPLES OF ACTUAL PROOFREAD DOCUMENTS
Take a look at some real proofread documents to see the type of work you will be doing:

Résumé Document (BEFORE PROOFREADING) DOWNLOAD HERE

Résumé Document (AFTER PROOFREADING) DOWNLOAD HERE

Cover Letter (BEFORE and AFTER PROOFREADING) DOWNLOAD HERE

4. Proofreading Skills Training
In this skills training section we are going to go over the needed skills you will need to be a proofreader.
In addition to having the basic skills such as, a good train of thought, awareness of subject matter, and consistent quality of completed work, you are going to need to know some tools and tips every proofreader will need to have.

PROOFREADING MARKS
One of the first things as a proofreader you will need to learn is the "proofreading marks" commonly used in your edits. These are universal symbols used to make corrections in the edit and proofreads.

If you don’t already know them, you will definitely need to learn the standard proofreading/editing "marks." These are the little glyphs and squiggles that indicate to the typesetter or page layout artist what corrections need to be made to the printed material and where. Some marks are self-explanatory, while others look like an Ancient Egyptian Sanskrit language.

If you visit the link below, it will show you the standard proofreading/editing "marks" used to make needed corrections.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/mw/table/proofrea.htm

You can also download these proofreading marks from a .PDF file we provide. 

CLICK HERE to download the .PDF file of the "proofreading marks"

This will be one of the first and most important tools you will need to learn. A good practice is to find some online literature that you either download or copy and paste to a WordPad. You can then use the proofreading marks to make your corrections to the literature which will tone your skill on using proofreading marks.

COMMON SKILLS FOR PROOFREADERS
Proofread More than Once
If possible, read out loud. Read one word at a time. Read what is actually on the page, not what you think is there. (This is the most difficult sub-skill to acquire).

Fact: Professional editors proofread as many as ten times. Publishing houses hire teams of readers to work in pairs, out loud. And still errors occur.

Proofreading your sentences in reverse order
You might also try proofreading your sentences in reverse order, a strategy that takes you away from the meanings you intended and forces you to think about small surface features instead.

Learn to focus without distractions
A quiet environment can be a proofreader's best friend. Having a TV or radio on in the background is not advised. Also if you can keep the kids (if you have them) out of your working environment while proofreading will help. Focusing without distractions can be the difference in completing your assignments with quality.

You have to doubt every word in order to catch every mistake.
It is the unconscious nature of the worst that makes proofreading so difficult. The student who turned in a paper saying, "I like girdle cakes for breakfast" did not have a perverted digestion. He thought he had written "griddle cakes" and because that's what he was sure he had written, that's what he "saw" when he proofread. If he had slowed down and read word by word, out loud, he might have caught the error. You have to doubt every word in order to catch every mistake.
 
You have to look at the word, not slide over it.
Another reason for deliberately slowing down is that when you read normally, you often see only the shells of words -- the first and last few letters, perhaps.

You "fix your eyes" on the print only three or four times per line, or less.

You take in the words between your fixation points with your peripheral vision, which gets less accurate the farther it is from the point.

The average reader can only take in six letters accurately with one fixation. This means you have to fix your eyes on almost every word you read and do it twice in longer words, in order to proofread accurately. You have to look at the word, not slide over it.

Take nothing for granted.
In proofreading, you can take nothing for granted, because unconscious mistakes are so easy to make. It helps to read out loud, because 1) you are forced to slow down and 2) you hear what you are reading as well as seeing it, so you are using two senses. It is often possible to hear a mistake, such as an omitted or repeated word that you have not seen.

Fact: Did you know that it is twice as hard to detect mistakes in your own work as in someone else's? It is true.

Avoid doing your final proofreading on a computer screen
Ideally, you should do a preliminary editing and proofreading job while you are working on the computer. After printing out a copy, edit and proofread once more, before making final corrections on the computer and printing out your final copy.

Checks the proofs (live copy) against the manuscript (dead copy)
In traditional proofreading, the proofreader checks the proofs (live copy) against the manuscript (dead copy) to ensure that proof copy corresponds word for word with the edited manuscript.

With the advent of computer typesetting, however, it is not always possible to provide the proofreader with an accurate manuscript against which to check the typeset copy. In this case the proofreader must read the proofs without reference to an authoritative manuscript.

This entails checking the accuracy of spelling against the dictionary, and checking for correct style against the publisher's accepted manual of style and any other references provided by the publisher.

The proofreader is responsible to see that all typographical specifications (specs) called for by the editor are carried out correctly.

TOP TIPS FOR PROOFREADING
We will present you with the top tips all proofreaders will swear by. There's no foolproof formula for perfect proofreading every time. As Twain realized, it's just too tempting to see what was meant to written rather than the words that actually appear on the page or screen. But these tips should help you see (or hear) the errors.

Proofreading Tips:

Don't rush. Proofreading is the most effective when you can take your time.

Read it out loud to yourself or someone else. You'll be surprised at how much more slowly you need to read when you're reading out loud. This activity alone will help you find more errors.

Proofread from a physical copy. Always proofread using a physical copy as our final read through. You will be amazed how many more errors can be caught when reading from paper versus a computer monitor.

Pretend you know nothing about your topic. See if you can understand exactly what the writer is trying to convey.

Ask yourself what is the purpose of the document or online content. See if your writing effectively answers that question.

Don't rely solely on your word processor's spell check. If using a word processing program, take advantage of its spell check function - but don't rely solely upon it. It's a handy tool that can supplement any proofreading or editing project.

Look it up. If you're not 100% sure about the usage of a word or its spelling, look it up. Chances are your readers will know it has been misused or misspelled.

Give it a rest. If time allows, set your text aside for a few hours after you've have done a first proofread, and then proofread again with fresh eyes. More likely you will be able to catch more errors after a brief rest.

Look for one type of problem at a time. Read through the text several times, concentrating first on sentence structures, then word choice, then spelling, and finally punctuation. As the saying goes, if you look for trouble, you're likely to find it.

Double-check facts, figures, and proper names. In addition to reviewing for correct spelling and usage, make sure that all the information in the text is accurate.

Review a hard copy. Print out your text and review it line by line: rereading the work in a different format may help you catch errors that you previously missed.

Read your text aloud. Or better yet, if possible ask a friend or family member to read it aloud. You may hear a problem (a faulty verb ending, for example, or a missing word) that you haven't been able to see.

Trust your dictionary. Your spellchecker can tell you only if a word is a word, not if it's the right word. For instance, if you're not sure whether sand is in a desert or a dessert, visit the dictionary hard copy of online dictionary.

Read your text backward. Another way to catch spelling errors is to read backward, from right to left, starting with the last word in your text. Doing this will help you focus on individual words rather than sentences.

Create your own proofreading checklist. Keep a list of the types of mistakes that are commonly made (such as we have already mentioned), and then refer to that list each time you proofread.

Ask for help. If possible, invite someone else to proofread the text after you have reviewed it. A new set of eyes may immediately spot errors that you've overlooked.

Don't overlook proofreading these very important areas:
Index
Table of Contents
Table of Figures
Table of Authorities
Page Numbers
Headers and Footers
Citations
Cross References
Quotations
Spelling of Names
Section Numbers
Legal Reference

Remembering the tips and skills above can make the difference between being a average proofreader and an excellent proofreader.

5. Proofreading Training and Certification
What we have done in the previous section of this program is mention the skills needed and some tips to assure that you do this job properly. In this section we are going to present you with some additional online training exercises and courses that will help your proofreading career.

A. ONLINE PROOFREADING TRAINING EXERCISES - FREE THROUGH OUR PROGRAM
The first thing you can do is to do some proofreading exercises presented by Proofreading Courses. They will give you 20 free online proofreading exercises to complete.

These exercises are 100% free to do and we highly suggest to take a couple of hours of your time to do them. These exercises will only help you in your start to become a proofreader.

Proofreading-Courses.com does have some additional advanced proofreading courses and eBooks as well. These are OPTIONAL as they do cost additional money. So we leave that choice up to you.

Click the "Proofreading Courses" icon below to see the online exercises:

B. ONLINE PROOFREADING TRAINING  & CERTIFICATION COURSE - OPTIONAL
The second course we will suggest is a training and certification course offered by UniversalClass.com. We will strongly suggest to do this course and get your CEU certificate as this is huge achievement in the proofreading and editing occupation. The total course costs $75 which includes the CEU certificate. 

Here is the course description and objectives:

This online course will cover: Exactly what proofreading and copyediting will entail. The tools you need to be an efficient proofreader or copyeditor. The basic skills you need to learn, taught to you in an easy-to-understand manner. Step-by-step instruction on how to proofread or copyedit. How to apply your newly learned skills.  Tips to make you a professional proofreader or copyeditor with just a little practice. How to proofread and copyedit different kinds of writing such as fiction, blogs and articles. How to proofread and copyedit your own work. How to secure employment as a proofreader or copyeditor. How to start your own proofreading or copyediting business upon completion of the course. Current salary information. Practice exercises to implement your new skills. This course is designed for everyone, regardless of education, experience, or background.  No matter who you are or what you want to achieve in life, gaining proofreading and copyediting skills will improve your written communications, help you think more clearly, and perhaps start you on the road to a brand new career.  Learning Outcomes

By successfully completing this course, students will be able to: Describe the use of style sheets and style guides in proofreading and copyediting. Demonstrate matching the appropriate style guides for various project types. Demonstrate how to create and use a style sheet. Describe proofreaders' marks and how they are used to copyedit and proofread. Describe your job as a proofreader. Demonstrate basic proofreading skills. Describe the job of a copyeditor. Demonstrate basic copyediting skills. Describe methods for copyediting and proofreading your own work. Summarize copyediting or proofreading career opportunities, and Demonstrate mastery of lesson content at levels of 70% or higher.

The course will be well worth the $50 (no certification) or $75 (with certification) investment if you choose to take it and get certified. One assignment will pay for this course and then some. Again it is optional, but suggested if it is in your budget.

Click the "Universal Class" logo below to enroll in their online class:

C. EXPERT RATING CERTIFICATION COURSE - OPTIONAL
The one certification we will strongly suggest (especially if you decide not to do Universal Class certification) is a certification by Expert Rating.

If you take the test and pass you will be added to the Expert Rating list of qualified proofreaders which will give you great exposure and a nice addition to your proofreader portfolio. You also can add the "Expert Rating" seal to your website, blog, emails, or sales material.

This is a very small investment required of $9.99 -- And if it is the only money you ever spend it is well worth it.

Click the "ExpertRating" logo below to take the certification test:

6. Proofreading Self-Help Quizzes
Presented in this section is a link to self-help practice tutorials and over 174 separate quizzes dealing with all the aspects of doing proofreading for you to do as you would like. These are NOT REQUIRED and are only for your practice and self help. Many times if you read the quizzes you can get a good idea what areas you will need to brush up your skills. None of these are graded and are for use only.

Self Help Practice Tools
The first link we will provide you is to a self-help practice tutorials. The tutorials will deal with Word & Sentence Level, Paragraph Level, Essay & Research Paper Level, Peripherals & Power Points, and Grammar Poll, Guestbook, Awards.

IF THE PRACTICE LINKS TAKE TOO LONG TO LOAD TRY BACK A LITTLE LATER THEY CHECK ALL CONNECTIONS TO MAKE SURE THEY ARE SECURE AND THE SERVER GETS OVERLOADED.


CLICK HERE FOR SELF-HELP PRACTICE FOR PROOFREADERS


Proofreading Quizzes - 174 Individual Quizzes
The quizzes with a magenta marble are also listed within the section or digital handout to which they apply.

The twenty-one quizzes with a green marble and designated "Practice" have been adapted from the instructor's manual and other ancillary materials accompanying Sentence Sense: A Writer's Guide. They are duplicated here with permission of the author, Evelyn Farbman, and the publisher, Houghton Mifflin Inc.

The seventeen quizzes with a gold marble were written by the English faculty at an estimable midwestern university and are used here with the permission of that department.

The ten quizzes with a red marble were prepared by students in Professor Karyn Hollis's Tutor Training course at Villanova University.

Quizzes done in Javascript are followed by (js) and those done with CGI are followed by (cgi).

Clicking on the back arrow button in your browser will bring you back to this page. Other navigational aids will appear at the bottom of each page.

BASIC SENTENCE PARTS

1.  Identifying Sentence Parts (js)
2.  Sentence Parts: Basic (js)
3.  Body Parts: Quiz One (js)
4.  Body Parts: Quiz Two (js)
5. Body Parts: Quiz Three (js)
6. Body Parts: Quiz Four (js)
7.  Recognizing Nouns (js)
8.  Exercise in Naming Nouns (js)
9.  Count and Non-Count Nouns (cgi)
10.  Nouns (Crossword) (js)
11.  Identifying Simple & Compound Subjects (js)
12.  Using Articles (js)
13.  Using Articles II (js)
14.  Articles and Determiners (cgi)
15.  Basic Quiz on Quantifiers (js)
16.  Quantifiers (js)
17.  Recognizing Adjectives (js)
18.  Adjective Order (Java)
19.  Adjectives (cgi)
20.  Adverbs (cgi)
21.  Adverb Order (Java)
22.  Recognizing Prepositions (js)
23.  Prepositions (js)
24.  Prepositions at Crosswords (js)
25.  Prepositions at Crosswords II (js)
26.  Prepositions at Crosswords III (larger) (js)
    
    VERBS AND VERBALS
    
27.  Recognizing Verbs & Verb Strings (js)
28.  Recognizing Verbs & Verb Strings II (js)
29.  Identifying Verb Tenses (js)
30.  Verb Tense and Sentence Order (js)
31.  Subject-Verb Agreement (cgi)
32.  Subject-Verb Agreement II (js)
33.  Subject-Verb Agreement III (js)

34.  Practice: Subject-Verb Agreement I (cgi)

35.  Practice: Subject-Verb Agreement II (cgi)

36.  Practice: Subject-Verb Agreement III (cgi)

37.  Practice: Subject-Verb Agreement IV (cgi)

38.  Agreement Problems (js)
39. Agreement Problems II (js)
40.  Exercise in Verb Tense Consistency (js)
41.  Consistency in Tense and Pronouns (cgi)
42.  Irregular Verbs (cgi)
43.  Irregular Verbs II (js)
44.  Irregular Verbs III (js)
45.  Irregular Verbs (Crossword) (js)
46.  Using the Subjunctive (cgi)
47.  Conditional Verb Forms (js)
48.  Modal Auxiliaries (cgi)
49.  Phrasal Verbs (js)
50.  Phrasal Verbs II (js)
51.  Recognizing and Changing Passive Constructions (js)

52.  Practice: Test on -s Word Endings II (cgi)

53.  Practice: Test on -s Word Endings III (cgi)

54.  Practice: Test on Verb Endings (js)

55.  Practice: Final -ed Verb Endings II (cgi)

56.  Practice: Final -ed Verb Endings III (js)

57.  Gerunds and Infinitives (js)
58.  Gerunds and Infinitives II (js)
    
    CLAUSES & PHRASES
    
59.  Independent Clauses (js)
60.  Independent Clauses II (cgi)
61.  Ingredients of Independent Clauses (js)
62.  Dependent Clause Functions (js)
63.  Dependent Clauses (js)
64.  Types of Sentences (cgi)
65.  Recognizing Phrase Functions (js)
66.  Verbal (and other) Phrases (js)
    
    STRUCTURAL FLAWS
    
67.  Repairing Sentence Fragments (js)
68.  Fragments and Run-on Sentences (cgi)

69.  Practice: Sentence Fragments (cgi)

70.  Practice: Sentence Fragments II (cgi)

71.  Practice: Sentence Fragments III (cgi)

72.  Fragments & Types of Sentences (js)
73. Avoiding Comma Splices (js)
74.  Avoiding Comma Splices II (js)
75.  Repairing Run-on Sentences (js)

76.  Practice: Run-on Sentences (cgi)

77.  Practice: Run-on Sentences II (cgi)

78.  Modifier Placement (cgi)
79.  Modifier Placement II (js)
    
    PUNCTUATION & BASIC MECHANICS
    
80.  Commas with Coordinating Conjunctions (js)
81.  Commas with Introductory Elements (js)
82.  Commas: Fill-in-the-blanks (js)
83.  Comma Usage (js)
84.  Punctuation: Fill-in-the-blanks (js)
85.  Punctuation (cgi)
86.  Punctuation II (js)
87.  Punctuation III (js)
88.  Punctuation IV (js)
89.  Punctuation V (js)
90.  Apostrophes (js)
91.  Colons (js)
92.  Quotation Marks (js)
93.  Basic Mechanics (js)
94.  Compound Nouns and Modifiers (cgi)
95.  Capitalization Quiz (cgi)
96.  Plurals and Possessives (cgi)
97.  Irregular Plurals and Non-Count Nouns (js)
98.  Possessives & Irregular Plurals (cgi)

99.  Practice: -s Word Endings (cgi)

100. 
     PRONOUN USAGE
     
101.  Pronoun Usage (cgi)
102.  Pronoun Usage II (js)
103.  Pronoun Usage III (js)
104.  Pronoun Cases I (js)
105.  Pronoun Cases II (js)
106.  Who (cgi)
107.  Who II (js)
108.  Which, That and Who (js)
109.  Practice: Pronouns (cgi)
110.  Practice: Pronouns II (cgi)
111.  Practice: Pronouns III (cgi)
     
     STYLISTIC CONSIDERATIONS
     
112.  Sentence-Combining Skills I (js)
113.  Sentence-Combining Skills II (js)
114.  Sentence-Combining Skills III (js)
115.  Writing Concise Sentences (js)
116.  Eliminating Wordiness (js)
117.  Rewriting Bloated Sentences (js)
118.  Coherence and Transitions (js)
119.  Parallel Structures (cgi)
120.  Parallel Structures II (js)
121.  Parallelism III (js)
122.  Illogical Comparisons & Mixed Constructions (js)
123.  Variety in Modifier Placement (js)
124.  Variety in Subject Placement (js)
125.  Gender Neutral Language (js)
     
     NOTORIOUS CONFUSABLES
     
126.  Notorious Confusables I (cgi)
127.  Notorious Confusables II (js)
128.  Notorious Confusables III (js)
129.  Notorious Confusables IV (js)
130.  Notorious Confusables V (js)
131.  Its/It's and There/Their/They're (cgi)
132.  Lie/Lay and Sit/Set (cgi)
133.  Except/Accept and Affect/Effect (js)
     
     SPELLING
     
134.  Spelling Quiz I (cgi)
135.  Spelling Quiz II (cgi)
136.  Spelling Quiz III (Endings) (cgi)
137.  Spelling Quiz IV (with sound) (cgi)
138.  Spelling Quiz V (with sound) (cgi)
139.  Spelling Quiz VI (with sound) (cgi)
140.  Spelling Quiz VII (with sound) (cgi)
141.  Practice: Spelling (cgi)
142.  Practice: Spelling II (cgi)
143.  Practice: Spelling III (cgi)
     
     VOCABULARY (College Level)
     

     The Pop-Up Lexicon accompanies the vocabulary quizzes and contains an extensive list of vocabulary words, definitions, and example sentences. accompanies the vocabulary quizzes and contains an extensive list of vocabulary words, definitions, and example sentences.

     
     
144.  Matching I (js)
145.  Matching II (js)
146.  Matching III (js)
147.  Matching IV (js)
148.  Matching V (js)
149.  Matching VI (js)
150.  Matching VII (js)
151.  Matching (Non-English Words I) (js)
152.  Matching (Non-English Words II) (js)
153.  Matching (Non-English Words III) (js)
154.  Fill-in-the-Blanks I (cgi)
155.  Fill-in-the-Blanks II (cgi)
156.  Fill-in-the-Blanks III (cgi)
157.  Fill-in-the-Blanks IV (cgi)
158.  Fill-in-the-Blanks V (cgi)
159.  Fill-in-the-Blanks VI (cgi)
160.  The Dating Game I (js)
161.  The Dating Game II (js)
162.  The Dating Game III (js)
163.  The Dating Game IV (js)
164.  The Dating Game V (js)
165.  The Dating Game VI (js)
166.  Auntie Nym's World of Opposites I (js)
167.  Auntie Nym's World of Opposites II (js)
168.  Grammar's Misfits (js)
     
     GENERAL GRAMMAR QUIZZES
     
169.  Diction (js)
170.  General Grammar Review (js)
171.  General Grammar Review II (js)
172.  General Grammar Review III (js)
173.  Grammar's Crossword (js)
174.  Grammar's Crossword II (much bigger) (js)
175.  Grammatic Esoterica (js)

7. Proofreading Jobs and Assignments
As promised we are going to get you going with outsource companies as well as using job assignment boards and job search engines that will get you assignments directly. We have broken this down into three categories, Outsource Companies, Job Boards and Job Engines.

Outsource companies will send you the work directly. Just sign up and set up your portfolio with the companies we list. Some may require a résumé to keep on file with your portfolio. You will get assignments using these outsource companies we provide. The set up and sign up is 100% free as these companies are going to pay you. If you do run into any costs required don't pay and contact us to inform us if any fees are being asked.

Job boards are set up so you simply review the job description, then place a bid on the assignment. You set your own price and if accepted you get the job. We suggest while you are first getting your feet wet as a proofreader to bid low so you can get some experience in proofreading which will only help build your portfolio.

Job search engines are set up so you simply review the job description, then place a bid on the assignment. You set your own price and if accepted you get the job. We suggest while you are first getting your feet wet as a proofreader to bid low so you can get some experience in proofreading which will only help build your portfolio.

Getting Prepared
The only requirement you will need is to prepare a résumé. This is not required for all the job sources we provide, only a few. You can prepare your proofreading portfolio résumé using our free program HERE

When preparing your résumé, make sure to enclose your CEU certificate number if you did get the certificate.

OUTSOURCE COMPANIES
Click on the outsource company icon below to sign up and set up your portfolio to get outsourced assignments:


PROOFREADERS JOB BOARD
Click on the job board icon below to bid on assignments of your choice. You set you own price for assignment:

PROOFREADER JOB SEARCH ENGINE
Click on the job search icon below to view current outsourced and bid assignments. Some may require an application for approval:

8. Starting Your Own Proofreading Business
The job assignments you can get from the sources we listed in the last section is a great start and will keep you pretty busy at the start. The main objective will for you to start your own proofreading and editing business. This will create all the work you will need to do this as a full-time job. So to get the additional work you will need is going to take a little more effort on your part in creating your own work-at-home proofreading business.

CREATE YOUR OWN WEB SITE or BLOG
One of the first things we will suggest to do is create your own proofreading Web site or blog. You can do this at very minimal cost or for free if you use our blogging program we provide in the "Blogging Articles Part 1" program. If you want to create a blog just use the techniques we show you in that section to create and then use the posting methods in "Blogging Articles Part 2" to promote your blog.

If you wanted to create your own Web site we will suggest to use a program by Godaddy called "Website's Tonight." The domain name and Web site will cost a total of about $14.00 per month. You can build your own site without the help of anyone if you use their program.

CREATE BUSINESS DOCUMENTS FOR PROMOTIONS
Do some self-advertising. Produce professional-looking brochures, business cards, and flyers using your own computer and printer. You can use many free advertisement software programs to create these documents and cards. Many can be found for free on the Internet for you to use.

Tip: When you create any business documents or business cards, place your Web site address or blog address as your Web site contact on these documents along with an e-mail address and phone number.

START SELF PROMOTING YOUR BUSINESS
Open up your handy local yellow pages and jot down some target markets: graphics design shops, print shops that do typesetting, colleges or universities, and/or publishing firms. Spend some time taking your brochures to these places. Tack up flyers in libraries, stores that have public bulletin boards, at your neighborhood community center, and storefront shops like "Mail Boxes, etc." We will give you more details on some great additional sources to go to and get work in the next section of this program as well.

WHAT TO CHARGE FOR YOUR SERVICES
Of course what you want to charge is completely up to you. However, when you start charging for off-line work upon first starting out, you can start out figuring on about $12 - $17 per hour. This will keep you competitive in this field as an apprentice proofreader. Once you advance to the next level, you can start making more doing work for as much as $25 or more per hour. You also have the choice to charge per word; usual rates run at about .02 cents per word. So if you read through 1000 words to edit, your charge would be $20.

WHAT EQUIPMENT IS NEEDED FOR OWN BUSINESS
You will still only need a computer, Internet connection and a printer. Also a word processor will be needed to edit the documents you are proofreading. We give a free word processor in the traditional word processing data entry we provide. You can download the free word process and get any needed training in that section of the programs we offer.

In this new age of technology even a fax machine is becoming obsolete. You will do much of your file transfers by digital uploading through your e-mail. However, if you do have a fax machine that is a bonus. If you do not have a fax machine you can use a free service provided on the Internet that will allow you to send electronic faxes directly through their Web site. It is a great service that you can use if you are needing to fax a document. You can find out more about FaxZero by clicking their logo below:



9. Additional Proofreading Opportunities
Almost anything written in any form that is published in any manner will need to be proofread. So with this in mind you will see that the opportunities are endless. In addition to the job opportunities we provide, we will list the most common off-line places and contacts in your area you will be able to proofread for:

Internet/ Web Pages - One of the best way to find work was to look through Web sites for spelling/grammar errors, etc.. Once you locate Web sites that some proofreading, get the contact information of the Web master or administrator (which can usually be found on the Web site themselves. E-mail the Web site and explain you are a certified proofreader and you would be willing to help them out at a very reasonable price. It is important that you explain you work independently so they can expect the lowest prices. You will get mixed responses, from "not interested" all the way to "please help me no matter what it costs!" You can use a great selling points such as: tell them that studies show that Web sites with bad spelling and numerous grammar errors lose 35% of their business. A smart Web master will realize that for as low as $50 - $100 they can have their Web site proofread and they could make an extra $10,000 per year. You will actually find more work than you will know what to do with using this method.

Advertising Agencies - If are receiving literature from local advertisers you will see that there is a huge opportunity here. If you get these local ads and see there is errors, typos, grammar, etc errors, the door is wide open. Many times you will the ad agency's information located somewhere on the ad brochure or flyer. You can contact them and point out their errors and explain you can help.

Graphic Designer/Print Shop - A great potential client in your area will be local graphic designers and/or print shops. A short visit can get you a ton of work. Open up your yellow pages or online local search and locate any graphic/print shops. Pay a visit and introduce yourself and you will see that many of these businesses will be in need for your proofreading skills. Many of these businesses only outsource to proofreaders such as yourself. This is to help save on in-house costs.

Newspapers - Even know every newspaper organization has a staff on hand to proofread, you will see they might not being doing their jobs. This is most common in smaller newspaper distributors. If notice typos, grammatical errors, etc. on a regular basis, feel free to contact the newspaper editor and point out thier proofreading skills are not up to par. Many times the editor may use an outside source to proofread their proofreaders. Many times proofreading is done by two or more proofreaders.

Local Magazines/Newsletters - Here is another common opportunity. Many local magazines or newsletters will not have a sufficient qualified staff on hand to proofread or edit their magazines or newsletters. Many times these sources may even be outsourcing their proofreading. You can contact the editors of these local magazines and newsletters to have them give you a try if you see there is need for your skills.

Churches - A great place to get started is maybe doing some work for your local church. It is your choice, but in many cases you can offer to proofread their newsletters, brochures, bulletins, or weekly program at no charge. This is your way of contributing as well as getting some proofreading experience and start building a portfolio. You will see that the church may offer to pay you and that is up to you whether you accept the pay.

Local Schools - You will be surprised the amount of work you can get from local schools. Again, many times you can offer your proofreading skills as more of a donation if you choose. This will not only help your local schools out, but help build that ever important portfolio.

Colleges and Universities - If you visit local colleges and universities you will see there are many many opportunities. Not only with the schools themselves, but with the students as well. If allowed (which in most cases it is) post a bulletin in the designated area with your information. Make a note about your skills, contact information and (most important for a college student) your budget pricing. You will be surprised on how much work you can get from college students as long as you are reasonable.

Fluent In More Then One Language?
Here is a great way to earn money working from home if you are fluent in more then one language. The site is called Proz.com, and they post hundreds of jobs for translation requests and proofreading other languages. You will see almost every translation need from English to Spanish, Chinese to French, German to Spanish, etc. So if you think this is something you can do, take a look at the job board for this type of work.