Are you quick to pick up grammatical errors and misspellings in the things you read? Do you know where to insert commas and where to leave them out? Are you confident with APA, MLA, or CLM style guides? If you answered a resounding YES to these questions, you might be a proofreader in the making.


If you’ve looked for information about working from home, you’ve probably run across proofreading jobs before. Many people want more information about this type of gig because they have a solid command of the language and know where punctuation is supposed to go. If you’ve ever wondered if you’d make a great proofreader, keep reading to see if you have what it takes.

Question no.1

What is Proofreading?


Do you remember learning about the writing process back in high school English classes? When you write something with the intent of publishing it, you move through five distinct phases. Proofreading is the final step in the editing part of the writing process.

Writers have already finished the prewriting stage with brainstorm sessions and research. The content and structure have been developed during the writing or drafting phase. Then, the content has been revised and any major errors in organization or flow have been corrected. Now, it’s ready for editing and proofreading.

During the proofreading stage, it’s time to polish the content and prepare it for publication. This final step includes looking for and correcting typographical errors in grammar, style, and spelling.

Everyone that produces content may have a need for a proofreader. This includes bloggers, small business, and large brands. Though some choose to do their own proofreading, many people bring in help for this phase of the process. They want to ensure everything they publish has a second set of eyes on it to ensure it is error-free.

When working as a proofreader, you may be asked to proofread anything from social media updates to emails and blog posts to books. Many proofreaders choose to specialize their services and focus on one main type of content. That could be:

  1. Student essays
  2. Court transcripts
  3. Online articles and blog posts
  4. Legal transcription
  5. Self-published novels
  6. User manuals
  7. Restaurant menus
  8. Press releases
  9. Newsletters

You may also choose to work with a specific type of client, providing all of their proofreading needs. Your client focus could be:

  1. Bloggers
  2. Coaches/Consultants 
  3. Court Reporters
  4. Real Estate Agents
  5. Restaurants
  6. Local Brick and Mortar Businesses

In addition to basic proofreading, there is also copy editing. This type of editing is more in-depth. Copy editors often suggest larger changes to a draft or manuscript. These recommendations go beyond grammar and punctuation and deal with things like clarity, consistency, and brevity.

Copy editors might specialize in a particular type of work (like self-published authors of any genre), or in a particular field or industry (like technical manuals for software companies). Typically copy editing happens before proofreading. Then the revised document will need to be proofread for a final check before publication.


Benefit of Working from Home as a Proofreader


There are many benefits to working from home as a proofreader. Here’s a brief overview of several. Many of these will be covered in more detail further down in the post.

At home proofreading jobs often provide flexibility. In many cases, your assigned work can be completed at any time of the day or night, as long as you meet your client’s deadlines. This means you may be able to proofread as a side-hustle on top of your regular 9-5 job. It can also be a great fit for moms who are trying to earn some extra income while staying home with their kids.

Unlike many work-at-home opportunities, you don’t necessarily need a desktop computer to succeed. There are people making money by proofreading on other devices. Proofreading can often be done remotely, from a laptop or tablet. Technological advances have made it incredibly easy to share files back and forth around the world.

But, since you will typically be working with text files and not videos, you don’t need the extra-fast internet connection that many other at home jobs require. As long as your clients don’t have any specific requirements for internet speed, proofreading is a good fit for people with satellite or other non-wired DSL internet options. This means proofreading is a viable option when you live in a small town or out in the boonies.

In addition to not needing great internet, you also don’t need a dedicated phone line. You won’t need a printer, a headset, or any other special equipment. Of course, you may want some for your own workflow (such as a portable keyboard if you’re using a tablet), but they aren’t required.

As an added bonus, online proofreading work is plentiful. There are tons of content creators out there who are looking for people to polish their work for them.

Question no 2

How Much Do Proofreading Jobs from Home Pay?


As with many online jobs, proofreading pay rates run the gamut from very little to very lucrative. It does tend to pay less than  was reporting an average annual salary of $44,000 in January 2020. Numbers can go a little over or under that average depending on your specialty and experience.


But, you won’t typically have a guaranteed salary as a remote proofreader. That’s because proofreading is usually production-based pay. This means you will rarely be offered an hourly wage. Instead, you will be paid by the page proofed.

Question no.3

 How  Flexible Are the Hours for At-Home Proofreaders?

As mentioned above, flexibility is one of the biggest perks about proofreading — more often than not, it’s deadline-driven opportunity as opposed to being on the clock for a specific number of hours. Proofreading jobs are generally structured to be incredibly flexible. As long as you can meet your deadlines, it doesn’t matter when you do the work.

In many cases, you won’t even need to punch the time clock. You just do the work when you can, and ensure it’s finished and submitted by the deadline. As you gain experience, you will naturally become faster, which helps increase the amount you can earn.

However, your flexibility might be a little different if you’re a proofreader in a traditional setting for a company. Then you might find that you have a specific schedule.

The other “caveat” to the flexibility of proofreading is that, depending on what type of clients you have, you might need to be able to turn your projects around quickly. You might receive a document to proofread and have to return it the next day, for example. This isn’t always the case, but it’s definitely an element of the job for many proofreaders.

Being able to manage your time well is essential, even for flexible work like proofreading. You can’t constantly procrastinate, or you’ll discover that you start missing deadlines.

Question no.4

What Skills Do I Need?

In addition to being able to manage your time well, there are some specific skills you need to succeed as a proofreader.

You must possess a great vocabulary and have top-notch grammar skills. Proofreading isn’t just catching spelling errors. You will also need to know things like proper comma usage, subject-verb agreement, and standard proofreading marks.

Some sites may require a degree. Others may simply want proofreading experience. If you don’t have either, you can reach out to small businesses or online publications offering your services to gain some referrals and/or testimonials.

To work for a large brand, content producer or news-centric site, you may need additional, more advanced skills. Many professional organizations and content mills follow is another popular style being used by many digital publications. If you want to proof academic papers for students, in some instances you may need the MLA Style Manual.

Question no. 5

How to Find Work as an Online Proofreader


There are a few ways to search for proofreading work, and the way you pick should be determined by the type of work you want to do. If you want to freelance, you’ll be actively marketing yourself. If you want to work for a company, you’ll mostly be responding to positions posted on various job boards. You can also discover companies that work with remote proofreaders by searching on the internet.

There are a few different search terms and keywords you can use to find proofreading jobs. Here are some of the common ones:

  1. proofreader/proofreading
  2. editor/editing
  3. copy editor
  4. line editor
  5. academic editor
  6. book editor

You’ll also want to include the typical keywords that are used for at-home positions:

  1. remote
  2. home office
  3. telecommute
  4. freelance
  5. contract/contractor

The bulk of your interview process will involve editing tests. You may be given a small sample and asked to proof it. This type of work is very much performance-based. It will certainly help if you have an engaging personality, but you won’t be able to be hired if you can’t perform well on an editing test.

If you go the freelance route working for individuals, you’ll probably come up against fewer editing tests, so you’ll need to be ready to prove yourself in other ways. The best way to prove yourself is with your testimonials from happy clients. You can plan to do a couple of free or low-paid gigs in exchange for a testimonial if you don’t have any.