How to Become a Proofreader Online (2024)

Today’s post teaches you how to edit files at home and become a proofreader at home without a fancy degree.

These days there are a lot of people looking for a more flexible work-at-home options.

While most online jobs do not require much learning, there are some that do require a bit of effort.

Proofreading is one flexible side hustle that uses skills you already have, so you can start making money almost immediately.

If you are someone that is looking to start a work-at-home career, but can only contribute less than 20 hours a week, I have a stay-at-home mom that is going to show you how she’s doing it as an online proofreader.

First, let us brush up on some proofreading basics.

♦ Learn how to become an online proofreader with this free proofreading workshop.

What is Proofreading?

Proofreading is the final stage of the editing process.

An editor and a proofreader have different tasks. The editor does the initial stage of detailed corrections and checks sentence flow, while a proofreader makes changes to the final draft.

A few things a proofreader needs to check are grammar and spelling errors.

So if you have an interest in correcting grammatical errors, spotting inconsistencies in sentence structure, formatting, and have an eye for detail, proofreading may be for you.

Proofreading Services

Lots and lots of online businesses require proofreading services.

With the growing digital era, there is a need for proofreading almost every type of content that goes online.

From ebooks, online courses, digital downloads, blog posts, resumes, and other marketing material.

This means more work for proofreaders, and you can do this work from home sitting on your couch.

Proofreader Salary

Wondering how much do proofreaders make?

According to the Bureau of Labour Statistics *(2019), a Proofreader’s salary is an average of $37,550 and can go up to $61,480.

♦ Learn how to become an online proofreader with this free proofreading workshop.

How to become a proofreader?

It is not necessary to have a professional degree to become a proofreader, but what is essential is a good command of English and the right learning resource.

While you may receive short documents to proofread, you will also be required to proofread longer documents like books (which do pay better). This means having the ability to stay focused is necessary.

Now, where do you begin?

There are many online proofreading courses available on the internet, but one of the most popular one is Proofread Anywhere.

Who can become a proofreader?

Anyone with good grammar skills and who is looking to make extra money from home.

This is a flexible side hustle that suits busy stay-at-home parents, or those wanting to build extra money for retirement, like proofreader Nancy Laverty-Snider.

Here is what she had to say,

Looking forward and planning for retirement, I decided that I needed to find something to supplement my income when I was ready to give up my lifelong career.

I felt I would still need to be productive in some capacity.

Moving to another province to be closer to family was something to consider as well.

Would I be able to find a part-time job in another province? What were my options? What did I like to do?

I came across Caitlin Pyle’s ad for Proofread Anywhere. I was intrigued: I listened to the presentation and was immediately excited. This was exactly what I wanted to do!

About a month after graduating, I found my first client on LinkedIn. She was a mutual professional of a relative of mine.

I have also found a couple of clients through Facebook, one was a mutual connection, and the other posted in a proofreaders’ group that he was looking for proofreading assistance.

I work on Upwork as well, and in that platform, I have three clients that I developed relationships with while working on their projects, and they now send me a new contract when they have further work to complete.

I pick up all the work I need on Upwork to stay busy.

Yes, it is possible to work from home and make money!

Proofreading Course

Before paying for a course, or starting a new career, the first thing to do is get an overview of the course and the job description.

Caitlin Pyle has a popular online proofreading course called Proofread Anywhere with over 5,000 students that are now making money from home.

For those that are still unsure, she has created a free Proofreading workshop, that will give you a better insight.

Click here to check out the content of the course and further information on starting a career as a proofreader.

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Online Proofreading Jobs

Here are 31 websites where you can find online proofreading jobs that accept beginners.

Apart from the websites listed, you can also land clients through social media promotion and word of mouth.

Free Proofreading Tools

There are some free tools that will assist you in proofreading online content.

Whether it’s emails, text files, or any digital documents. Once you register with them, it will automatically pick up grammatical mistakes as you type.

My favorite is Grammarly. I use it on my blog and has been tremendously helpful. It doesn’t format sentence structure but picks up spelling mistakes. I have it installed on my desktop and it’s free to use.

Grammarly – It’s free here

PaperRater

Polish My Writing

Now that we’ve covered a few basics, let us read about Amanda Miller, a student of the Proofread Anywhere course (and a stay-at-home mom) who tells us more about her journey into this new career.

Interview with Amanda Miller