Freelance Proofreaders Rock, OK?

June 13, 2011

It’s not often that we get negative comments on Get Paid to Write Online, but that’s just what our recent guest post on proofreading provoked. I thought that Randall Davidson’s post would start some discussion — and it certainly did. Randall’s view is that hiring a proofreading business gives clients advantages in terms of experience, efficiency, reputation, accuracy and flexibility. He’s entitled to his opinion but I, like many others, disagree that it’s an either-or situation. Looking at each point Randall made, my own experience suggests otherwise:

1. Experience — no, I didn’t attend a proofreading course, but decades of experience of proofreading newspaper and magazine content after on the job training makes me as qualified as the next person to claim skills in this area.

2. Efficiency — any experienced freelancer will be able to judge how long a project will take and will budget the right amount of time for complex projects. When you’re new, it’s not so easy, but it’s something you soon learn after a couple of times burning the midnight oil.

3. Reputation — freelancers look after their reputations as much as any other professionals, and possibly even more than larger companies, because this has a direct effect on the amount of work they get. All good freelancers will do their best not to leave clients in the lurch and will have a backup plan in case of illness.

4. Accuracy — see point 1. If you are an experienced proofreader, you will be accurate, freelancer or not.

5. Flexibility — perhaps companies have an advantage in being able to schedule multiple simultaneous projects, but freelancers can do this too. In my experience, all you have to do is have a network of trusted freelancers in the same business and then you will be able to outsource.

So that’s my take on it, and I think the views of many readers were summed up in this edited comment from Helen Stevens (the full comment is worth a read):

I’m sure there are some very efficient proofreading companies out there — but equally, freelance proofreaders have a great deal to offer. Yes, you need to make sure you choose a freelance who has the appropriate skills, knowledge and capacity to meet your individual requirements, but that’s also the case if you decide to choose a company. … As well as generalisations, there are statements in the article that are simply wrong. Perhaps the most obvious is the assertion that ‘Freelance proofreading … typically is performed by only one person who may be less concerned with his or her reputation in the marketplace’. Freelance proofreaders survive on their individual professional reputations, so it is perhaps more important that they provide an excellent service to each and every client.

Many clients value the one-to-one relationship that can be forged with an individual freelance proofreader, someone who knows your work and knows how you like things done. Such a relationship gives you, the client, confidence that the work will be done to a consistently high standard.

What do you think?

(Photo: jjpacres)