You might wonder why I am devoting a few articles to freelance editing jobs and proofreading jobs on a site about building a freelance WRITING career. Actually you might assume that editors are somehow not true writers, or that they are even in opposition to a writer’s success.

Well, we’re talking about becoming a successful freelance writer in this section, with a specific focus on keeping your eyes open for any writing opportunities that may come your way (particularly on the Internet).

If you have read some of the other articles I have written, you already know that I am totally against any line of thought that suggests exclusivity when it comes to your writing business. You won’t always get the chances you want, and that means having a diverse range of skill sets that you can get by on while you wait for your perfect opportunity to come up.

Editing: The securest freelance position of all

Offline and on, there are a lot of starving freelance writers. What you will never find is a starving freelance editor, because in essence no one considers editing an art form.

A lot of freelance writers I have read or talked to seem to degrade editors, which I find kind of humorous because for the most part, there are far more gainfully employed editors than there are writers. In fact, I would go so far as to say that were we to take the average pay per year of the two occupations (and yes you “writing writers” also get to use the combined salaries of Stephen King, J.K. Rowland and other seven or eight figure earners) the editor side would come out on top. Why? Because everyone, EVERYONE, uses the services of an editor or three.

What this means for your freelance writing business

For you, this means that editing jobs can be a very important part of your freelance writing career. Opportunities abound, and moreover you will probably find that editing jobs end up paying more per hour than writing jobs, with much easier work to boot. I expand on that a little bit more in another article, along with some specifics about editing jobs.

The point that you need to take from this is that when it comes to building a true career in freelance writing, you have to get away from many of the pretensions, snobberies, and mistaken beliefs that can be seen in so many writers.

Freelance editing jobs can be a great boost to the bottom line of any freelance business that is just starting out, and they may also lead to work in the form of writing. In fact if you look at the careers of many offline writers, you may find that some of the most successful landed their first deals after working as an editor in some capacity.

So never turn up your nose at freelance editing jobs. Not only will they serve to line your pocket, but they can also be a great step towards the writing work that you really want to do!

Editing jobs are one of a couple of areas that people don’t often consider when it comes to building a freelance writing career. After all, you are in this to create, not to fix what other people have created, right?

I subscribed to this type of thinking when I first started out, but since them I have definitely had a change of thought. In fact, I would happily make all my money editing rather than writing original articles, if I could find enough work to keep me busy in this area. There are a couple of reasons why.

• They are plentiful
• They mean the cash accumulates quickly
• They are very straightforward

In this article, we are going to expand on those points according to what I have found with my own business.

More than enough editing to go around!

The great thing about editing is that even the very best writers need to have some done for them, at some point. We all make mistakes when we write, whether it is a “brain fart” that means we put in the wrong form of “their” or “there”, or even just a common typo (“from” and “form” are commonly mistyped words that do not get caught).

This means that any time someone puts an article together, they need someone to look over it if they want it to be taken seriously. Now, I know a lot of people don’t think it matters too much how something is written, particularly on the Internet, as long as the idea is good.

I can say with certainty, however, that well written articles are becoming more important than ever even in cyber space; if sites want people to buy what they are selling, or take a certain course of action, they had better present it in a straightforward manner that demonstrates they know what they are talking about.

Low per unit pay adds up!

There was a time when this line of arguing convinced me to write articles for some site developer who didn’t realize slavery had been abolished. Although those days are thankfully far behind me, this is a line of reasoning that I do take when it comes to editing – provided it is the right kind of editing.

What do I mean by the “right kind” of editing jobs? Well, first let’s take a look at the three categories that can be found.

• Proofreading
• Line editing
• Copy editing

We’ve gone over proofreading jobs extensively in another article, so we’ll refer you there for an explanation and my thoughts (trust me, they are worth it!)

Line editing projects require the editor to do some proofreading and make sure that the punctuation and “flow” from paragraph to paragraph works. You can charge fairly low rates for line editing, as you can with proofreading jobs, because they tend to go fairly quickly – you don’t have to think up the whole article on your own.

Copy editing projects are those which require the editor (or writer doing the editing) to look over the piece in its entirety, to see if the whole thing flows together well.

The article/story should remain on topic, the characters should be well produced, and the piece should have a logical flow. It’s important not to project too low a cost for these projects, because they involved some in-depth reading that can take up some time! For fast cash, stick with the proofreading and line editing jobs.

Where can you find editing jobs?

Editors are needed in virtually every area where copy using the written word is produced, both online and off. One of the most lucrative editing jobs I ever received was at the local zoo, when I pointed out that a fund raising poster had numerous spelling errors in it (yes, it does pay to be annoying sometimes). Not only did I land that editing job, but I have been consulted on additional pieces the zoo has put out since.

Newspapers and trade magazines, publishers, and web sites that wish to put forward credible pieces for their readers are all interested in finding good editors.

It’s just a matter of getting your name out there. Don’t be a wall flower in this area either; anytime you see a site in serious need of a good editor, contact the developers and let them know what you do for a living. Make sure to give them solid information on what exactly you were looking at, so they can tell you know what you are talking about!

As always, remember that if you don’t succeed in landing those first few editing jobs, keep trying. I have probably written to hundreds of web sites, not to mention bugged various land based businesses, about their need for editing, but most of the time I get ignored (of course, the mistakes I point out are corrected).

Still, the times when you are able to pick up editing projects will prove to be quite rewarding!