Advice wanted re freelance work - copy writing, editing etc

Does anyone on this forum do any work in the areas of copy writing / proof reading / editing? Or other freelance work?

I'm a part time teacher and getting to the stage where I'm considering other options for work or additional hours on top of my current PT role. This is due to health reasons and knowing more about myself since being diagnosed autistic (WFH or more flexible environment might be more suitable). I have a degree and  teach English language. I don't really know where to start but have looked up a bit about volunteering positions so far.

If anyone is in this field of work (bit of a vague question but) can you tell me more about it? Is it hard to get into, what's the pay and the reliability of work like? 

Thank you

  • I find it really interesting

    connections between languages, words with the same roots, most of latin

    errors most often come from translating directly word after word, forgetting about the meaning

    e.g. to look like a drowned rat in polish is to look like a wet hen

  • I work with people every day whose first language is not English so am used to correcting errors. I find it really interesting how different languages produce different common errors.

  • Yes it does, thank you. I think I'm going to look at some volunteering stuff first to see if it's for me.

  • those whose first language is not English

    and it goes for any non-native speaker in any language have a limited vocabulary in that language, so correcting repetition in text might be a challenge

    Most neurotypicals never makes an effort to pass something called ''language barrier'', none among my polish friends at least. I am not sure if I did in any language, in each, including polish I have only limited vocabulary and I can't talk about anything else than that, but at least I'm trying to expand, neurotypicals don't, they stick together instead.

  • Hi. I have being proof reading on and off for quite a few years to help with bills etc, alongside working full time, through one publisher and have a friend that does it full time for the same publisher but it’s quite hard to get into and very competitive. You’re self employed even though you might get work through a publisher and there’s no guarantee of getting any work. The author of each manuscript gets given the contact details of the proof readers the publisher uses then it’s up to them which they want to contact and who they choose; you get asked to provide a quote and sometimes how long you think it’ll take to do the work then the author either accepts the quote or tries to negotiate and sometimes you get it and sometimes you don’t (you mostly know you haven’t got it because you don’t hear anything from them again).

    The cost of the work is however much you think you want to charge per 1,000 words and it’s a really good idea to ask for a sample of the work to see how much work is going to be involved so you know what rate to charge and if you even want to do it. Most of the manuscripts I’ve done have been academic/research work and can be quite specialised in the topics so if you don’t know the subject you need to allow extra time to check the technical terms etc they’ll include, and most of them have been from those whose first language is not English and who have either asked a friend to translate it or put it through a translation programme and can be very difficult to make sense of at times. These take a lot of extra time and are not always worth it.

    Usually the author pays you directly once you invoice them when the work is complete and it can be a risk of being paid at all or whether the publisher can help try to get the money if they don’t. My friend and I have found out the hard way that those from certain areas of the world are very much less likely to pay or to argue about the cost after you’ve done the work so we don’t take any jobs from those anymore.

    Hope that helps a bit.