Side hustle editing/proofreading/writing?

[RollingGreen]

Thinking of starting an editing/proofreading/writing business as extra income. I work as a grant writer for a nonprofit organization and could offer services in my spare time to make some additional money. I would like to eventually set it up as a company (LLC.) Anyone have experience, advice, or know of some helpful resources? Of course, I've Googled, but wanted to check if anyone had other insight.

Thanks.

[leomatthewadams]

One of my pieces of advice is to never go for less than what you feel you’re worth. Do as much research as possible so that you can learn about your options and to ensure that you know how much you should be making hourly. You’re often also better off getting paid by the word rather than the hour, because you’ll have a better idea of how much you’ll make in the long run. Good luck!

[savedandsaving]

Hey, RollingGreen! I'm a little late to the party, but I kinda have experience doing this in the academic realm--I was a tutor at my university's writing center while studying, and when tutors left work there, administrators offered to put them on a freelance editing referral list. From being on that list, I was eventually able to become an "approved proofreader" for the same university's School of Communication, which contains about a dozen graduate degrees in the field.

Graduating thesis- and dissertation-writers at this school are required to get their work looked over, so I get a fairly reliable stream of about 5-10 of these long papers every year (there are only 2 other approved proofreaders to my knowledge). Depending on how much I charge per page and how detailed students want the editing to be, I could net anywhere from $60 to over $500 for one paper. Academic proofreading is fairly straightforward if you have fair knowledge of the main style manuals out there (MLA, APA, Chicago/Turabian) and/or are able to check out the manuals from your local library. I haven't ventured into other realms of writing yet, and I don't know what other universities' procedures and opportunities are, but I could imagine it being pretty lucrative if you get your foot in the door for multiple departments at a mid-size university. 

[mrsnamemustache]

This may not be helpful, but I recently hired a freelance editor for my academic writing (using University funds, not person funds, of course). It was to do editing for an NIH grant application. I didn't know where to look to find someone, but I eventually found that person by doing some searching on twitter. So might help to engage there, maybe? Also, I paid about $400 for about 6000 words. I didn't shop around so I don't really know if that is typical. She was able to return it in 2-3 days which was important to me.

[savedandsaving]

Also, I paid about $400 for about 6000 words. I didn't shop around so I don't really know if that is typical. She was able to return it in 2-3 days which was important to me.

Dang, I'd usually charge about $50 for that amount of editing in that amount of time....maybe it's time for me to start upping my prices...

[Missy B]

This may not be helpful, but I recently hired a freelance editor for my academic writing (using University funds, not person funds, of course). It was to do editing for an NIH grant application. I didn't know where to look to find someone, but I eventually found that person by doing some searching on twitter. So might help to engage there, maybe? Also, I paid about $400 for about 6000 words. I didn't shop around so I don't really know if that is typical. She was able to return it in 2-3 days which was important to me.

That's 15c a word. I have never seen rates that high for copyediting, ever. It's usually around 1.5 - 2.5c a word, even for academic stuff.

[mrsnamemustache]

This may not be helpful, but I recently hired a freelance editor for my academic writing (using University funds, not person funds, of course). It was to do editing for an NIH grant application. I didn't know where to look to find someone, but I eventually found that person by doing some searching on twitter. So might help to engage there, maybe? Also, I paid about $400 for about 6000 words. I didn't shop around so I don't really know if that is typical. She was able to return it in 2-3 days which was important to me.

That's 15c a word. I have never seen rates that high for copyediting, ever. It's usually around 1.5 - 2.5c a word, even for academic stuff.

Needless to say, I’m not super mustachian with my university start-up funds. But, it sounds like I need to shop around next time! I had/have no idea where to look to find someone (and mostly am doing this to save time so don’t want to spend much time looking). Any mustachians want to do editing for me in the future at a lower cost? :). I should say that the editor I used clearly spent quiet a few hours on it, touching every sentence.

[RWD]

Also, I paid about $400 for about 6000 words.

That's 15c a word.

No, it's 6.7 cents per word.

[Missy B]

Sigh. That's what I get for doing the math longhand. At least I'll get a participation ribbon...

[savedandsaving]

Needless to say, I’m not super mustachian with my university start-up funds. But, it sounds like I need to shop around next time! I had/have no idea where to look to find someone (and mostly am doing this to save time so don’t want to spend much time looking). Any mustachians want to do editing for me in the future at a lower cost? :). I should say that the editor I used clearly spent quiet a few hours on it, touching every sentence.

Hey, no shame. Quick turnaround is very important and can certainly be worth more--I have on occasion added an upcharge for really fast jobs. And of course, good quality editing is worth more as well. I will say that I'd be happy to edit for you any time and can definitely offer everything from light proofing to heavy editing, depending on how much time you want me to spend on your work. Shoot me a private message if you want specifics or my personal contact info! :)