Proofreading

Getting there

Hi,

I hope this is the right forum for this, if not please point me in the right direction!

Has anyone here any experience of proofreading? Iv been approached by a few foreign students who would be interested in having me go over their work with them in a subject I'm familiar with.

I'm just wondering what I'm obliged to do by charging them for this service (They have offered to pay). I mean, would I be expected to give them a certain grade I think they should be getting? Also, any idea what would be the going rate? Obviously, I'd do it for less than that because they are students.

Thanks for any info!

Ahbegob

It depends what your students want. You say it's a subject you know; so are you expected to only check to make sure their facts are correct?

Generally proof readers have almost no need to know the subject. They are there to correct grammer, spelling, improve sentences and make sure the 'house style' of the publishing house/college is followed ie the placement of footnotes, references etc are in the correct format and in the correct place; that house spelling is used ie is it 'specialize' or 'specialise'; that the correct protocols are used ie 'the hotel may not be manned by a great bunch of people' but it may be 'staffed by a great bunch of people.'

The proof reader may also suggest improvements to the text- perhaps replace words with better alternatives, make better English of a convoluted sentence.

So the manuscript could be submitted to you in double space typing- the gaps can be used to write in corrections.

I've proofed many documents and stories and the price correlates to the time that the job takes. ie a quick fact check would be chargeable at much less than a word-by-word rewrite

Hope that helps as a guide- it is intended by no means as a definitive explanation of the role of a proof reader