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Freelance Editing

Saturday, November 21st, 2009

Although not paid as much as dropship opportunities, freelance editing has its challenges even when sometimes you have to work on resumes.. There are lots of homeworkers who are ready to help with various kinds of writing projects that require reformatting of tables and charts, proofreading, sentence restructuring or style management. Freelance editing is about earning money by improving the condition of a text that needs spelling, grammar and punctuation checks. The editor’s job is absolutely necessary because no publisher will receive a manuscript unless it has been checked and double-checked. Freelance editing is performed by both amateur and professional editors who work on their own, chasing individual projects or starting long term collaborations.

The mechanics of writing, the accuracy of the text both in language and in facts as well as the improvement of style represent the best achievements of editing whether in the freelance variant or not. A published material requires a certain uniformity or homogeneity of style, and the quality standards are imposed by the publishers. Freelance editing becomes a necessity because many writers have a sloppy spelling or an inaccurate usage of terms, not to mention that most of the problems appear with consistent terminology. For instance, depending on the language, the names of foreign state leaders differ in spelling, and there should not be more spelling variants in the same publication.

Those who take up freelance editing know that style guides such as the Associated Press and the Modern Language Associations are a must when they have to apply for any editing job. No good employer will hire someone who doesn’t have solid knowledge of style guides, which is why, you need to train if necessary. Personal style could even be polished with the help of online tools, and checking the offer of such programs is something to consider.

Freelance editing could bring a decent salary if performed well and without stress. If you’ve got any editing experience you’ll know how to handle your activities, but if you are new to the profession, special care is necessary. Do not think that editing means re-writing, because this is far from being true. You may polish up the style but the author’s sentences and ideas need to be exact. Don’t try a too free-hand when editing because it will get harder to recognize the author in the text, and this may cause inconveniences and lots of troubles for the editor. Editors and writers need each other in their profession, and respect is the ground for good work collaboration.