You have a considerable list of options if you decide to be a freelance writer. Writers have the privilege of offering different services to clients. These could include copy writing, Web content writing, résumé writing, and many others. Freelance writers could also offer editorial services. After all, they surely have developed a keen editorial background and an eye for details. The demand for such services has always been there, so there are great opportunities available to such writers. Offering editorial services to clients could be a very profitable niche.

Freelance writers and editors could work for various newspapers, magazines, book publishers, and other writers. If you are considering being a freelance editorial provider, you should first get familiar with several widely used style guides. The most recommended and popularly used among such guides are The Chicago Manual of Style and The Associated Press Stylebook. If you are pursuing more technical niches, you may look at other stylebooks as well.

Here are several editorial services you could offer to your prospective clients . Take note of the basic requirements and the features of such services so you do not get confused when deciding what services to offer.

Copy editing

Many online magazines , newspapers, and blogs are currently looking for good and reliable copy editors. Many freelance writers and editors are taking advantage of such great demand. If you have basic copy editing skills, be prepared to receive editing assignments that are more advanced. Your basic knowledge of English grammar as well as style, together with a sharp eye for details, would be a key to the job. As a freelance copy editor, you would be asked to check manuscripts for grammar, spelling, and punctuation errors . To ensure consistency with the style used in the specific industry, you need to also master the standard style applicable for the industry your client is operating in. Stylebooks could be your ultimate guide.

Line editing

There are manuscripts that simply require more work than all others. These materials need line editing instead of the simple copy editing. The work of the line editor is almost identical to the task of a copy editor, but line editing requires invasiveness. That means the line editor applies heavier copy editing. If you take this position, you would edit every sentence in the manuscript to correct excessive and inappropriate use of the passive voice. It would also be your task to look more closely at the overall structure, readability, and flow of the entire manuscript. You should make recommendations on how readability could be improved through minor and major structural changes.

Proofreading

Of all the editorial services, proofreading has always been perceived as the lightest and easiest. In the publishing industry, the task of the proofreader is to review the typeset copy to identify any deviation from the original manuscript. Proofreading also entails the last stage of checking for even the most minor spelling and punctuation errors and incorrect word breaks. In general, the proofreader is the last individual to check the copy prior to mass printing or online posting.

Remember, I am a Virtual Assistant who LOVES to do editing,
proofreading and transcription assignments!

Jan Tallent
Tallent Agency Virtual Assistance

573-775-4520 jan@tallentagency.com

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Tags: assignments, ebooks, Editing, errors, fixes, grammar, Proofreading, working with a Virtual Assistant

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 6th, 2010 at 11:47 am and is filed under Editing, Proofreading, Virtual Assistance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.