Are proof readers still employed?

[rufuscat]

Now that we are all equipped with (American-style)
spell-checkers, are there still employment opportunities
for trained proof-readers, please? If so, how do you find the clients when working from home on this?

[mirela]

as i know, most foreign students in university are seeking for proffreading service for thier essays, summer time can be the busiest time for disertations, so i reckon you check out universitys website or if u know someone in the unii, could ask them to put small ads on campus or on their student website. also i remember when i was in uni 2006, we could get a list of proofreaders contact info from faculty, so i persume you may can in touch with university student office as well.hth.

[Gok Wan]

Good Lord, I would make a fortune if I was proof reading things like mirela's answer.

[Ethel]

Proof readers are still employed - spell checkers are good tools but are not infallible and are hopeless when a correctly spelled word is used in the wrong context or the punctuation is incorrect; eg pat sawed the bow of the tree.

There are three mistakes in that example, but the spell checker would not have highlighted any on them.

You will need a thorough understanding of the correct use of grammar and punctuation, as well as spelling. Most proof readers are graduates.

Do not consider proof reading for undergraduates unless you have an extensive knowledge of the subject. You simply will not be equipped to spot errors in a legal paper if you have never studied law, for example.

Good information here:
http://tinyurl.com/5b5aje

[Twenty20]

There's a Society for Editors and Proofreaders http://www.sfep.org.uk/
who should be able to help you. Alternatively, buy a book called The Writers Handbook which lists all the publishers in the UK and abroad. You could try approaching the publishers individually - they are your clients. Alternatively, try book packagers, some publishers put all the work out to them. Do you have experience of editing and proofreading? If not you possibly wont get very far.

[rufuscat]

Thank you everyone for your various responses. I
was enquiring on behalf of my husband, who is a
highly trained industrial editor who spent 40 years
editing journals and is a published author. Now
retiring, he wants us to set up a home business
using his considerable writing and proof-reading skills;
I am to keep the books and make the coffee!
He had absolutely no idea how to find clients after
working in his sheltered office environment but
we will now try publishers, universities and so on,
with our grateful thanks for your collective wisdom.

[mirela]

hi refuscat, the proofreading price in university about 10 to 15 per 1000 words

hey GOK WAN, i am foreigner, luckily when i was doing my master course in university, i got an english mate to check all my assignment and final disertation for free, in return i helped his madarin learning.

[Mamjet]

Mandarin.

[tubeway]

English

[mirela]

cheers for free proofreading for me

[factor-fiction]

Shame some of you couldn't see Mirela's first answer was a brilliant spoof on those proof reading adverts you see in newspapers. I was going to do the same but she beat me to it.
Having said that, despite the deliberate mistakes her submission was written to a much higher standard of English than many of the 'text speak' questions submitted on Answerbank