Freelance Editors Wanted

I got word last week that one of my main freelance clients, Scribendi, is hiring more remote editors. Scribendi is an online editorial services company. I’ve been working for Scribendi for two years, and I think it’s a great gig. Here’s why:

• The work is steady. This is a biggie, as we all know how tenuous a lifestyle freelancing can be (and if you haven’t found this to be the case, I want to know your secret!) This is because the good folks at Scribendi do all the promotion and outreach to clients, which frees up their editors to focus on what they do best: edit.
• The work is diverse. I never know for certain what I’ll get to edit for Scribendi, and this keeps things interesting. I’ve edited love letters and letters to the president, novel manuscripts, scientific reports, admissions essays, company policies, and more. The majority of Scribendi’s clients are academics, particularly academics who are writing in English as their second language, so comfort working with ESL writing will benefit you.
• The work is flexible. You can work on weekends and evenings if that suits you best, try to keep to a 9-to-5 (although I recommend working outside of these hours for the most diverse projects), or earn some money in the middle of the night when you can’t sleep (I’ve done this several times, and it sure beats staring at the ceiling.) Right now, Scribendi is prioritizing editors who can commit to editing at least 10,000 words a month. I edit for them part-time, and I’m at 26,000 words for the month of July, so 10,000 words/month is reasonable if you can devote 10 or more hours to editing per week.

Of course, that leaves the big question: money. Pricing on Scribendi is done according to project, and depends on the type of job (editing, proofreading, academic, ESL, writing, etc.), the length of the piece, and the deadline. At my editing speed, I make between $12-$35 an hour, depending on the project. Scribendi also offers incentives for picking up projects on weekends or when they’re running late, for receiving positive feedback from clients, or for getting a repeat order from a client (clients can request you when they place their orders if they’ve been happy with your work in the past).

You can learn more about Scribendi’s application process here. Please mention me if you’re asked who referred you. And feel free to ask any additional questions in the comments!