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nlewis10
Community Member

Advice for a teacher wanting to become a freelance editor

Hello,

 

My name is Nicole Lewis and I spent the last 13 years in the education world working different jobs. I was a substitute English teacher, teaching assistant, tutor for Tutor.com, and recenlty a writing coach for a college Writing Center. I have editted numerous student papers and created some instructional materials for college classes that I taught, but I am not sure if they can count as work samples on my profile. Years ago, I did some volunteer writing and editing for a non-profit newsletter, but would copies of the newsletter be considered a work sample to show? 

 

If the answer is no to any of these, then what advice do you have for gaining work as a freelance editor without work samples? My goal is to transition into becoming more of a stay at home editor and writing consultant but I feel a bit lost on how to show clients I have the skills they need to create good content. Any advice is much appreciated. 

11 REPLIES 11
tlbp
Community Member

I'm not an editor, so take this advice as just my opinion, but I would focus on your credentials until you have some samples you can present. 

 

Since you are new to freelancing, be aware that sometimes students will hire an editor and really hope that you will write their paper. Don't assume that potential clients have bad intentions but pay close attention to how they describe the project before you agree to work with them. Once you agree to a contract, it can be difficult to back out. 

 

I'm sure some of the professional editors will weigh in with more specific advice. 

jmlaidlaw
Community Member

@ Nicole --

 

Based on the rather jarring errors in grammar (and a few in spelling) that are present in your profile (which, I assume, you carefully edited and which is intended to present yourself at your best) and that also dot your posting above, my suggestion is that you are not actually best served by attempting to do freelance editing for pay -- certainly not at your asking rate.

I'm very new to this community. I just signed up today, and this is the kind of community support I see? I hope the community isn't as rude as you just were to Nicole. She only asked an honest question with the hopes she would receive some helpful advice. You may have attempted to critique her profile, but it was utterly rude how you degraded her for her mistakes. IF you want to be helpful, then be helpful and leave your opinions out of it.

Hi,

 

You've been digging up posts across years just to find something that is remotely harsh at best just to comment on this? The posts you refer to are 2 years old, the OP is no longer on UpWork. 

 

This is not a "patting-ourselves-on-the-backs" community - I cannot check if in the OP's profile the errors were indeed serious (for an editor, any error in a profile is a bad thing). If she had made mistakes, then the answer (marked clearly as a suggestion) was valid. Maybe not the most motivating but still valid. 

 

Freelancing requires tough skin. It's a business. 

 

Now, chew on this, and....welcome to the forum!

 

PS. ToS does not allow to offer free work. Change your rate in your profile cos now it says $0.00 per hour. 

Piotr O wrote:

Hi,

 

You've been digging up posts across years just to find something that is remotely harsh at best just to comment on this? The posts you refer to are 2 years old, the OP is no longer on UpWork. 

[...]

 

PS. ToS does not allow to offer free work. Change your rate in your profile cos now it says $0.00 per hour. 

--------------------------------

 AFIK, putting $0.00 per hour is not against the ToS, and does not necessarily mean that a freelancer is offering free work. 

 


 


Nichola L wrote:

 AFIK, putting $0.00 per hour is not against the ToS, and does not necessarily mean that a freelancer is offering free work. 

 


 


Ok, but...well....how should I understand $0.00 per hour rate? 

petra_r
Community Member


Piotr O wrote: Ok, but...well....how should I understand $0.00 per hour rate? 

He hasn't completed his profile yet.

It is also untrue that working for free is a violation of the terms of service. It isn't.

2e395a62
Community Member


Petra R wrote:

Piotr O wrote: Ok, but...well....how should I understand $0.00 per hour rate? 

He hasn't completed his profile yet.

It is also untrue that working for free is a violation of the terms of service. It isn't.


You seem to be right (and I was wrong) but (asking out of curiosity), is it possible to set up e.g. a fixed-rate contract for $0.00 and process it through UpWork?


Piotr O wrote:

Petra R wrote:

Piotr O wrote: Ok, but...well....how should I understand $0.00 per hour rate? 

He hasn't completed his profile yet.

It is also untrue that working for free is a violation of the terms of service. It isn't.


You seem to be right (and I was wrong) but (asking out of curiosity), is it possible to set up e.g. a fixed-rate contract for $0.00 and process it through UpWork?


_________________________________

I think it is a case of negotiating terms. The freelancer may not want to tie himself into a specific budget grouping. 


Nichola L wrote:  I think it is a case of negotiating terms. The freelancer may not want to tie himself into a specific budget grouping. 

I doubt it. He can't even apply without an hourly rate. He's just not set it yet.

 

Piotr O wrote:  is it possible to set up e.g. a fixed-rate contract for $0.00 and process it through UpWork?

No. The minimum is $ 5.00 and for hourly contracts the minimum is $3.00 per hour.

 

He couldn't even apply without adding his hourly rate, it will throw up an error message.

re: "and this is the kind of community support I see? I hope the community isn't as rude as you just were to Nicole"

 

Gary:
Nobody here was rude to the original poster.

People here were providing her with helpful advice.

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