BEST ACTOR DAY JOBS: Paid to read... too good to be true?
Submitted Feb 13, 2008
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Welcome to our new series examining the best ways for actors to pay the bills while paying their dues. Today's column looks at a job you may not have considered: proofreading.
SUE GILAD is an actor, entrepreneur, and author of the books, PAID TO PROOFREAD and COPYEDITING AND PROOFREADING FOR DUMMIES.
Interested in making a six-figure income reading books in your spare time? Read on...
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Sue... actors are always struggling to pay the bills, working horrible jobs waiting tables, catering, temp work... but you found a great way to make money by reading books in your free time. Yes, I want this job. How do I do it and how much can I make?
How many times have you been reading a book or a menu or a magazine and an error suddenly pops out at you? Guess what? You’ve just done the job. Honestly, the job is easy. Proofreading takes attention and concentration, but it isn’t brain surgery.
And how much can you make? The sky is really the limit. Proofreading is an amazing source of revenue. You can supplement your current job or make it your main income—it’s your choice. Full-time freelance proofreaders can and do make six figures. The key of course is knowing not just how to do the job, but more importantly, how to get the jobs.
Is this a good job for actors? What type of people are doing this?
Artists, moms, entrepreneurs, retirees, the stuck-in-my-full-time jobbers, and anyone who just plain hates what they do now. Freelance proofreaders come from all walks of life and all sorts of backgrounds. There really are no prerequisites to limit anyone from being successful in this profession. Most everyone who begins freelance proofreading has had some sort of different occupation in the past. No one starts this profession with the knowledge of how to do the job, but proofreading is something that almost anyone is imminently qualified for. Whether you realize it or not, it’s a job you’ve been training for ever since you picked up your first set of A, B, C, blocks.
I'm focused on my acting career... Do I have to "pay my dues" at this job, too? Is proofreading going to be a difficult job to learn?
It’s not. But I understand where the question is coming from. This is one of those chicken and the egg situations. How do you get a proofreading job with out knowing how to proofread? And how do you learn how to proofread without doing proofreading jobs? (Say that five times fast.)
Step one is to confidently declare yourself a proofreader and begin building experience through your local network—like friends, family, community organizations, or the Internet. Dive in, whether or not you know the proofreading symbols or how to use them. Developing your eye and becoming accustomed to the process just takes a little practice.
Do I need special equipment? Does this require an investment on my part?
This really is a perfect job, in that you can work from wherever you want. I first began proofreading while I was on a national tour of a musical. The editor sent me the galleys, and I proofread in my hotel room, on the bus, or in my dressing room between shows. I carried with me red pencils (Ticonderoga Checking pencils are the best), little canary yellow Post-Its, and Webster’s Dictionary. That was pretty much all I needed. And nowadays, you don’t even need a hardcopy of the dictionary—it’s on the Internet for free.
I don't know anyone in publishing. Am I screwed?
Well, it is a “who you know” industry to the extent that once you’ve gotten in with one editor, your name will get passed around—one job will become two, will become four, and so on. That’s the amazing thing about it.
But as far as getting in? It might be hard for writers and high-profile editors, but proofreaders work for the unsung heroes of the production department. There are 175,000 books published every year. The people in the production departments are the ones making that happen, and they need help—especially because many of 175,000 books are proofread four times before hitting the bookstore shelves. So, while developing and nurturing publishing relationships is important, anyone can begin proofreading without having to be on the inside of the industry. I did it, I am still doing it, and there is plenty of work to go around.
Income can be sporadic for actors over the years... can I do this long-term?
I started ten years ago, after college. I interviewed for an editorial assistant job—basically a glorified coffee-getter—at a small clinical psychotherapy publishing house. (I knew zilch about clinical psychotherapy, by the way.)
I was pursuing musical theatre, and that same week I booked my first national tour. So the editor sent me on my way with the company proofreading manual and some “dead” (already published) copy to learn the ropes. Then, pretty soon she began sending me “live” projects. . . . I never got to that editorial assistant job, but that one editor tossed my name around the office and the work began to come steadily after that.
The possibility of making $500 or $1000 a week simply reading books was a panacea to me. Right from the get-go, freelance proofreading gave me the freedom to take theatre jobs based on whether I wanted them, not based on the paycheck involved. So I never had to worry about paying my rent while I was simultaneously pursuing my passions.
You've now written an eBook: "PAID TO PROOFREAD: Secrets to Financial Freedom and Success", set up a website, paidtoproofread.com, and written the "Copyediting & Proofreading for Dummies" book... how did all that come about?
PaidToProofread.com grew organically out of years of proofreading galleys in rehearsals, on the subway, in waiting rooms, and the like. I guess it’s a curious thing to be doing in public, because I’ve had thousands of friends and strangers approach me and ask, “What are you doing?” You can’t imagine the excitement it elicits when I answer simply, “I’m proofreading a book.”
Initially I taught individuals how to proofread and more importantly, how to find the jobs. That evolved into small classes, then larger classes, then workshops at the Learning Annex, and finally my book, GET PAID TO READ and its companion web site, www.PaidToProofread.com.
I could seriously use some extra cash. Will your book and classes show me how to get started right away?
As I said earlier, getting in with the publishers on the production end of things is not a challenge. You can be generating income from proofreading within ninety days. As far as breaking in goes, I provide my students with everything I’ve gleaned in my past ten years of freelance proofreading.
GET PAID TO READ carefully guides readers though the process of becoming a freelance proofreader, step by step: The lion’s share of the book focuses on how to find and get the jobs—building experience, discovering the publishers who produce the material you want to read, creating an appropriate resume, making first contact with clients, and beyond.
This is something no other book on proofreading does. And for people who want more support, we offer a teleclass program on www.PaidToProofread.com. This is a ten-week series that puts all the principles I lay out in the book and seminar, into real action. You even get a “buddy" in the class, who helps you keep you on task and motivated.
So... you talk about making a six figure income from this. Is that a serious possibility, or do I have to lock myself in my room and do nothing but read twelve hours a day to make that kind of money?
The first year I made a six-figure income as a proofreader was the year my daughter was born. She was due at the end of June, so for the first six months of that year I did what every first-time parent would do: I worried about how I would pay for Harvard! I asked my editors to send me whatever fun stuff they had, and I read like a demon. I anticipated that once she arrived that it would be the end of my moneymaking abilities.
But you know, babies sleep a lot. And eat a lot. So I spent the second half of that year reading while she slept/ate, and lo and behold, I was still plenty productive. That was the first year that I TRULY saw that this is a from-anywhere kind of job.
As for how long it takes me to read a novel: I have become a more rapid reader over the years, and now that my eye automatically catches the errors, I usually read a novel in a few evenings. If it’s a mystery or a romance, sometimes it will be 2 a.m. before I even notice! My husband calls those the “one-night novels.”
Proofreading errors are finite; it’s not like there’s some little man sitting in a corner inventing new errors to be identified. Once you’ve been doing the job for a while, it’s almost like you know what the errors are going to be before you unwrap the book.
Am I going to be stuck reading boring technical manuals? What sort of books do you get paid to read, and what have been some of your favorites?
Oh, how to choose?! The Da Vinci Code would definitely have to be up there. Stephen King’s Black House. The Accidental Tourist. I proofread the entire Star Wars series and I loved Episode 3. Be sure to read it before you see the movie!
And then there are practical books that teach me invaluable info: Nice Girls Don’t Get Rich was an eye-opener, as was Lou Dobbs’ Exporting America and Gov. Mike Huckabee’s Quit Digging Your Grave with a Knife and Fork.
Whenever I proof a new edition of The Ultimate Video Movie Guide, I keep a running list of films to see. My husband liked when I proofed How to Be a Dominatrix and The Long-Life Cookbook—for very different reasons.
This sounds like the most amazing job ever created in the history of the world. (Aside from acting, of course.) What impact has proofreading had on your life?
Well, the money is nice, insofar as that money equals freedom in our society. And that’s what this income has provided for me—the freedom to wake up when I want, never “report” to work, and enjoy every moment of my life and my family’s lives. I also get to travel a lot, because my books can come with me—thanks to FedEx, UPS, and the Internet.
But above all else, I get to read books I would never pick up for myself—the exposure to different ideas and other cultures I’ve received is a marvel unto itself. I read a wonderful book a few months ago, a fictionalized account of the first African-America doctor called Angel of Harlem. I wouldn’t even have known where to get that book, but it just landed on my desk. I think proofreading really is a perfect job: working from wherever you want, getting a free education, and earning up to a six-figure income.
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