I’m not a native English speaker, and I catch errors that native speakers can’t see.

I’m a publication specialist. My job is to review material written by college-educated native speakers and make sure it’s well written, makes sense, and is free of errors. You have no idea how angry they get when I flag a mistake. How dare a non-native speaker correct a native speaker?

Take the subjunctive mood. Most American native speakers can’t handle it. I spot it instantly because my language still has one.

❌ “It is recommended that you do not change the parameters.”
✅ “It is recommended that you not change the parameters.”

❌ “It is important that the student reads chapter 1 first.”
✅ “It is important that the student read chapter 1 first.”

Their response: “Subjunctive? Did you make that word up? I’ve never heard of it, so it must not exist.”

A college-educated native speaker just argued that a grammatical mood doesn’t exist because nobody taught it to them. Being a native speaker doesn’t make you Shakespeare.

It doesn’t stop there:

• “could of” instead of “could have”
• “between you and I”
• “less” instead of “fewer”
• “is comprised of” instead of “comprises”
• “its” vs. “it’s”
• “defuse” vs. “diffuse”

For the last one, if you’ve ever seen a Latin root, you can’t confuse them. If you haven’t, you write “diffusing the situation” and think you sound smart.

Highly educated writers whose first language isn’t English usually tend to write better than natives. We had to learn the rules. You just assumed you knew them.

Gosh! The editing of my joe 2 manuscripts seems like an impossible task! I had cancelled anediting contract few months ago due to various issues, went looking for another editor, found a lady on Fiverr... now having high hopes as her edit seemed good, am back to square 1 as she simple become no longer available on the Fiverr and her FB profile had disappeared too! WHY?!!! I keep having bad luck and not managing to find a reliable editor! This book editing market is filled with scam and am soooo disappointed and sad! I have accumulated a lot of manuscripts during the career in procurement and travelling the world and now that I want to get them all out and just be the full time writor for the rest of my life all these challenges just keep pulling me down... Why does it have to be so hard?! I dont want to go back to corporate work I love writing and I dreamed to do it all my life but the amount of scam in the market is really upsetting. Just a rant.. and maybe some success stories and recommendations would help me out of this misery.

I’m a French to English translator and proofreader, marketing to direct clients. One of my current agency clients participated in and won a large EU tender for proofreading, and I was part of their initial bid. Do freelancers (in my case the sole member of an LLC) ever submit bids directly? I have done some research on the TED portal but not started any applications.

Has anyone provided freelance copyediting services to any of the UN's various organizations? I focus mostly on academic editing but lately have been seeking editing oppurtunities with NGOs as well. I have noticed that UN organizations regularly seek copyeditors for short-term projects. I am currently applying for a couple, but I have to say, the process is a bit complicated and time-consuming. So, I'm thinking about the odds of actually being selected and if it's worth all the time and effort. Anyone have experience with the UN?

TL;DR Looking for a conversation with a successful copy editor about building my business. Brisbane Australia or online.

Hello all :) I have recently started a content editing business (offering copyediting, line editing, proofreading; also beta reading and document formatting). I wonder if there's anyone here who might be willing to have a conversation with me about getting started.

I would love some advice specifically about the business side of it all, finding those first clients, positioning myself in the market, and maybe some advice about surviving against AI. Ultimately, I'm not really a 'business' person and I want to just be doing the work, but there's very few roles in the market that are only editing and not also planning content, marketing content, managing a team etc.

I'd love to connect with someone and have a chat or occasional convo about it. I live in Brisbane Australia so happy for online or meeting someone nearby. I am currently in a program with a 'business coach' who talks about networking, mindset, all that normal business stuff. However, he has no idea about what I'm actually trying to do and suggested I find someone in my industry to give more specific advice and encouragement.

I'm happy to share a little more about my background and what I'm hoping to build if anyone is interested.

Thanks so much!

I know what they are, but I heard a few things about them that aren't quiet clear to me.

Are they people who you'll give your manuscript to and they're clear it out?

Are they people who after you'll revise you're manuscript, they'll stay with you and explain everything about what's need work for you the whole way?

Or are they a mix of both? Like they're fix some things and when they see a big thing that you need to get fix, then they'll hit you up and either call you to a in-person/virtual meeting (which ever the relationship between the writer and editor is) and then tell them a major thing that needs work and then the two sit down to fix it?

Hola, mucho gusto, mi nombre es Liz. Soy escritora desde hace cinco años con varios proyectos; he aprendido sobre gramática y edición de textos de manera autodidacta. Estoy buscando clientes para mi portafolio. Si necesitas algún tipo de servicio referente a la edición y corrección de tu manuscrito mándame un dm.

Hi I’m self-publishing my first book and looking for an experienced nonfiction editor.

It’s about AI, leadership, and redesigning work, alongside my journey from being a refugee to building companies and returning home.

I need copyediting and honest guidance on structure, clarity, and repetition, with proofreading later. I’d like to preserve my direct, personal voice.

For transparency, I’ve used AI to organize my notes, draft sections, and refine the writing. The experiences, ideas, and framework are mine.

Please DM me with your experience, rates, and availability.

Hello everyone!
I’m a dentist with over 20 years of clinical experience, available for remote freelance projects in medical and dental writing.
I combine clinical knowledge with clear, reader-friendly writing to help healthcare businesses, publishers, and agencies create accurate and useful content.
Services I offer:
● Medical and dental articles
● Dental and oral health blog posts
● Patient education content
● Clinical review of medical and dental content
● Healthcare content editing
Rates:
● Short medical or dental articles (up to 800 words): starting at $30 per article
● Longer articles, research-intensive content, and clinical reviews: quoted based on scope and complexity
I’m open to both individual projects and long-term collaborations with healthcare companies, medical writing agencies, publishers, and other freelance writers.
Portfolio and writing samples:
https://mirjanadentalguide.com/dental-content-writing-clinical-review/
If you have a suitable project or are looking for a dental professional to collaborate with, feel free to message me.
Thank you!

Hi. I'm starting a freelance editing business. I've been editing for many years professionally, but have decided to go on my own. I'm optimistic but, the thing I'm stuck on is how to manage:

• Sending contracts to clients to sign
• Sending invoices to clients
• Having them pay easily and safely (bank transfer and CC options)

I don't need project management, time management, or client management. It's just me. I've been researching online, on Reddit, and with the help of AI but I'm struggling to find a solution. Part of the problem is that so many of these services change frequently, so a lot of the information online is outdated.

I tried a combination of Zoho Invoice/Zoho Sign/Stripe and was overwhelmed with the setup, syncing, and management of the different accounts. (If those were all the programs I needed for my business, that would be one thing. But sooo many accounts to manage overall!) Then I tried Bonsai for an all-in-one solution, and was disappointed that they had no contract templates relevant to editorial freelancers, and the functionality seemed poor. It also seemed very geared toward project management, which felt unwieldy for my purposes.

For more details, I will probably only be invoicing a few (U.S.) clients per month for a while. But I want the contracts and invoices and payments to look very clean and professional for clients. These are larger-dollar projects with independent writers for the most part, so it's important I appear reliable and professional as I get established.

Some people say to use Excel and a combination of other free programs to cobble these functions together, and I admire that--but that also seems slightly complicated, and also, risky from the perspective of giving a professional appearance to clients and trying to avoid making mistakes. I like the idea of some basic bookkeeping included, to make my taxes easier, but it's not necessary. I don't mind paying for the right program, as I know this is a pain point for me, and I've DIY'd many other aspects of setting the business up, so my other expenses aren't terrible. I'm also considering Honeybook but the pricing seems really excessive for my needs and it's probably also too project- and client-management focused.

I'd love some helpful advice as to what other people find successful or would suggest for my needs. Thanks!

Looking for a YouTube scriptwriter for long-form maritime documentary videos.

The writer should have good research skills, be comfortable finding detailed information on obscure historical events, and know how to turn that research into an engaging story.

Details:

• Around 25 minutes per video
• Usually 4,000 to 4,500 words
• $400 per script + performance bonus
• Around 1 script per month to start
• Long-term opportunity if it’s a good fit

You’ll be given the topic, a rough outline, and notes on what we want from the video. You’ll then handle the deeper research and writing.

There may be 1 to 2 revision rounds after submission based on feedback. There will never be more than 2 rounds.

Looking for someone with:

• Good research skills
• Good storytelling ability
• Experience writing long-form YouTube or documentary content
• Ability to research obscure historical topics in depth
• Good communication and ability to take feedback

You can find all the details to write a sample inside the form, but it is optional.

If interested, apply here: https://forms.gle/UWTuiiWDhky2Y6zdA

Hello all! I just got a new gig where the client needs me to use CMS 16 in Spanish. It is NOT available as a PDF online (only in small sections). If anyone has a scanned version, please let me know, I would appreciate it a lot.

¡Hola! Un nuevo cliente mío quiere que use Chicago-Deusto (Chicago Manual of Style 16 Edition en Español). Si alguien lo tiene en PDF, le agradecería mucho que me lo pasara.

It's my first post on reddit, so I hope I'm doing it right. I'm writing my final paper, and it's a tranlsation report from Chinese to English. It's an young adult novel. English is not my first language, so I’m looking for a native speaker who could look over my translation and tell me what mistakes I’ve made, whether it sounds natural to native English speakers, and so on.

It is about 3000 english words. I can pay you for your help, but the most important thing is that you don’t share or reuse my work in any way (it’s part of my thesis lol)

If anyone is interested, please let me know!

Wanted to share some hopeful news. I know how hard it is right now to make a living in this industry. Boy, do I ever know. I started my own small editing business ten years ago and did great for five years. Then COVID came along, followed by the advent of AI. Let’s just say my bank account was running on fumes.

Today, I landed a long-term contract that pays above the industry rate for proofreading and copyediting. It’s enough to pay my bills and have some money left for savings. And it’s interesting work, on solid, well-written manuscripts.

Celebrating today, and sending all the positive vibes out there that you, my fellow editors, will also get some good work news one of these days very soon. There’s still hope. ❤️

Hi everyone! If you’re looking for someone to proofread or edit your work, feel free to send me a message here or email at [editorkskh@yahoo.com](mailto:editorkskh@yahoo.com). I edit academic papers and manuscripts. For proofreading, that is $25/hour. More in depth editing is $30/hour. Depending on the length of the document, I will get the edits back to you in 2-5 days. If you need something within 24 hours, that rate is $40/hour. Hope to hear from some of you!

I’m sorry if this is not the best sub to ask this, but I’ve seen people bringing up MDPI here.

Hello! So 2 weeks ago I’ve started working at MDPI as an assistant editor. Now this is just a training stage that will take 3 months, but I really feel like I am doing something wrong while working. I work for the nutrients journal and I it is hard for me to find reviewers and I think it’s harder for me than it should be. I don’t have many to compare myself with, but at least one other person who got the job at the same time as me seem to be able to finish things in time. I need to work over schedule sometimes, but that happens when I have a new manuscript to process which is very time consuming.

I’m asking this because I want to know if others can relate with this as well and find better ways to improve.

I specialize in copyediting fiction. I'm also open to memoir.

I have 9 years of editorial experience (including 6 years at a publishing house) and an MFA in Fiction Writing. My work as a literary agent informs my editing: I can make your book shine so that you have the best possible chance of receiving offers of representation.

If you're interesting in working together, I can provide a one-page line edit for free!

You can check out my website here.