Freelance Writing Experienced Editors and Proofreaders

Experienced Editors and Proofreaders

EditFast
I signed up with Editfast in November of 2006. I was required to take a 100-question grammar test before being approved. They keep 30% of what you make and payments are made once a month through PayPal. Here is my experience with EditFast:

I heard nothing from them for nine months. In August of 2007, I received a request from a client to submit a bid. At the time, I was moving, so I was unable to reply right away. Less than three days later, I received another email stating that my account is deactivated because I did not respond to the request. If I wanted to reactivate my account, I would have to email them explaining why I did not immediately respond. I never reactivated my account, but that has not stopped them from emailing me.

In February, I received an email from a Robert Kidd at EditFast wanting articles about EditFast. Now, when I signed up they claimed to have 1,200 editors. Are they so hit up for writers that they have to email deactivated accounts? Since they were only offering to pay $10 per article, I can see why. Then, a month later, I received a notice stating they would pay $5 for every link to EditFast. My most recently email stated they were issuing a new deactivated policy. If an editor does not respond to an estimate request within three hours their account will be "temporarily deactivated." There was no indication on how long that would be.




A/V Tronics
This site is looking for proofreaders with knowledge of legal terminology and prior experience in a legal industry. If this fits you, you might consider them. I tried looking them up in the BBB. They were listed, but no information was given. It seems very legitimate.
Rent a Ghostwriter
I signed up (which was annoying because it kept popping up some search engine tool). There were only 17 open projects. Most of them had numerous bids and no indication if any were selected. I low-balled one item to see if I would get it. I didn't. What bothers me most about Rent a Ghostwriter is the heavy placement of Google AdSense. You have to scroll down to see any content!! In my opinion, any site that forces you to view the ads before the content is not worth bothering with.


CyberEdit / Essay Edge
CyberEdit (also known as Essay Edge) is currently looking for freelance admission essay editors and resume writers. They state that they pay $20-$35 per hour, depending on qualifications. I applied. I received a "test" to do. It was not a fun test to do and was very abstract with almost no real guidelines. I submitted it, but never heard anything back. They are members of the BBB. So far, I have not heard anyone say anything--either positive or negative--about this company. Try at your own risk.

Writing Assistance, Inc
Writing Assistance, Inc. is a job board with a twist. They claim that they try to match the most qualified writers with each job. Of course, they charge a nice little fee for this service. You're allowed to set your own rates, but they will add a small markup to the client that Writing Assistance keeps. Since I'm not a technical writer, I did not pursue this company any more than that. However, I have not heard any thing negative about them. They take care of billing and you will receive payment within five workdays after the client pays them. If you are a writer and would like to be considered for client projects, please email your resume to jobs@writingassist.com in an MS Word format.

Proofread Now
When I looked at Proofread Now, they were only accepting applications for foreign language proofreaders. This may change in the future, so you might want to check back.

Word Firm
Word Firm appears to be a good company. They have nothing negative about them in the better business bureau, not could I find anything negative about them on the internet. They have been around for several years, so that would put them in the more reputable category of job sites. They are looking for experienced writers, copyeditors, proofreaders, and graphic designers

Appingo
I'm listing Appingo simply because it is advertising that it wants to hire experienced writers. However, I could find almost nothing else about them.

Rowman & Littlefield and Lexington Books
Rowman & Littlefield and Lexington Books publish "scholarly works in the humanities and social sciences." They are a legitimate company. If you are interested, you are required to download and submit a proofreading or copyediting test.

Book Editing Associates
Book Editing Associates claims to be looking for fiction editors. The site seemed a little unprofessional for my tastes. If you want to work for them, they will expect you to do it full-time with no other jobs. While I did not see anything that would suggest that they are a scam, I think it would only be a good fit for certain people. You're welcome to check it out for yourself.

SoftwareJudge.com
SoftwareJudge.com claims to pay "up to $50" for each software review that they accept. However, they could also pay as little as $1 for your review. There is also a minimum payout of $200 and they only pay via Western Union. There is something a little troubling about that. I did find someone who has experience with this company, and like I guessed, they only got paid $1 for their review. Once you submit your review, you have no choice but to accept whatever they decide to pay you. That really bothers me. You're welcome to try this site, but I cannot recommend it at this time. I'm fairly sure they are legitimate and pay, but I doubt you'll earn enough money for your trouble.