#free proofreading

I am a new editor offering free editing and proofreading services. A few reasons:

As a writer myself, I understand how frustrating it is to look over your final draft only to spot one (or maybe two) pesky little errors you just didn’t catch in time

With all honesty, I am also looking for samples so as to build a reputable profile to show potential clients

I believe it’s something I’m good at.

I am willing to accept your work to edit under the following conditions:

To show future clients looking to hire an editor. As told on Ao3, presenting samples leaves a better impact and give editors a higher chance if they come from real writers — not AI, or whipping up something with Chat GPT.

Original works and blogposts only. For now. As much as I’d love to edit all your fanfictions mixed and baked with love, I’m certain I need to leave them out until further notice. There are fandoms that professional writers may not see as, well, professional.

Authors, no straight-up erotica please. This isn’t to kink-shame anyone, I’m simply not in the market for that genre specifically. If there is a very mild amount lightly sprinkled here and there, I can tweak it enough to make it work. I understand that spicy romance and romanticies are very popular, but for the time being they’re not what I’m looking for. Fluff, angst, hurt and comfort are absolutely welcome.

Authors, whump is debatable. Similar to the erotica condition above, I’m not in the market for straight-up violence. If that’s the whole theme of the work, I reserve the right to refuse. If there is some, I might be able to make it work. EX: rescue scenes, healing/caretaking scenes.

Up to 5,000 words. Typically, I’d love to be flexible and catch all the errors on projects 10k+ words long. For now, though, 5,000 is the maximum for samples.

I will identify you by your pen name if you want.

This is a free service! So, no payment required. I will save your works on my WPS Office files; they will be safe, and used for sample purposes only. If you want me to edit and proofread your work please email me at [email protected]. Thank you for your consideration!

Sincerely,

I'm a new-to-the-industry proofreader looking for samples to add to a portfolio for prospective clients. For this reason, I'm inviting work from writers who would benefit from free proofreading, with the following guidelines:

No smut - it's okay if there's a little spicy bit here and there, because I can edit it out to make it work for a professional context, but if the work is just straight up erotica, I can't use it. Not kinkshaming, it just isn't suitable for my purpose right now. This may change in the future because proofreading/editing for steamy romance is absolutely a thing, it's just not what I'm aiming for at this moment.

Intended for (or already) public publishing - I would like to be able to reference back to, for instance, the piece published on AO3 or someone's blog or in print. Sample pieces have more impact if they are demonstrably from a real writer and not just something I cooked up with chatgpt to make myself look good.

I may wish to "sanitize" overt fandom content - this is something I might do for a fandom that (sigh) doesn't strike people as professional (like some kind of extremely horny anime). This would be a step I would take only for my version of the document, and I would only do this with the permission of the writer. I know it doesn't feel good to have your work scrubbed of its context, but this would only be for the version shown in my portfolio. You will receive my proofreading services (a tracked edit or annotated document, your choice, with fandom content intact) just like everyone else, it's just for the version displayed in my portfolio I might (with your permission!) like to change character and place names to make it generic.

At least 1000 words - I am happy to do longer pieces up to 10k, though I would be choosing specific pages or excerpts for my portfolio. I'm flexible on this, honestly. I could go through a website to catch spelling and grammar problems on, for instance, a series of blog posts. I'd just like a given project to be worth the effort and yield something for my portfolio.

In English - I can wholeheartedly offer my services in US English! I can do my best with UK/AUS/NZ etc English, but I'm hesitant due to, y'know, wanting to make myself look good in my own portfolio. I'm not good enough in any other language to offer proofreading. Sorry!

Willing to be identified by at least your pen name - again, what makes these samples helpful for me is that I can demonstrate that they were real things published by real authors, even if just a username or pseudonym. All works must attributed to someone.

My upwork profile, which is where my portfolio will be housed, is here: https://www.upwork.com/freelancers/~0110e1c5d1d446b2c8

This is a free service. You don't need to pay me or hire me on my Upwork profile, I'm just linking it for transparency about where your work will be displayed. If you'd like to tip, I can provide payment details when we talk.

Are you in the first stages of your novel and need some early feedback? I’m happy to look at as many chapters as you’re willing to send me and proofread in a “play-by-play” format. As I read, I write down immediate thoughts. I’ve found that this sort of feedback is a great way to get into a reader’s mind and discover what they question, which characters they latch onto, and where you can beef up…