Healthy vs. Overcrowded Gig Category?

[countermonkey12]

So I’ve posted my gig for editing and proofreading and I was looking at all the other gig posts. There seems to be a lot of editing gigs and most of them have 5 stars. I’m just wondering if the Editing and Proofreading category is overcrowded or is this a sign that it’s a blooming gig category to work in?

[mjakkerman]

The most important thing is that you do what you’re good at. Then the orders, reviews and everything will come. If creative writing is a less crowded category, but you suck at it, you will be worse off in the end. 😉

[capitalquality]

Either it’s overcrowded or blooming, the result for you is the same - you have to compete with a lot of other sellers.

Personally, I suspect it’s the new ‘logo’ category: people think they can do it even if they have absolutely no skills. This makes it hard (in my opinion) for buyers to find good sellers.

[countermonkey12]

Either it’s overcrowded or blooming, the result for you is the same - you have to compete with a lot of other sellers.

Personally, I suspect it’s the new ‘logo’ category: people think they can do it even if they have absolutely no skills. This makes it hard (in my opinion) for buyers to find good sellers.

I tried to do Business card design but it’s the same case, still no luck for me. At least I have my editing skills to fall back on to. I looked at the editing and proofreading and seeing there’s a lot of work so I assumed it must be an in-demand category. Hopefully I make it there.

[capitalquality]

I tried to do Business card design but it’s the same case, still no luck for me. At least I have my editing skills to fall back on to. I looked at the editing and proofreading and seeing there’s a lot of work so I assumed it must be an in-demand category. Hopefully I make it there.

good luck. I’m sure with the right gig and attitude you’ll have some luck there.

[countermonkey12]

good luck. I’m sure with the right gig and attitude you’ll have some luck there.

Thanks. 🙂 I’m looking forward to get lots of clients this month. Gotta keep that positive attitude.

[eoinfinnegan]

Proofreading has a reputation for being easy to do and paying well.
This has led a lot of people who really shouldn’t to “try it out” as a job/gig. The reality is that it isn’t easy to do properly and the pay is ok but not exceptional. The key with proofreading (and most gigs) is to do it well and develop a core group of regular buyers… If someone points out errors in your work to a buyer they will not come back to you, or if they do it will be to complain. I got a 4 star review from a buyer because he felt I missed an apostrophe (one) in a 20,000 word document. He was incorrect but he still felt strongly enough to dock me a full star because of it. If you cannot give that kind of accuracy, you will get poor reviews unless your buyers do not know the difference either.
I expect a lot of these sellers to begin getting poor reviews as the “cancellation to avoid bad reviews” option is gone.

[countermonkey12]

Proofreading has a reputation for being easy to do and paying well.

This has led a lot of people who really shouldn’t to “try it out” as a job/gig. The reality is that it isn’t easy to do properly and the pay is ok but not exceptional. The key with proofreading (and most gigs) is to do it well and develop a core group of regular buyers… If someone points out errors in your work to a buyer they will not come back to you, or if they do it will be to complain. I got a 4 star review from a buyer because he felt I missed an apostrophe (one) in a 20,000 word document. He was incorrect but he still felt strongly enough to dock me a full star because of it. If you cannot give that kind of accuracy, you will get poor reviews unless your buyers do not know the difference either.

I expect a lot of these sellers to begin getting poor reviews as the “cancellation to avoid bad reviews” option is gone.

It seems like that client of yours is just being an unprofessional client. Why even hire you if he thinks he can edit better?

[writer99025]

Proofreading has a reputation for being easy to do and paying well.

This has led a lot of people who really shouldn’t to “try it out” as a job/gig. The reality is that it isn’t easy to do properly and the pay is ok but not exceptional. The key with proofreading (and most gigs) is to do it well and develop a core group of regular buyers… If someone points out errors in your work to a buyer they will not come back to you, or if they do it will be to complain. I got a 4 star review from a buyer because he felt I missed an apostrophe (one) in a 20,000 word document. He was incorrect but he still felt strongly enough to dock me a full star because of it. If you cannot give that kind of accuracy, you will get poor reviews unless your buyers do not know the difference either.

I expect a lot of these sellers to begin getting poor reviews as the “cancellation to avoid bad reviews” option is gone.

Do you get regular orders for proofreading? My proofreading gigs get great reviews, but they have fallen off the map, hardly get any orders these days - in fact, haven’t got many for the last 1 year. Not that I mind, as my articles keep me busy. But proofreading was fun.

[eoinfinnegan]

Do you get regular orders for proofreading? My proofreading gigs get great reviews, but they have fallen off the map, hardly get any orders these days - in fact, haven’t got many for the last 1 year. Not that I mind, as my articles keep me busy. But proofreading was fun.

I have an average of 2-3 proofreading orders per week but they are all $10+ with a lot of them being particularly large as that is what I focus on. It has been slower recently though, probably due to the have-a-go sellers 😃

[eoinfinnegan]

It seems like that client of yours is just being an unprofessional client. Why even hire you if he thinks he can edit better?

No, that client was looking for a perfect job and made a mistake. It is not impossible for me to make a mistake in a large document, my point is that people come to proofreaders with the aim of making the document perfect and ready for publication. If you can do that - great, but if you can’t I would suggest that it is not something to try because you see it has demand - this will just lead to bad reviews.

[writer99025]

I have an average of 2-3 proofreading orders per week but they are all $10+ with a lot of them being particularly large as that is what I focus on. It has been slower recently though, probably due to the have-a-go sellers 😃

Yeah, I guess being an Indian is hurting me in proofreading. (Just stating a fact.) It doesn’t hurt my writing gigs, but guess people expect a native speaker for proofreading tasks.