I’ve just added 10 new proofreading exercises to the website. Help yourself. Just right-click and download.
If you’re short of time, you can download all the proofreading exercises for the price of a Tweet. Just click on the ‘Pay with a Tweet’ button and, once you’ve Tweeted, you’ll be taken to a new download page, where the exercises are available in a single, convenient bundle.
The exercises are here. The ‘Pay with a Tweet’ button is over on the right-hand side of the same page.
Good luck with the exercises.
I’ll be adding more very soon.
If there’s one recurring message throughout this blog, it’s this: never, never, never pay for proofreading exercises. Never. If a proofreading course boasts proofreading exercises as part of its offer, then the chances are you are paying for them when you pay for the course. Which is crazy, because the internet is heaving with free proofreading exercises; you just need to know where to look.
If there is another recurring message running through this little blog of mine, then it is the importance of testimonials in creating a sturdy reputation for yourself as a freelance proof reader.
And, more often than not, the two go hand in hand. Wherever there are free proofreading exercises, there are plentiful opportunities for harvesting testimonials.
I’ve already mentioned writing forums, Yahoo! Answers and Constant Content. Well, here’s another great source of free proofreading exercises/testimonials:
http://www.duotrope.com/
That’s the URL for Duotrope. Duotrope is a resource to help writers find publishers who are currently seeking submissions. I know what you’re thinking: Well, that’s great if you’re an aspiring writer, but I’m an aspiring proof reader. What’s in it for me?
On the face of it, Duotrope is a resource for writers, but dig a little deeper and you find a massive database of publishers. Lots of these publishers fall under the category of ‘small press’ and are unlikely to be able to afford the services of professional proof readers. So, when you get in touch offering free proofreading services in exchange for testimonials (providing you do a good job, of course), I’d be surprised if they didn’t jump at the opportunity to work with you.
Just think how impressive it will look on your resume or website to have testimonials from companies with names like Woodland Press, Hourglass Books and Permuted Press?
Well, what are you waiting for?
Those of you who have read the No-Nonsense Proofreading Course eBook will know that I go to great pains to emphasise the importance of developing a strong reputation and the part that testimonials play in this crucial process.
Well, I’ve just stumbled across a means of getting your hands on free proofreading exercises and a decent source of testimonials.
Where? Yahoo Answers, that’s where.
Sign up for Yahoo Answers. Key in the search phrases, ‘proofreading’, ‘proofreader’ or ‘proof reader’ and narrow your options down to ‘open questions’ only. You’ll be presented with a whole host of people looking to have documents proofread: essays, reports, dissertations, short stories, novels, that kind of thing. Now, these people aren’t looking to pay you for your services. Not in cash, anyway. However, you could ‘work for rep’. In other words, you say, “I’ll proofread your essay, so long as you provide me with a glowing testimonial (providing I earn it, of course).”
It’s a great opportunity for the novice or trainee proof reader to practice their technique on genuine material and grab a few testimonials into the bargain. Put these testimonials on your website or feature them as part of your promotional activity. Instant credibility!
If you haven’t read the eBook yet, you’ll find an abundance of this kind of advice. Click here to find out more.
I’ve just added two more proofreading exercise here. If you take a look at them, you’ll find they differ from practically every other proofreading exercise you’ve encountered in one significant aspect.
Each proofreading exercise contains only a handful of errors.
Most proofreading exercises are crammed with spelling mistakes and grammatical slip-ups. Every other line features a glaring faux pas of one sort or another.
In the real world, you’ll be proofreading copy that is likely to have been produced by professionals, by people who take the quality of their output very seriously. They actually don’t want to have their inadequacies pointed out to them, so they’ll be doing their level best to create error-free documents.
The proofreading exercises on this website, like The No-Nonsense Proofreading Course itself, will prepare you to actively pursue and carry out genuine proofreading assignments. In the real world. Not in some bizarre parallel universe where documents are created by bumbling individuals incapable of stringing a sentence together.
Good luck with the exercises!
|
RSS Feed
