How to Get Started as a Proofreader

So you want to be a proofreader? It's a rewarding job that you can do from anywhere in the world! I have worked on Fiverr for 10 years, including while homeschooling my kids, while traveling with my husband for his job, watching my son at basketball practice, teaching at the homeschool co-op, on my back deck on gorgeous summer mornings, and so much more! 

To start proofreading on Fiverr, simply sign up. Then follow these steps and tips, and you'll soon find yourself with a successful work-from-anywhere business! 

1. Do some research and recon work — Start out with the main Writing & Translation section, then dive into the Proofreading section to find out how others are working their gigs. Some questions to keep in mind are:

How many words are others proofreading for $5? (Don't forget that Fiverr takes 20%, but consider: Fiverr is attracting the clients for you, handling the payments securely, and providing a platform for showcasing your work and glowing reviews.)

How fast is the turnaround? How quickly can you complete 500 words of proofreading (you can earn more if you can get a job back to a client quickly)? 

15 Great Links: Working from Home as a Writer

It's true that working from home can bring special challenges, and working for yourself brings even more interesting situations! Further, being a writer takes real focus and brain space. 

Please enjoy my writing roundup of fabulous posts about working from home as a writer!

6 Essential Things to Make Your Writing Session More Productive

7 Steps to Freelance Writing Success

Dads Can Write for Parenting Publications Too!

AdvancedWriters.com: Book Review Service with Expert Writers

How to Make a Living Writing Books

Today's guest author is an authority on book writing and offers tips on supporting yourself as a writer — because it is entirely possible! Read on to find out what he says about public speaking, the kryptonite that keeps some writers from succeeding, and more!

Do you have kryptonite as a writer?

As a writer, you could have a "kryptonite"—that one thing you can't seem to get over. It can be a writing disability, a lack of time, or something else. The most successful authors, like LB Wells, can overcome these challenges.

There are some actions you can do to combat your weakness:

1. You need to identify it.
2. It would be best if you eliminated it.
3. You must take the necessary steps to prevent it from returning.

In a nutshell, developing your writing skills and imagination is essential to become a writer. It's vital to plan your writing week so you can write many words. It would be best if you worked on speed. It will be ideal if you have good time management skills.

Writing for Parenting Magazines

 

I think it’s important to record how you started doing something you are very passionate about, so I’m going to share my writer story. Keep in mind I didn’t have Internet access at my house until roughly 2013, so my early career was spent researching and submitting at the library, at my mom’s house, my dad’s house, friends’ houses, my husband’s workplace, etc. I was determined and I had a fire in my belly!

I always thought of myself as a writer growing up, but I didn’t think I was that great at it…nothing special. I got good grades in English and Creative Writing classes in school and even wrote some decent papers during my community college years. I was always observing, journaling, and venting on paper. Interesting things happened to me, as well as experiences that would have served as great warning stories for others, but I didn’t know how to craft them into something people would want to read.

Write for Pregnancy and Newborn Magazine

*As of July 2020, there is not a print version of this magazine

Freelance Writers
We’re glad you’re interested in the prospect of working with Pregnancy & Newborn magazine—we’re always looking to add to our pool of writers and are currently accepting freelance submissions! Please read and follow the guidelines below so you can query us effectively and we can respond efficiently.

First, familiarize yourself with Pregnancy & Newborn both in print and online. Our targeted audience is comprised of women who are expecting or have a child under the age of 1. We strive to provide insightful, informative articles that discuss all things pregnancy- and baby-related in a casual, conversational, girlfriend-to-girlfriend manner. As a national magazine, we cover topics that are relevant to pregnant and new moms across the country.

The Art and Business of Writing by Chris Jones

Loved this book (The Art & Business of Writing) by the man who is also the editor at Fredericksburg Parent & Family Magazine. Here's the piece I wrote for them on how to raise a resilient child.

There is so much helpful advice in this book, and it's the perfect size ... not too long and not too short. It even went beyond where I am in my career right now and took it to business cards and web hosting (I just use free Blogger and have since 2008) advice.

Western New York Family Magazine Call for Articles for 2022 Issues

UPDATE 10/15/22: WNY Family's current "Journey into Fatherhood" columnist is "retiring" in January 2023, so we are looking for a new "voice" to take his place. If you're a dad who enjoys writing and can reliably put together a 750-word column on deadline each month, we'd like to hear from you. The choice of topics is up to you — serious or humorous — dealing with the wild ride of being a dad in today's world. There is a modest payment for each column. If interested, email a sample 750-word column to michele@wnyfamilymagazine.com. Please put FATHERHOOD COLUMN in your subject line.

DIGITAL ISSUE - Western New York Family Magazine (wnyfamilymagazine.com)

Western New York Family is looking for articles for their 2022 issues! 

Please read the information below to see what they are looking for, and good luck to you 😃 You can find the complete list of writer's guidelines for Western New York Family here, as well as information for 599 more markets, in my book titled The Mother of All Writing Market Books!

Start a freelance writing career for about the cost of a fancy coffee and a muffin!

Yes, I am all done perfecting The Mother of All Writing Market Books PDF instant download and you can get it on eJunkie now! Here's the introduction so you know what's going on!

The Mother of All Writing Market Books: 600 Homes for Your Family, Parenting, & Women's Articles, Essays, & More

So you have a pretty original and awesome idea for a parenting and family niche magazine article. Or—look at you go!—maybe you’ve written the entire thing already and you just know it’ll be a perfect fit for a publication somewhere in the world. Now what?

 

Like any normal person, you hit “the Google” and are quickly overwhelmed. You remove your face from your Internet-enabled device and realize you’ve gone down a two-hour online rabbit hole filled with blog posts that scream titles like “Top 10 Parenting Magazines for 2021” and “19 Popular Parent Magazines Paying Parents to Write Stories” … except that when you started clicking on the links, you found that half of them aren’t even publishing anymore.

 

Does anybody ever go back and check/update these posts? It doesn’t seem like it, which is beyond frustrating. But you have to realize that the publishing industry changes DAILY.

Write for ParentMap Seattle, Eastside Baby, Family Adventure, and Seattle Baby

Below are the guidelines for ParentMap from my instant PDF download, The Mother of All Writing Market Books! Don't forget to use promo code PPBLOG20 for a nice lil discount!

Location: Seattle, WA

Frequency: monthly

Website: http://parentmap.com

Contact Info: editor@parentmap.com

3rd Quarter 2022 Work-from-Home #IncomeReport $2,776

Welcome to another work-from-home Quarterly Income Report from The Published Parent, aka Kerrie at the McLoughlin household. 

My Hopes for You

First of all, it is my sincerest hope that you are doing well in every possible way. I assume you're here because you are a writer... or are at least someone who loves words. I hope you find something here that helps you realize your dreams, whether that is a post about time management, a post full of encouragement, a post of writing markets for your teenager, a list of great resources for writers, or a post about a new writing market for your own pitching pleasure. As always, you can email me at mommykerrie@yahoo.com if you would like to suggest post ideas!

What I've Been Doing

I am still working from home proofreading (scroll to the end of this post to find out about Fiverr), blogging (The Kerrie Show, Kerrie the Kitchen Queen, Homeschooling Mommybot, and here), writing parenting magazine articles, and writing/self-publishing books on Amazon and other places. To be able to work and make money at any time of the day or night, to be able to wear whatever I am comfortable in, and to be able to do all of this anywhere I like (in bed, at the dining room table, in the car, on the deck, while traveling, etc.) is a dream come true! 

Things have slowed down since I've become more involved at our homeschool co-op, so I'm hopeful that I'll find more time this summer to work on projects that are a labor of love for me. In case you don't know this about me, I have 5 children, and I have homeschooled all of them all the way through. I have graduated my 21-year-old and my 19-year-old, and they are both doing very well!

Learn more about my Self-Publishing Journey.

Why Do I Share My Income Here?

The reason I share my income from home with you to show you that I am a real person — a wife, mother, teacher, daughter, friend, neighbor — with unique challenges/setbacks and actual successes. While I do not earn the equivalent of a full-time income right now, but I am not actually aiming for that. I am grateful that my husband is employed and that my main job is homeschooling. 

Now it's time to take a peek at my financial records! Then you can find all sorts of other income reports down the side of the blog (I report monthly and also quarterly and annually).

7 Time Management Ideas for Writers at Home

Tonight I was doing random household tasks and thinking about how much writing and proofreading work I still had to do. I thought about all the laundry, dishes, meals, phone calls, errands, and details I handle or take care of every day and how friends and family often express their amazement that I can crank out articles and ebooks while homeschooling my kids.

And it came to me.

We all have the same amount of time every day (see Laura Vanderkam's book, 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think). The difference is what we prioritize and how we spend our time budget.

Here are 7 tips for fitting it all in:

Write for Clubhouse Magazine

Focus on the Family Clubhouse is a 32-page magazine designed to inspire, entertain and teach Christian values to children ages 8-12. The magazine, which has a circulation of over 60,000, reaches young readers and their parents all over the world. Parents trust Clubhouse to provide wholesome, educational material with Scriptural or moral insight. The kids anticipate stories with excitement, adventure, action or humor. Your job, as a writer, is to create work that pleases both parents and children.

Fiction
Focus on the Family Clubhouse is a 32-page magazine designed to inspire, entertain and teach Christian values to children ages 8-12. The magazine, which has a circulation of over 60,000, reaches young readers and their parents all over the world. Parents trust Clubhouse to provide wholesome, educational material with Scriptural or moral insight. The kids anticipate stories with excitement, adventure, action or humor. Your job, as a writer, is to create work that pleases both parents and children.

Write for The New York Times Parenting Outlet

Jessica Grose informed me that she is not the lead editor in the Parenting department at this time. She also says these guidelines are not what they are looking for anymore, but she doesn't know exactly what they need. This is the post that is still live, unfortunately!

"I am thrilled to announce the NYT Parenting newsletter! For the next month or so, we'll be publishing the newsletter and a handful of articles each week. Then in early May, we will launch a beautiful, robust website. We'll be covering fertility and pregnancy up through kids age 5 or 6 and your lives with them, and giving you evidence-based guidance, news, and personal stories every day. It is my sincerest hope that the site will prevent you from a panicked 3 am google that lands you on a BabyCenter message board telling you that crystals and essential oils will heal your baby's rickets. The full site launches in May.

For general submissions please send to: parenting_submissions@nytimes.com

Rates depend on the type of piece.

What is NYTParenting?

Modeled after what the Times did with NYTCooking, NYTParenting will be a robust section of the Times website (parenting.nytimes.com) with new and archival content and a newsletter. NYTParenting is set to launch in Spring 2019.

We will mostly cover topics ranging from fertility and pregnancy to kids through ages 5 or 6, but we'll also be doing a lot of coverage on issues that affect parents of young children. 

We will have articles and essays, as well as guides — which are a content form with a specific structure and which are meant to answer thorny parenting problems in a service-y, research-backed way. For now, we’re mostly coming up with ideas for guides in-house.

A bit about us, philosophically:

• We are for parents who want evidence-based solutions to problems with their kids or with their own lives. We recognize that you had a baby — not a lobotomy. Your wants and needs still matter.
• We are for mothers AND fathers. Almost all parenting products are explicitly or implicitly gendered. Through design, editorial choices and framing, we will not be. We recognize that every family is different, and we are mindful of that.

What we're looking for:

Essays and articles in the 1,000 to 1,200-word range.

For articles, we're looking for timely ideas, whether they're cultural or trendy (What's the next baby shark? Why is everyone feeding their kid European formula?), based on new studies and how they affect parents (Are you really supposed to monitor your kid while they brush their teeth til they're 8?), or second-day stories on news events (How does family separation affect brain development?).

While we cover fertility through age 6, and will assign on topics affecting kids and parents in that range, we are especially focusing on the following topics in the near term for essays:

--How parenting has changed your identity, or how your identity has intersected with your parenting experience
--Relationships (with your partner, with your parents or in-laws, with your friends, with your first child when you have a second...)
--Life with babies and toddlers

We're also trying out an essay series called The Hardest Part

The Hardest Part will be a series of essays about the parts of parenting that you’ve found to be the most unexpectedly difficult, and how you worked through them (or didn't).

The tone can be as serious or as funny as the subject matter requires. It can be as straightforward as, "The hardest part of parenting is dealing with my kids during the winter," or "The hardest part of parenting is handling my kid's severe allergies," or as esoteric as, "The hardest part of parenting is how emotionally spent I feel at the end of each day.""

Have files of article reprints that you own but no clue where to start reselling them? Have ideas for some fantastic new pieces but no idea who might want them? Check out my resource with 600 markets! You can grab my instant download of "The Mother of All Writing Market Books" here.