Case studies: Freelance proofreader and copy-editor: Hazel Harris

Hazel studied English at Durham University but finished her degree without any fixed idea of what she wanted to do. She now works as a freelance proofreader and copy-editor.

I wanted to work with books, but many of those kinds of jobs are located in the capital. However, a children's bookseller position became available in my home town and I got the job. Bookselling was a great introduction to the commercial side of the book trade.

I decided I wanted to work in publishing and began the 'Basic Proofreading by Distance Learning' course run by the Publishing Training Centre  to acquire skills that would be useful in an in-house role. I then got a job with Elsevier, a major science, technological and medical publisher, in inventory management. Through this role I learned a lot about time management and general office skills. I also got to know about the production department, which led to a job as production project manager.

Production project managers (also known as desk editors) arrange for the manuscript to be copy-edited, typeset, proofread and printed and/or published online. There was a lot of opportunity in my job for working closely with the text, checking proofs and liaising with authors, and it was this part of the job that I was increasingly drawn to.

I decided to take on some freelance work in my spare time. I was lucky to get regular work with an agency specialising in non-native English-speaking authors' manuscripts. The pay was relatively low, but many people start out doing low-paid or even voluntary work and the experience I gained, plus my in-house experience and proofreading qualification, enabled me to qualify for ordinary membership of Society for Editors and Proofreaders (SfEP) . I then got some sub-editing and proofreading work with two magazines.

I enjoyed the freelance work and decided to go full time. I was lucky in that my ex-colleagues daily commissioned proofreaders and copyeditors, so I was confident of a good stream of work. Having the right contacts can be essential, and many talented people struggle to find work because they didn't start off in-house. An English degree is not essential, and a degree in almost any other subject, alongside a good grasp of written English, can be far more valuable.

Skills needed for freelance proofreading and copyediting include concentration, attention to detail, a sound grasp of grammar, an enquiring mind and being able to work alone. It is also increasingly necessary to be technologically minded as copyediting is now mainly done on screen. Finally, you must be willing to think about things like marketing yourself, record-keeping and tax returns.

The benefits of working as a freelance proofreader or copy-editor are principally job satisfaction, flexibility and work-life balance. Pay is not high but can be fairly good. Career progression can be whatever you want it to be. The work can be very varied - as well as conventional publishers, there are magazines, websites, businesses, charities, educational institutions, individual authors and many more. You can also write, learn other skills such as indexing or start your own agency.