There are many different types of freelance editing jobs—how do you decide which is right for you?
If you have a permanent editing job, you may be curious about the world of freelance editing. Maybe you have worked with a freelance editor and decided that you could do the same thing. There is not one type of freelance contract, as experienced freelancers know. Once you start looking into the different options available to you, you will see that whether to go freelance is only the first in many decisions you will need to make before arriving at your ideal freelancing position.
Location-based jobs
Editorial companies and publishing houses take on the number of editorial staffers that are needed for the average amount of work in that business. However, sometimes, they may need to handle more work than their current staff can handle. In these instances, the employer does not want to worry about the long-term commitment that comes with hiring new staffers and might not require this staff for more than a few months. It might decide to create just one or two freelance editing jobs to get through the short-term expansion in demand. In some ways, these freelance editing jobs are the same as permanent positions in that you are expected to work in an office during regular business hours. As a freelancer, however, your employment contract will last for a limited time, such as two weeks, three months, or six months. The other difference between you and the permanent staff you work with is that they will receive sick pay and other non-wage benefits that you do not get. So what are the benefits of freelance editing jobs? They can pay better and may give you more varied work.
Telecommuting
One growth area in freelance editing jobs is remote work. Remote freelance editing jobs are sometimes offered by companies that don’t want to provide large areas of office space in expensive cities. In general, home-based work allows more flexibility in hours than an office-based job. An editing job will have a deadline, but the employer does not specify the exact hours when the work should be performed. Freelance editing jobs can be carried out independently at hours that suit the worker. If the company requires the freelance editor to work with other staff or attend meetings through teleconferencing, specific hours of availability may be written into the contract. Another advantage is that the company can seek the best freelance staff from all over the world and is not limited to editors who live nearby. The great benefit to freelancers of this type of contract is that they can live anywhere in the world and meet their home-based commitments, such as caring for children or an elderly relative.
Piecework
A major difference between freelance editing jobs and permanent positions is the pricing structure in many freelance contracts. In some places, companies that create freelance editing jobs are still obliged to extend the benefits and rights awarded to permanent employees to their freelancers. Paying on a task-by-task basis gets around this legal requirement. Remote workers are difficult to monitor, so employers are not always willing to give an hourly rate to people who work at home. Being paid by the task also ties in well with flexible working hours. It also opens up the possibility of infrequent work, and thus limited pay, for the remote freelance worker. At the same time, task-based editing jobs can let the freelancer take on several contracts concurrently.