[Derpface200]

I've been reading through about quite a few guys who are making money editing college papers/dissertations/whatever. I have to ask, what is the best place/way to start and what kind of credentials does one need?

[jdreise]

(03-12-2013 07:22 PM)Derpface200 Wrote:  

I've been reading through about quite a few guys who are making money editing college papers/dissertations/whatever. I have to ask, what is the best place/way to start and what kind of credentials does one need?

I have a few tips for you:

First of all, you'd better have good grammar and a pretty good understanding of the English language, APA/MLA writing styles, ETC., if you want this endeavor to have any legs and retain clients/build referrals.

With that said, there are a few ways to do this...

The first is to target international students, especially East Asians and Arabs. Because of the differences in our languages, they have a hard time composing coherent essays and reports (Arabs can't write in English worth a shit!!!). Also, they usually come from money so they're not afraid to spend. I've done paper editing while in South Korea and have just started running a similar "operation" here in the States with ESL and SAT tutoring since I quit my logistics job a couple months ago.

Assuming you're in the States, the first thing to do is write up a good ad for Craigslist. Put it under both "Lessons" and "Services". Make sure you list it every day since people have very short attention spans. They won't click over to page two or utilize the search function to find your ad. It has to be on that first page.

I know I'm good at what I do so I've gone the route of charging much higher than the "going rate." Other threads on this forum have discussed how there's a reverse psychology that will work with you on this. People rationalize that because your service is more expensive, it must be better. Highlight this in your ad and figure out a way to explain your higher rates when they call you.

By going the Craigslist route you'll also get domestic students but I would wager that your bread and butter will be with international students. Most Americans have some friend or cousin who will look over their papers free of charge, so they're less likely to go the paid service route. I was that cousin---I always rewrote two of my cousins papers. One ended up going to UCSC and the other, Notre Dame.

With that said, I've still been able to pull six hours per week off CL tutoring American HS students for the English portion of the SAT. Four hours are two separate "one-on-ones" at $50/hour and two hours are a group of four kids that I tutor at $60/hour. No joke, it's really that lucrative.

Second tip... I'd make some business cards and hit both colleges/universities, ethnic restaurants, and ethnic churches/temples. Colleges always have bulletin boards (sometimes in every academic building) that you can pin notices and ads to. Do this with your business cards or flyers and you should get some responses. This is where I've gotten responses for my ESL.

Hit Korean BBQ or Vietnamese pho spots and make friends with the staff. In between ordering drinks and asking them about their country's cuisine, mention what you do and ask to leave cards on the counter. THIS WORKS. I've picked up two private 2-hour lessons at $50/hour by just leaving my cards in my favorite Korean BBQ. If you really want work, you can promote yourself as much as you want.

Even though my advice is not 100% relevant to editing essays, I hope it helps. Just those two things have helped my navigate my "unemployment" pretty well. It could be a good side gig for you.

Perhaps I should re-do this as a complete data sheet. I've really only been doing these privates for less than two months in the States and I've been quite surprised by the response/demand. If it wasn't for my wanderlust, I might start a tutoring agency here and get other people to do the work.

[Lazarus]

I have to get into this. A foreign student once paid me to do his assignments. Fuck that, I never liked writing my own but I am happy to do editing.

jdreise, how much of it is editing (i.e correcting grammar and spelling) and how much of it is rewriting and how much of it is writing the whole thing from scratch for them?

[Andy_B]

My guess is you put up posters around the school, saying that you're a professional writer and are available to edit papers...

[RichieP]

One thing I've noticed having a couple of requests for proofreading come thru friends:

Foreign students don't like to buy from people that arent vouched for. They won't trust anonymous proofreading agencies. They'll ask their friends if they know any native-speaking proofreaders. They trust people who've done a good job for others or are at least recommended by friends. So get into social circles that have connections to international students. I love the idea of leaving your biz cards in Asian restaurants too. Get credible testimonials too if possible... its not like writing where you can obviously show how good your work is, you need people to say "hey, this guy did an amazing job on my thesis".

One big plus is that foreign students doing PhDs are well-funded by parents and will do what it takes to get their thesis perfect and pass. So they wont be concerned with the cheapest price, but rather getting a premium service that they know will deliver a 100% perfect final piece.

If you can keep up with PhD-level material, you can make some decent money with some fairly long projects. BTW, proofreading and editing is actually quite a skill - you need to catch every mistake, and go thru about 1000 words/hour to make it worthwhile. Look up the different kinds - proofreading, copyediting and substantive editing - and be sure to make clear what exactly you offer (changing tone and style? just pure grammar? etc). Read at least one book on the actual skill of proofreading/editing before you offer it, even if you're excellent with grammar and the written word.

[RichieP]

(03-13-2013 08:39 PM)Lazarus Wrote:  

I have to get into this. A foreign student once paid me to do his assignments. Fuck that, I never liked writing my own but I am happy to do editing.

jdreise, how much of it is editing (i.e correcting grammar and spelling) and how much of it is rewriting and how much of it is writing the whole thing from scratch for them?

You decide what you offer. Proofreading, Copyediting, Substantive editing. Proofreading is largely checking for spelling, punctuation and typos whereas the others are more involved:
http://www.enago.com/australia/editing-s...e-editing/


The thing is to decide what you're willing to do then make that very clear. Foreign students probably need copyediting really. Some will need substantive, if they aren't good at organizing their ideas on paper, but I'd imagine you wouldn't want to even touch that unless you're very familiar with their subject. I wouldn't do that for a PhD - way too much time and effort to get your head around their thesis and then re-structure it for them. Although if you wanna charge $100/hour and have the chops for it, who knows, could be a great gig.

[Derpface200]

(03-13-2013 07:14 PM)jdreise Wrote:  

Even though my advice is not 100% relevant to editing essays, I hope it helps. Just those two things have helped my navigate my "unemployment" pretty well. It could be a good side gig for you.

Thanks for the advice everyone, I'll get around to trolling craigslist and universities for work.

[Genghis Khan]

"One big plus is that foreign students doing PhDs are well-funded by parents and will do what it takes to get their thesis perfect and pass. So they wont be concerned with the cheapest price, but rather getting a premium service that they know will deliver a 100% perfect final piece. "

Can you confirm if this is true? I've met several international PhD students and they don't seem like the rich bunch. Undergrads...sure, their parents are paying their tuition. But the PhD students are typically funded by the university. Just wondering, since this is definitely something I'd be willing to go into.

[RichieP]

(03-15-2013 09:07 PM)Genghis Khan Wrote:  

"One big plus is that foreign students doing PhDs are well-funded by parents and will do what it takes to get their thesis perfect and pass. So they wont be concerned with the cheapest price, but rather getting a premium service that they know will deliver a 100% perfect final piece. "

Can you confirm if this is true? I've met several international PhD students and they don't seem like the rich bunch. Undergrads...sure, their parents are paying their tuition. But the PhD students are typically funded by the university. Just wondering, since this is definitely something I'd be willing to go into.

To be fair, it probably depends on the university. The two places I've been around definitely seemed to attract affluent postgrads. You're probably right though, it's more a sure bet for undergrads.

[lowbudgetballer]

Your university probably offers this service for free through a writing center. That might make for some competition.

lowbudgetballer

[one-two]

(01-03-2014 07:03 PM)lowbudgetballer Wrote:  

Your university probably offers this service for free through a writing center. That might make for some competition.

lowbudgetballer

True, but the writing center appointments are limited and tend to get overbooked during midterms and finals. Also, the staff there knows nothing about your field, so their help is limited (but nevertheless worthwhile). Now, a person who understands your subject AND is a good editor - that is something lots of people would be willing to pay. I think that's why they have peer-reviewed publications, i.e., try to publish one chapter at a time and get feedback. Same principle except longer timelines.

[rotinz]

Has anyone here considered tutoring and helping high school students with things like SAT prep to get into their top choice colleges? When I looked online services surrounding college admission were always the highest paid, since a lot of these international students are going to these colleges for the prestige more so then the education they are willing to shell out insane sums if they believe you can help them get into the top schools.

There is the wealthiest of the wealthy that can afford to donate like $10 million to a school to make sure their kid gets in. But then there is the wealthy but not crazy wealthy that are willing to pay like $10k+ for a service that they think can get their kid in.

[WombRaider]

Usually they're going to want you to just write the papers for them. It's easier to do, anyway. I've known people making 6 figures doing this.