Question How Do Authors Recruit Proofreaders

I am asking for a friend, how do Authors on a platform like Scribble hub recruit proofreaders?

 

Maybe put a message at the end of a chapter asking if someone is willing to volunteer as a proofreader.

 

If the site has a forum, create a thread starting with "Recruiting [insert position here] for [insert novel here]"

 

in the old days the publisher supplied them ... now no clue

 

What do proofreaders do exactly? Are they different from editors?

 

Proof readers just proof read. Actual editor have added task of suggesting additions or removal or clarifying or repositioning of plots. Some editors might even have to write the novels themselves because their web novel charge just couldn't cut it as a published novelist.

 

Not on Scribblehub, but an author from AO3 contacted me via PM here to Beta read.

 

Yes, that's why they all went bankrupt. It's too expensive

 

Not necessarily for that platform, but reciprocity works. Have other friends who write read your stuff and read theirs. Oh and run it through a grammar and spell checker first to keep such friends.

Alternately use yourself at another time. Errors often crop up because your eyes read what you think you rather than what's on the screen. After doing something else, that short term memory will face and let you see with fresh eyes. Printing it out to change mediums or reading aloud are also proofing tricks.

 

Well, auto-correct won't always help!

 

For me, I've found my best editors/proofreaders from readers who showed consistent effort in good, quality suggestions. That doesn't mean to spam me with DMs after every chapter, but to save them when they really count. That's how I picked up a proofreader for SOTR -- Nabuch (who happens to edit Spirit Realm) came in with some *really* good points, and on his second time I was like alright, you wanna be a PR?

 

I think two of the most interesting proofreading methods I've seen web novelists use involve utilizing their reader base as proofreaders; Most specifically their patron readers.

Pirateaba(The Wandering Inn) creates a thread in the comments section of each chapter release specifically for typos. They then resolve the typos within hours of the chapter being posted(or when the error is reported). End result is that early Patrons might see typos or other grammatical errors but the vast majority of readers end up seeing a polished product.

Stewart92(There is no Epic Loot Here, Only Puns) takes it even further, allowing Patrons to make editing suggestions using Google Docs for each new chapter. As can be imagined, this can have its advantages and disadvantages but seems to work decently as long as there is a moderator...er chief-editor, if you will. As with Pirateaba's method, the end result is better-edited chapters for most readers.