The book

The Pocket Book of Proofreading is a powerful new guide to earning your own living as a freelance proofreader. You can "read and make money" (around £20 an hour) after training. No previous experience is required, and you can work full or part time.

The Pocket Book of Proofreading is also an essential book for those occasions where good English is needed – whether you’re writing a letter, an essay, composing a report, or perhaps even preparing a thesis.

It’s a complete professional guide, written by an experienced freelance editor, proofreader and former editor-in-chief of a group of Internet publishing companies.

With this book (see a larger image) you can learn how to become a freelance proofreader; how to work from home as a freelance, and how to acquire the necessary skills in proofreading and editing, so you can become a successful proofreader. (See also the back cover. The price of the book has increased to £14.99.)

You can download Learn Freelancing's new Proofreading and Editing Course from this website – a series of exercises (instant file download), including free exercises, notes with all the answers/corrections explained and a scorecard so you can accurately measure your proofreading skills. This course currently offers the best value available.

NB: Learn about copy-editing too with comprehensive practical exercises.

Many people have been successful with The Pocket Book of Proofreading and the unique downloadable course – see the testimonials page.

The author, William Critchley, recently visited Oxford's Bodleian Library. The "dreaming spires of Oxford" captured his imagination but there was no sign of Archie, the teddy bear beloved by former Poet Laureate, Sir John Betjeman. (Archie was displayed in the Bodleian Library not so long ago, and found himself very popular.)

Q: Who is Archie? He's the teddy bear (Archibald Ormsby-Gore) carried around for most of his life by Betjeman. He features in The Pocket Book of Proofreading. To see what Archie looks like (scruffy, in need of repair, and not that good looking), click here.

Note: You'll find instances of double (") and single quotes (') on this website. For the sake of consistency, choose one or the other in your proofreading and copy-editing. See The Pocket Book of Proofreading for more details.

Is this a new record? The Pocket Book of Proofreading reaches No. 3 on Amazon (9 November 2009) under:

Books > Reference > Writing > Editing

Thank you to all those buying the book.

It may not be in the same position when you check the link. The book naturally slips down the list of bestsellers at night, when people are asleep!

New record! No. 2 in Books > Reference > Writing > Editing on Amazon (5 January 2010). Only 3 copies left, and it will take another 12 days or so before Amazon is re-stocked. Apologies for the delay if you are thinking of ordering a copy. The book will be available soon.

3 February 2010. No 2 again! New stock has been ordered. Will be in stock with Amazon again in about a week from today.

6 April 2010: No. 4 again! This could be due to a wonderful review from Catherine (see testimonials). I'll have to give her a course now if she'd like one!

2 May 2010: No. 2 in Books > Reference > Writing > Editing on Amazon! 

Okay, by the time you read this it might have slipped, to No. 7, or worse. Sales are a little bit like being in love -- up and down all the time.