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Copy Editing & Proofreading

Get paid to polish other people's writing — clean, clear, error-free.

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Free account required to open the lessons. No card, no fees.

About this course

Copy editing and proofreading is a real, remote-friendly skill: people pay you to fix grammar, sharpen clarity and catch the embarrassing typos they cannot see in their own work. This course teaches you the difference between copy editing and proofreading, how to use style guides and tools, the professional editing process and marks, and exactly how to find clients in Nigeria and abroad and price your work so you earn steadily in naira and dollars.

Nobody can properly edit their own writing — their brain fills in the gaps. That blind spot is your business. People pay a careful outsider to make their words clean, clear and error-free, and it is one of the most remote-friendly skills you can learn.

What you'll learn

Course syllabus — 7 lessons

  1. What editing really is (and why people pay for it)11 min
  2. Copy editing vs proofreading — know the difference, charge for both12 min
  3. The editor's toolkit — grammar, clarity and the errors that pay13 min
  4. Style guides — the secret behind consistent, professional work11 min
  5. Track Changes, marks and the professional editing process12 min
  6. Finding clients and pricing your work13 min
  7. Putting it together — your first real edits and your reputation12 min

Your project

Before & After: Copy-edit and proofread a messy text with tracked changes and an editor's note

A link (Google Doc set to 'anyone with the link can comment/view') or an uploaded/pasted document showing the original messy text with your tracked changes and comments, plus your written editor's note.

Certificates on Skillnaija are earned, not issued for attendance: you submit this project, it is graded against a rubric, and passing issues a certificate anyone can verify.

Frequently asked questions

Is Copy Editing & Proofreading free?

Yes. Copy Editing & Proofreading is completely free on Skillnaija. You need a free account to open the lessons, and there is no charge for the course, the project, or the certificate.

How long does Copy Editing & Proofreading take to complete?

5 weeks · ~4 hrs/week. There are 7 lessons, about 1 hour of material in total. You learn at your own pace and your progress is saved.

Do I need any experience to start Copy Editing & Proofreading?

Beginner-friendly. You can start from scratch — no prior experience is assumed.

What will I learn in Copy Editing & Proofreading?

You will build practical skills in Copy editing for clarity and flow, Proofreading to catch every error, Working with style guides, Track Changes and editing tools, Quoting and pricing edits, Finding and keeping clients, Writing a clear editor's note. Every lesson is written for a Nigerian context, with examples drawn from how the work is actually done and paid for here.

Do I get a certificate for Copy Editing & Proofreading?

Yes, but it has to be earned. You complete the course project — Before & After: Copy-edit and proofread a messy text with tracked changes and an editor's note and submit it for grading. Passing the project issues a verifiable certificate; finishing the lessons alone does not.

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Ready to start Copy Editing & Proofreading?

It's free, it's self-paced, and it ends with something you can show an employer.

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