- Joined
- May 12, 2018
- Messages
- 4
Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening.
I am Saber, and I am looking for some work as a proofreader. I am new to the Scanlation profession and would like to gain some experience in this stuff by starting out in the way I feel I can best contribute to Groups, and that is through cleaning up the English Translations that are coming through the pipeline. I enjoy reading manga, but it urks me a lot when I see poor grammar or incorrectly translated sentences and words that I feel could have been avoided. I want to help fix this in the only way I know; to jump in.
I do see a lot of Groups putting up Recruitment Threads here, but I am posting this thread separately because I want to leave an Open-Invite to any Groups that need a Proofreader and would like to either pick me up for an single project, or want to send me work consistently. Either is fine as I consider myself more of a Freelance Proofreader. Yes, that does mean I do not affiliate with any Groups specifically. You can hire me for any project, regardless of the time of day.
With this post, I'm going to answer a few questions to provide Recruiters/Groups with information about myself, what I expect, and what I'm looking for when someone hires me or wishes to contact me. I'll also include what you should bring with you when you come to my table to make things easy.
First: Who am I?
Again, I am Saber. I am currently working as a Diesel Mechanic IRL and have worked as Law Enforcement and as a Teacher's Assistant. Through these jobs, I have learned to have an attention to detail and am extremely picky about my paperwork and writing. I am comfortable with pressure and understand what it means to have deadlines. These are two important things when working in certain professions because time is money. In the case of LE; time meant life and death. Being late wasn't an option.
I also have a lot of experience writing. I have worked on writing short stories ever since I was in 7th grade and have been Roleplaying ever since. Online, being able to write and get your point across is important. And, when you're telling a story it is equally important to be precise with your grammar and your details, or your reader may miss what you meant.
I like to have fun, too, so don't take this as me being a workaholic. I like to game, read manga, watch anime, and exercise.I also like long walks on the beach, but I don't live near a beach. I tend to be a bit sarcastic but generally, I keep to myself. So if we're in a chat and I'm either detached or unresponsive, understand that it's because I don't have a whole lot to say. Unless it's story time, then I can talk forever about nothing.
Second: Why am I qualified?
To be frank, I'm probably not qualified for this at all. I'm currently doing research on some tools to perform my job as a proofreader (as of the posting of this thread, I have a few ideas on things to use) but it seems pretty straight forward. Quality Checking is what I did as a Teacher and I had to ensure my Law Enforcement reports were up to par with legal standards or I'd get chewed out, so I think my English cleaning abilities are fairly decent. But as a proofreader, the number one necessary skill is to be able to read, understand, and fix the basic and some times more important translation mistakes. I've seen these a lot in older manga and with certain Scanlation groups. Certain consistent mistakes make manga unreadable, and it kills me because some manga are really great. I feel that if you pick up a project to translate, you should at the least do the creator justice by translating their work properly.
As I am given work and perform my duties, this section will likely be updated. I'll post links to my work or share them with people who are interested with hiring me upon request.
Third: What do I expect when you contact me?
The very first thing you need to do when you reach out to me is tell me who you are, where you're from, and the group you're affiliated with. I need to know this because I don't talk to strangers about random stuff. If you're reaching out to me to give me work, be professional about it and get to the point. My day is great, I probably had cereal for breakfast, and no I am not busy if I am chatting with you. If you're with a certain group and need work done, just tell me what group you are, provide a link to the work if you have previously uploaded chapters, and tell me the stuff you need done.
I understand that not everyone is English speaking in this world, too. If English is not your first language, that is okay. I love that you are at least trying. Hell, use Google Translate if you need to. As long as you can communicate your work to me and what you need, I will the best I can on my end to help you. If you need to, tell me what language you are familiar with and I'll set my own Google Translate to your language so we can try that. Just tell me when you first contact me if you need this.
Fourth: What do I need from you?
I need five things;
[ol][li]Your group name and a link to where you post your work.[/li]
[li]The name of the manga you want me to proofread so I know what I'm actually working on.[/li]
[li]Who your point of contact is. Or, in other words, who I contact if I have a problem.[/li]
[li]Your deadlines. I need to know how much time I have and how fast I need to work, or I'll put other works ahead of yours that have tighter/closer deadlines.[/li]
[li]Your understanding that I am busy, have a life, and may not reach every single deadline.[/li]
[/ol]
It is extremely important that we are on the same page during the entire process. I need regular updates on the project and its deadlines, and I need to be given plenty of time to work on the project. I work during the day and my life can be quite hectic for certain periods of time due to random spur of the moment vacations, friend and family gatherings, and other business endeavors I have. When you contact me, it should already be in your head that I may be slightly unreliable. However, it should also be an expectation from you to me that I will keep you informed with things going on in my life. If something comes up and I have to do something, I make 100% sure to contact every single person I am in some form of project with that I am going to be gone. I tell you the exact days and times, and if I have a certain amount of work done then you can expect that I will send it to you before I have to leave so you have something rather than me just going off and doing my thing.
I prioritize work over everything else, but friends and family are more important to me than my own life. If a friend calls with a flat tire, you can bet that I'll be out of my chair and out the door in five minutes. The same goes for if a friend needs a plus one at a party or if someone is just lonely. I pride myself in being the guy that is there whenever you need me, and I consider my life as not my own. That also means that I will go out of my way to help your Group and will put forth as much effort as I can into the projects you send me. So when you contact me; you become one of the important things to take care of on my list.
Fifth: Ask your questions, now.
For the love of god and all that is holy; if you have a question about something, do yourself a favor and ask. Ask the instant it comes into your head. No matter how "dumb" or simple the question; ask me. I will answer your question, as long as it is something impersonal and something I can answer. Projects live and die on the trading of information. If you have a worry about something, ask me about it. If you are concerned about me not contacting you in a while after giving me a project, or if you just have a question about a word I adjusted, these questions matter. They matter because you thought of said question. Don't wait until three days after the Scan is posted to ask about something, because at that point hundreds of people could have already read it. It's a little late at that point.
Sixth: Compensation.
If you have a form of compensation, great. Let me know what it is when you contact me. If you don't, great. I don't really ask for any form of compensation unless you proactively give it out already. If you pay your Group members, then I expect some form of cut. If you don't, then digital cookies and hugs are fine. I'm not in this for money, I get that from my day job and other things. I'm in this to help readers enjoy what they read and to ensure that the English is legible. If you feel that because of my work you want to pay me in some manner; I will never say no to free stuff. If it's free, it's for me.
Just don't forget to stick my name somewhere in the credits of your work, please.
And that's it. If you are interested in contacting me for anything, you can do so in one of three ways:
[ol]
[li]Email: unfortunatemind@gmail.com -- When you e-mail me, it is required of you that you use the following Subject line template: [Proofread Work] Group Name - Name of Project/Manga
Any other form of subject line will be ignored. I am very picky about this because I like to stay organized.[/li]
[li]Discord: Saber#3413 -- If contacting me through Discord, know that I tend to check it in a sporadic fashion. I do have the app on my phone and desktop, and it is always on, but I glance at it once every 15 minutes or so when I'm home and I tend not to respond when I'm out doing things. If I don't get back to you right away when you initially ping me, don't panic. I'll see your message/request and will get to you when I'm free. If it is your first time contacting me, I recommend you prepare your message details in advance. That just makes things quicker.[/li]
[li]Private Message on this board -- If you have no other form of communication with people outside of this forum, feel free to just use the built-in messaging system. It works just as well as anything else. The downside is that I'll likely only check this place once a day for messages. Thus, I recommend using my email or Discord.[/li]
[/ol]
When messaging me, I recommend using the following message template;
[ol]
[li]Who you are, what group you're from, and that you need me for a project.[/li]
[li]What the project is and what the project entails. How long will you need my services and to what extent.[/li]
[li]Who am I working with? Who is the point of contact? Where can I go to see your previous work?[/li]
[li]Deadlines and when you expect my work to be turned in. Expectations of contact frequency are also recommended to be placed here.[/li]
[li]Is there compensation? Are there any other rewards aside from the joy I'll get from publishing a chapter?[/li]
[li]Questions and/or other important details that I need to know.[/li]
[/ol]
Well, that's not really a template but you get the point. In your first contact message with me, you should introduce yourself and provide me with enough information to make a decision. Don't call me just for a conversation, please. Unless you just want to be friends, then that's fine. I like friends and I don't mind chatting if you're bored/lonely.
If you have any other questions or concerns, or want me to explain something I mentioned above, feel free to post in this thread as well. This is a forum and I am more than willing to chat here about stuff. But if it's something about work, then use one of the three contact methods above to get in touch. Other than that, I hope to hear from y'all soon!
Das eet. Again, hi I'm Saber. And I'm a new proofreader. Hire me if you need me. Like and subscribe for more content. Thanks, bye.
P.S: No, I did not proofread this. There's probably a mistake or two. Enjoy.
I am Saber, and I am looking for some work as a proofreader. I am new to the Scanlation profession and would like to gain some experience in this stuff by starting out in the way I feel I can best contribute to Groups, and that is through cleaning up the English Translations that are coming through the pipeline. I enjoy reading manga, but it urks me a lot when I see poor grammar or incorrectly translated sentences and words that I feel could have been avoided. I want to help fix this in the only way I know; to jump in.
I do see a lot of Groups putting up Recruitment Threads here, but I am posting this thread separately because I want to leave an Open-Invite to any Groups that need a Proofreader and would like to either pick me up for an single project, or want to send me work consistently. Either is fine as I consider myself more of a Freelance Proofreader. Yes, that does mean I do not affiliate with any Groups specifically. You can hire me for any project, regardless of the time of day.
With this post, I'm going to answer a few questions to provide Recruiters/Groups with information about myself, what I expect, and what I'm looking for when someone hires me or wishes to contact me. I'll also include what you should bring with you when you come to my table to make things easy.
First: Who am I?
Again, I am Saber. I am currently working as a Diesel Mechanic IRL and have worked as Law Enforcement and as a Teacher's Assistant. Through these jobs, I have learned to have an attention to detail and am extremely picky about my paperwork and writing. I am comfortable with pressure and understand what it means to have deadlines. These are two important things when working in certain professions because time is money. In the case of LE; time meant life and death. Being late wasn't an option.
I also have a lot of experience writing. I have worked on writing short stories ever since I was in 7th grade and have been Roleplaying ever since. Online, being able to write and get your point across is important. And, when you're telling a story it is equally important to be precise with your grammar and your details, or your reader may miss what you meant.
I like to have fun, too, so don't take this as me being a workaholic. I like to game, read manga, watch anime, and exercise.
Second: Why am I qualified?
To be frank, I'm probably not qualified for this at all. I'm currently doing research on some tools to perform my job as a proofreader (as of the posting of this thread, I have a few ideas on things to use) but it seems pretty straight forward. Quality Checking is what I did as a Teacher and I had to ensure my Law Enforcement reports were up to par with legal standards or I'd get chewed out, so I think my English cleaning abilities are fairly decent. But as a proofreader, the number one necessary skill is to be able to read, understand, and fix the basic and some times more important translation mistakes. I've seen these a lot in older manga and with certain Scanlation groups. Certain consistent mistakes make manga unreadable, and it kills me because some manga are really great. I feel that if you pick up a project to translate, you should at the least do the creator justice by translating their work properly.
As I am given work and perform my duties, this section will likely be updated. I'll post links to my work or share them with people who are interested with hiring me upon request.
Third: What do I expect when you contact me?
The very first thing you need to do when you reach out to me is tell me who you are, where you're from, and the group you're affiliated with. I need to know this because I don't talk to strangers about random stuff. If you're reaching out to me to give me work, be professional about it and get to the point. My day is great, I probably had cereal for breakfast, and no I am not busy if I am chatting with you. If you're with a certain group and need work done, just tell me what group you are, provide a link to the work if you have previously uploaded chapters, and tell me the stuff you need done.
I understand that not everyone is English speaking in this world, too. If English is not your first language, that is okay. I love that you are at least trying. Hell, use Google Translate if you need to. As long as you can communicate your work to me and what you need, I will the best I can on my end to help you. If you need to, tell me what language you are familiar with and I'll set my own Google Translate to your language so we can try that. Just tell me when you first contact me if you need this.
Fourth: What do I need from you?
I need five things;
[ol][li]Your group name and a link to where you post your work.[/li]
[li]The name of the manga you want me to proofread so I know what I'm actually working on.[/li]
[li]Who your point of contact is. Or, in other words, who I contact if I have a problem.[/li]
[li]Your deadlines. I need to know how much time I have and how fast I need to work, or I'll put other works ahead of yours that have tighter/closer deadlines.[/li]
[li]Your understanding that I am busy, have a life, and may not reach every single deadline.[/li]
[/ol]
It is extremely important that we are on the same page during the entire process. I need regular updates on the project and its deadlines, and I need to be given plenty of time to work on the project. I work during the day and my life can be quite hectic for certain periods of time due to random spur of the moment vacations, friend and family gatherings, and other business endeavors I have. When you contact me, it should already be in your head that I may be slightly unreliable. However, it should also be an expectation from you to me that I will keep you informed with things going on in my life. If something comes up and I have to do something, I make 100% sure to contact every single person I am in some form of project with that I am going to be gone. I tell you the exact days and times, and if I have a certain amount of work done then you can expect that I will send it to you before I have to leave so you have something rather than me just going off and doing my thing.
I prioritize work over everything else, but friends and family are more important to me than my own life. If a friend calls with a flat tire, you can bet that I'll be out of my chair and out the door in five minutes. The same goes for if a friend needs a plus one at a party or if someone is just lonely. I pride myself in being the guy that is there whenever you need me, and I consider my life as not my own. That also means that I will go out of my way to help your Group and will put forth as much effort as I can into the projects you send me. So when you contact me; you become one of the important things to take care of on my list.
Fifth: Ask your questions, now.
For the love of god and all that is holy; if you have a question about something, do yourself a favor and ask. Ask the instant it comes into your head. No matter how "dumb" or simple the question; ask me. I will answer your question, as long as it is something impersonal and something I can answer. Projects live and die on the trading of information. If you have a worry about something, ask me about it. If you are concerned about me not contacting you in a while after giving me a project, or if you just have a question about a word I adjusted, these questions matter. They matter because you thought of said question. Don't wait until three days after the Scan is posted to ask about something, because at that point hundreds of people could have already read it. It's a little late at that point.
Sixth: Compensation.
If you have a form of compensation, great. Let me know what it is when you contact me. If you don't, great. I don't really ask for any form of compensation unless you proactively give it out already. If you pay your Group members, then I expect some form of cut. If you don't, then digital cookies and hugs are fine. I'm not in this for money, I get that from my day job and other things. I'm in this to help readers enjoy what they read and to ensure that the English is legible. If you feel that because of my work you want to pay me in some manner; I will never say no to free stuff. If it's free, it's for me.
Just don't forget to stick my name somewhere in the credits of your work, please.
And that's it. If you are interested in contacting me for anything, you can do so in one of three ways:
[ol]
[li]Email: unfortunatemind@gmail.com -- When you e-mail me, it is required of you that you use the following Subject line template: [Proofread Work] Group Name - Name of Project/Manga
Any other form of subject line will be ignored. I am very picky about this because I like to stay organized.[/li]
[li]Discord: Saber#3413 -- If contacting me through Discord, know that I tend to check it in a sporadic fashion. I do have the app on my phone and desktop, and it is always on, but I glance at it once every 15 minutes or so when I'm home and I tend not to respond when I'm out doing things. If I don't get back to you right away when you initially ping me, don't panic. I'll see your message/request and will get to you when I'm free. If it is your first time contacting me, I recommend you prepare your message details in advance. That just makes things quicker.[/li]
[li]Private Message on this board -- If you have no other form of communication with people outside of this forum, feel free to just use the built-in messaging system. It works just as well as anything else. The downside is that I'll likely only check this place once a day for messages. Thus, I recommend using my email or Discord.[/li]
[/ol]
When messaging me, I recommend using the following message template;
[ol]
[li]Who you are, what group you're from, and that you need me for a project.[/li]
[li]What the project is and what the project entails. How long will you need my services and to what extent.[/li]
[li]Who am I working with? Who is the point of contact? Where can I go to see your previous work?[/li]
[li]Deadlines and when you expect my work to be turned in. Expectations of contact frequency are also recommended to be placed here.[/li]
[li]Is there compensation? Are there any other rewards aside from the joy I'll get from publishing a chapter?[/li]
[li]Questions and/or other important details that I need to know.[/li]
[/ol]
Well, that's not really a template but you get the point. In your first contact message with me, you should introduce yourself and provide me with enough information to make a decision. Don't call me just for a conversation, please. Unless you just want to be friends, then that's fine. I like friends and I don't mind chatting if you're bored/lonely.
If you have any other questions or concerns, or want me to explain something I mentioned above, feel free to post in this thread as well. This is a forum and I am more than willing to chat here about stuff. But if it's something about work, then use one of the three contact methods above to get in touch. Other than that, I hope to hear from y'all soon!
Das eet. Again, hi I'm Saber. And I'm a new proofreader. Hire me if you need me. Like and subscribe for more content. Thanks, bye.
P.S: No, I did not proofread this. There's probably a mistake or two. Enjoy.
