You've seen how overflowing the current marketplace is with self-publishing writers and would-be e-book authors, and you've recognized the potential profit to you as a possible freelance editor. Now what? Well, here's some things you should know...
(1) In case you haven't
watched enough People's Court episodes to know, you need to get EVERYthing in
writing-- changes and amendments to contracts included. "Verbal
contract" is a joke, and unenforceable by ANY judge or credit agency.
Clients will know this and laugh at your repeated requests for payment, and
ignore all your phone calls. Any possible changes that you need to make to your estimates of hours must also be in writing. You're a professional, and professionals have contracts, written estimates, and invoices. Amateurs and hobbyists have verbal agreements and undocumented phone conversations. Text messages don't tend to last long enough to act as evidence-- phones get lost and phone companies sometimes delete old text messages. ONLY get it in email or on paper.
(2) There are some really
crappy writers out there, and some really good ones, but they ALL can use an
editor--and not all of them realize how MUCH they need one. Unfortunately, they
won't all have a positive and agreeable attitude towards your editorial input.
You have to be careful to stroke egos, and be prepared for the one who will
reject everything you said (no matter how well-stroked their ego), only to go
back to the original version (this is often where your paper contract will save
you a big loss of time & money).
When I say, "stroke egos", I don't intend for it to be demeaning. What I mean is, that some writers are very good,
but take every little correction to heart as evidence of how supposedly "terrible" they
are. Others shouldn’t even be writing
greeting cards, but don’t want to hear that truth. Yet others are very open to criticism and are
too willing to make every change you suggest without question (an editor SHOULD be
questioned, as an editor is not a “Book God”). Most writers are somewhere along this spectrum, and can change their place
on it from moment to moment.
Editorial work requires a LOT more people
skills than many people think. Expect to have a lot of long conversations and polite drawn-out disagreements about such trivial things as the placement and use of a comma.
Freelance
editing is different from trade editing, in that the freelancer has
less control or say in the final outcome of the work. Instead of working for the entity who's paying for the publishing process, and therefore having more say on what is or isn't in the final print, you work for the writer. The writer is paying for it all, and therefore has final say on his/her own work. You have less authority than an editor at a trade publisher, and are less able to insist upon anything.
(3) Some clients will want an
edit that's basically just a spell-check, while others will want to have a full
"book doctor" job, rewrites and all. Clarify this with the client and
put it in the contracts BEFORE you start your work. Restrain your editorial
instincts (and grit your teeth to refrain from comments you think OUGHT to be made)
when you are asked to only spell-check writing that really needs a major rewrite
instead. You can tell them some things (like, "these scenes don't make
sense in the order you wrote them in"), but don't let yourself start
rewriting unless the client wants that. However, even when the client SAYS they
want it, don't be shocked if they end up thinking they know better than you and ignore
and/or undo your edits.
(4) Most writers have no idea
how many hours it takes to properly edit a document (if you do more than just
spell-checking for them, especially) and might object to the number of hours
(read: unexpected high cost, if you charge them hourly) of a decent edit. Keep
in touch with clients throughout the process, to give them an idea of how it's
going, so your hours invested won't be so much of a shock to their pocketbook.
(5) Dedicate as many hours
per day as you would be expected to dedicate to an office job somewhere. Don't
treat clients as a hobby or part-time job (unless you clarify with them
BEFOREHAND in emails that you have another client at the same time, or some
other valid professional reason for minimizing your hours). Doing so is VERY
unprofessional, and WILL hurt you in the long run. Bad business practices DO
haunt you in these days of online reviews and LinkedIn networking, etc. First
and foremost, behave and treat your work the same way would expect a true
professional in an office to behave and treat their work. Your client is your
boss AND your next reference for your "resume" (online reviews, etc),
so don't mess around and/or screw him/her over. Don't try padding your hours, either. Your client already thinks you're taking too much time and costing too much. (Besides, that's dishonest-- and honesty ALWAYS makes for good, professional business practices.)
(6) For your
first few freelance gigs, you might want to have a more experienced editor look
over your work before showing it to the client. This is not to negate your
abilities, but an experienced eye DOES pick up on things a less-experienced one
misses, and it's a great learning experience that will make you all the more
desirable and better-paid in the workforce (freelance or otherwise). Even at my
age, another pair of eyes double-checking me has NEVER hurt my work, and only
helped it. A good mentor, whether free or paid, is invaluable to a beginning
editor.
I think of editing like piano
tuning. Some people have an ear for music, and some don't. Having an ear for
music can help you get a career in music, but the ear alone won't make you a
good piano tuner (just as having an eye for typos does not automatically make
someone a good editor). To be a good piano tuner, you need professional
training and mentorship (in this, I speak with some personal knowledge, as my
brother is a piano tuner with an excellent musical ear). The same is true with editorial work: It's more than just finding typos, it's also knowing some OTHER
things to look for/at, AND the people skills needed to deal with authors. There
are things that someone of more experience can best teach you. Yes, there ARE
those people who stumble into piano tuning/editing and somehow manage to master
it alone, but they are doing it the hard way, and (no offense to anyone who
might be doing well after stumbling into freelance editing, but...) the quality
of their work is USUALLY not as high as the trained piano tuner/editor.
(7) You can never learn too
much about copyrights. Really. Some things on the internet might SEEM public
domain, or you might THINK you are safe using a certain quote as long as you
credit it or get verbal approval, but every single thing MUST be checked and
double-checked for legality and reproduction-- text, photos, artwork, quotes,
music, etc. There are a LOT of weird copyright
issues that have come up for me through the years, that I never expected to be
an issue EVER. Nowadays, with the internet, things are actually worse for
copyright infringement, but easier for checking out. Never hesitate to send a
client to a copyright lawyer if you have ANY doubts or questions (drag them
there kicking and screaming, if necessary).
A famous example of bad
copyright checking: The "Barney the Dinosaur" show was cancelled
because they used a common tune, "This Old Man" redone as "I
love you, you love me". They assumed it was so old as to be public domain.
It was not, and they were sued.
Another famous example: Weird
Al Yankovic parodied a song after merely asking his agent to ask the other
agent. Supposedly, everyone was okay with him doing the parody, but it turns
out the band he was mimicking said they had never even heard the request to use the song.
Even the famous and
successful can sometimes mess up a copyright issue, so a good editor should
NEVER assume anything, no matter what verbal assurances their client gives
them.
And, of course (which also
goes back to my original point)-- Get it IN WRITING from the legal copyright
holder.
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