Castle Walls Editing

Tag: authors

  • Sign on the Dotted Line: The Editing Contract

    Sign on the Dotted Line: The Editing Contract

    Signing a contract can be intimidating. What am I getting into here? What might be lurking in the fine print?

    When it comes to the author–editor relationship, contracts can reassure authors

    • that they’ve chosen the right editor
    • that the editor will provide the services they want
    • that the pay and delivery schedule will meet their expectations

     

    The Right Editor for You

    Authors find editors in all kinds of ways, and if you poke around social media for a minute or two, you’ll probably come across authors asking where they can go to find a good editor.

    Editors may be referred by other authors (editors love this).

    Authors may find editors blind on the internet or through resources such as the Editorial Freelancers Association (of which I’m a member).

    Authors may even turn to friends who love to read and regularly point out grammar miscues on Facebook (but please don’t point out grammar miscues on Facebook).

    Wherever an author finds an editor, the contract is a sign of the editor’s professionalism. The contract says the following to the author:

    • “I am a professional, I take my job seriously, and I will treat you in a professional manner.”
    • “I want to be absolutely clear on the work that you want me to do, and I want you to be absolutely clear on the work I’m doing.”
    • “I want to prevent any misunderstandings on the cost of the work or when you can expect the work to be delivered.”

    Whether your editor is an old friend or a complete stranger, contracts set the business transaction off on the right foot and preserve the relationship between the parties by preventing misunderstandings.

    With something as important as a manuscript an author has toiled over, better safe than sorry is a good approach for everyone involved.

    The Services You Want

    An author’s view of the kind of editing that should be done on a manuscript can be very different from the editor’s.

    Authors and editors may even have different definitions for what is entailed by the different levels of editing: developmental editing, line editing, copyediting, and proofreading. (No surprise here, because editors often have different definitions themselves.)

    Authors might not even be aware there are different levels of editing, so prework discussions leading to the contract can be extremely informative.

    For example, the contract can prevent an author from thinking the copyeditor will perform Big Picture structural work on a manuscript when the copyeditor thinks he will be editing for grammar, spelling, punctuation, style, and consistency only.

    No Surprises

    Unspoken expectations lead to trouble, especially when it comes to money and the nature of the work involved.

    A contract may specify the type of file that will be supplied to the editor (an editor may be expecting a Word document when the author is planning to send a PDF for markup or share a Google document).

    A contract might say that the work will be billed based on the supplied word count and not the word count of the edited document (often much lower), or a contract may spell out a project fee and a pay schedule.

    Either way, addressing payment expectations (including the deposit and methods of payment) avoids one of the greatest sources of contention.

    In addition, an author might expect that the editor’s fee includes a full review of the edited manuscript after the author has addressed comments and accepted and rejected changes, whereas the editor might see this as a separate charge.

    What happens when the author or editor has to pull out of a project, for whatever reason? This can be covered in the contract too.

    Another thing to keep in mind is that if authors see something they don’t like in the contract, they are free to raise the issue with the editor and are encouraged to do so.

    After all, editors and authors are working toward a common goal: to make the author’s manuscript as good as it can be.

    Contracts help achieve this goal and reassure both parties that their expectations are being met.

    (For more on contracts and setting fees, The Paper It’s Written On by Karin Cather and Dick Margulis and The Science, Art and Voodoo of Freelance Pricing and Getting Paid by Jake Poinier, aka Dr. Freelance, are excellent resources.)

    About James Gallagher:

    James Gallagher is a copyeditor and the owner of Castle Walls Editing LLC. To view a sample contract or to find out how James can help with your writing projects, email James at James@castlewallsediting.com.

     

    References:

    Cather, Karin, and Dick Margulis. The Paper It’s Written On: Defining Your Relationship with an Editing Client. New Haven, CT: Andslash Books, 2018.

    Poinier, Jake. The Science, Art and Voodoo of Freelance Pricing and Getting Paid. Phoenix, AZ: More Cowbell Books, 2013.

  • Shh! What Do Editors Mean by ‘Silent’ Changes?

    Shh! What Do Editors Mean by ‘Silent’ Changes?

    With Word’s Track Changes turned on, every insertion or deletion an editor makes is visible to the author. Silent changes happen when the editor switches Track Changes off so that the author can’t see what’s been changed.

    Sounds sneaky, doesn’t it?

    Almost nefarious.

    It’s easy to imagine authors bristling at the notion. But there’s a reason for a certain type of silent edits, and in these cases the editor is trying to help the author.

    Why Make Silent Changes?

    When an editor returns a manuscript, authors are often surprised by the number of edits. Tracked changes can splash red all over the page, and this can be alarming. As authors review their edited manuscript, they are faced with the task of contending with these edits.

    To reduce the amount of electronic marks on the page, editors sometimes make silent changes for edits the author wouldn’t question. Not tracking these changes makes it easier for authors to see the changes they care about without getting lost in a sea of red.

    Candidates for silent editing include the replacement of straight quotes with smart (curly) quotes, the movement of punctuation inside quotation marks, and the elimination of extra spaces. Editors might also make silent edits for 100 percent typos (“carts” for “cats”).

    I generally only make silent edits for things like extra spaces, but I always clear this with authors beforehand so they know what kinds of changes will be done silently.

    Because authors place a great deal of trust in editors, there should be no surprises. Editors need to be fully transparent with their actions, and there is no reason not to be.

    Editors, after all, want to help authors, not trick them.

    What About When Authors Make Silent Changes?

    Depending on the arrangement, authors may want the editor to take another look at the manuscript after the authors have responded to comments and accepted or rejected changes.

    Because editors feel responsible for the quality of the work, they want to be aware of any changes authors make at this point, so no typos slip through. For this reason, editors will often lock the file so that Track Changes cannot be turned off.

    With all of the above in mind, I hope silent changes sound less less like a sneaky intrusion and more like a helpful part of the editing process.

    About James Gallagher

    James Gallagher is a copyeditor and the owner of Castle Walls Editing. For more information about how he can help with your writing projects, send email to James@castlewallsediting.com.