On the Basics: How editors (and proofreaders, writers, photographers, graphic artists, etc.) get referrals and jobs

Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, Owner

An American Editor

The other day, I got a private message from a member of a Facebook group that I own, offering to provide ghostwriting and editing services and asking me to refer them for projects that I might not be interested in.

This was someone I know nothing about, have never met either virtually or in person, who hasn’t posted to the group in question, and who clearly knew nothing, or not much, about me or they wouldn’t have offered services I’m unlikely to use … essentially, a stranger whose training, skills and experience are total unknowns.  A stranger asking me to put my name and reputation on the line by hiring them or referring them to my current or prospective clients.

My response might have been on the brusque side, but so be it: I said that I do my own writing and editing, and that if I need to refer someone for projects I might turn down, it would be only to people I know. Her response: “… if everyone was like you, other editors won’t ever get any job or referral …”

My response to that: “Not true. People would still get referrals and jobs — I get them all the time — from colleagues they know through professional associations and other connections. Once someone is established as skilled and knowledgeable, work comes to them. That’s networking, at least when it’s done right.”

Those who know me even a little bit know that I’m pretty generous with advice and referrals, and have been for many, many years; I’m not called the Queen of Networking for nothing. That aside, the exchange does raise the interesting and useful question of how editors, and other members of the publishing world, do get jobs, clients and referrals.

I’ve discussed aspects of this in previous posts, and some of our subscribers have seen similar conversations in various other places — association e-mail discussion lists and forums, Facebook and LinkedIn groups, newsletters from colleagues and organizations, even books. It’s worth a revisit, though, because obviously some people still don’t “get it.”

Whence referrals?

Referrals come from a variety of sources. In my experience, referrals come from clients who like my work and pass my name and contact information to their connections who need someone to do similar work; colleagues who meet me in person when I speak at conferences or electronically when I present webinars, or who know me through my active and visible membership in about a dozen professional associations; and even through family and friends who have no connection with the publishing world but know me from personal connections (including grade school and high school!).

What do they all have in common? They know me, or they know my work. They know me because I’m more than what I call a “checkbook member” of an association; I contribute to its newsletter, discussion platforms, events, etc. They know me because I host this platform and write about aspects of doing editing and other editorial work here (and elsewhere). They know me because they see my posts to Facebook, LinkedIn and association outlets. They know me because they’ve attended or at least heard about my “Be a Better Freelancer”^® conference.

Even if we haven’t actually met, they can feel confident that referring me to someone they know won’t make them look bad.

What people don’t “get”

What many newcomers to this world (and that of any profession or industry, when you think about it) is that you don’t “get” just by asking, and that networking is a two-way process.

You have to prove yourself. You can introduce yourself to a new audience, large or small; organization, group or individual; but that isn’t enough. You have to show that audience what you do and how well you do it. You have to demonstrate skills and knowledge. You have to let people know about your training and experience.

Most importantly, you have to contribute: Answer colleagues’ questions (accurately!), provide resources, present information. Lurking in the background might provide you with great advice, but it isn’t networking, nor is jumping into a new environment by asking for referrals and subcontracting without having shown that you’re skilled enough to earn them.

Yes: earn. Referrals and recommendations are earned. They aren’t presents. They aren’t rewards for simply joining a community. They are earned by proving you can do the work, do it well and make the referring person proud of their connection to you. They often come in over the transom, so to speak: I’ve received quite a few referrals that I didn’t ask for (which is always a good reminder to be more proactive about asking clients and colleagues to refer me to their connections). That’s one reason it’s so important to establish a strong reputation for a type of work or knowledge: You never know when or how it will pay off.

How to be referred

While referrals do often come out of the blue, you can be proactive about getting them. Once you have enough work and good relationships with clients and colleagues who know about that work, there’s nothing wrong with asking for referrals; in fact, it’s a good idea and often your best bet. Not everyone will assume that you’re looking for a new job or project — people might assume you have plenty of freelance work in hand or are happy and fulfilled in a full-time, in-house job. Sometimes we have to tell our clients, colleagues, family and friends that we are or might be available. You can also ask for LinkedIn recommendations and testimonials for your website (because, of course, you have a website if you’re in business). Those who know you and your work are likely to comply.

It’s just that, again, and again and again, you have to earn the positive answer to the request. That’s why the best referrals and recommendations come from clients who appreciate your work and colleagues who feel like they know you, and why it’s so important to build up your professional image through genuine networking and self-promotion once you have something to promote.

While referrals are most likely to come from those who do know you on some level, people don’t have to meet you in person or work with you to become referral sources. If you become known for your knowledge through giving advice and answering questions in various platforms, and/or for your skills and experience, you could receive referrals from people you don’t actually know. And that’s fine. It’s a benefit of doing good work, developing a positive reputation and doing networking that works. Networking isn’t a closed circle of only the people you know now or in one way; it’s a constantly expanding world of contacts.

In the spirit of networking, colleagiality, recommending and referring, by the way, check out Jake Poinier’s blog posts for the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (NAIWE; https://jakepoinier.naiwe.com/) and at his website (https://doctorfreelance.com/freelance-referrals-business/) about this topic. They don’t come more knowledgeable and generous than Jake!

The last word

Referrals don’t happen overnight. As with many aspects of any career, whether in-house or freelance, it takes time to build up enough of a reputation and portfolio to be referred to others. Be patient, put in the time and effort to let your light shine, and referrals will come to you.

How have you generated referrals? What do you suggest that colleagues do — and not do?

Ruth E. Thaler-Carter (www.writerruth.com) is an award-winning provider of editorial and publishing services for publications, independent authors, publishers, associations, nonprofits and companies worldwide, and the editor-in-chief and owner of An American Editor. She created the annual Communication Central Be a Better Freelancer^® conference for colleagues (www.communication-central.com), now co-hosted with the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (www.naiwe.com) and sponsored by An American Editor. She also owns A Flair for Writing (www.aflairforwriting.com), which helps independent authors produce and publish their books. She can be reached at Ruth@writerruth.com or Ruth.Thaler-Carter@AnAmericanEditor.com.

On the Basics: Rewriting and editing my life by becoming an artist

Ruth E. Thaler-Carter

Owner, An American Editor

© An American Editor. Content may not be recirculated, republished or otherwise used without both the prior permission of the publisher and full credit to the author of a given post and the An American Editor blog, including a live link to the post being referenced. Thank you for respecting our rights to and ownership of our work.

As I’m about to reach a milestone birthday, I found myself wanting to do something new and creative — and I’m doing it! I call it rewriting or editing my life. When a colleague asked for experiences of learning something new at an, um, advanced age, I found myself writing enough to turn it into this post, especially since she only used a small part of my response.

I took classes in ceramics many, many years ago in junior high, even had a piece in an exhibition, and always wanted to do that again. I finally got back to it last year when I found a craft center nearby where I could work on my own after taking a class to prove that I know what I’m doing. I’ve made a few pieces and am going to do more. Not only is this a fun and fulfilling creative outlet, but there’s something very satisfying about pounding a hunk of clay to work with it. Techniques came back to life as soon as I started doing it again. It felt like coming home; coming back to part of me I had forgotten about.

What’s completely new is making art in glass. I’ve been copyediting artists’ articles for a glass art magazine (as well as editing a newsletter for an organization in the decorative arts) for several years and thought I should try my hand at glass work to have a better sense of what those artists are doing. Someone I dated in my previous St. Louis time works in that medium and I decided to check it out after stopping by the studio where he works to say hello. I learned that I don’t have the patience or hand strength for blown glass, but apparently am pretty good at making tiles and similar pieces that use different techniques. The studio’s gallery manager invited me to display pieces and be added to their website, and I’ve already sold a couple pieces — and have an actual commission in hand!

It’s exciting and uplifting to learn and practice glass techniques. Working with glass made me feel like a newbie at first, but I liked it. Learning as an adult feels more real somehow — I have a better sense of what I want to do than I did in school days, and I don’t feel worried about how anything turns out.

I’m making art a habit — the weekends are my art time. It’s just me and the cat nowadays, so I can play with art as long as I don’t have work deadlines to meet, and even those are usually during the week.

I’m using the craft center and glass studio for most of the supplies I need, including kiln time for both mediums. If these projects work out as well as they promise to, my dining room can become my workspace and I can set up a kiln in the basement of my condo building and be more independent. If this really takes off, who knows — I might end up with my own studio or gallery!

Doing this has been wonderful for my life, health, joy, stress relief and sense of accomplishment. I don’t feel stressed very often, but pounding on a hunk of clay takes care of any that does arise. Making art gets me out and among new connections, including people who see me as an artist. It gives me a huge sense of accomplishment, especially because the staff at the glass studio priced my work much higher than I would have dared!

I’m working on setting up an Etsy shop that will feature both glass and clay. In the meantime, if you’d like to see some of my glass work, go to:

https://stlglass.square.site/s/search?q=ruth

For anyone interested in learning something new, there’s only one perspective: As the ad campaign goes, “just do it” — it could be a lot of fun. It could even be no fun — but something new and adventurous is rarely a mistake.

Editing your life by adding a new skill of any type has another business-related benefit: It forces you to apply everything you know about writing, editing, proofreading and networking to make the best possible product and present it to the world in the best possible ways — just as you do with your editorial or publishing business.

And a lesson from the editorial business perspective: It’s rarely too late to “edit” your life by adding new skills, services and interests, whether in the publishing world or elsewhere. Doing something new could even add to your editing (writing, proofreading, design, etc.) client base by giving you visibility in that new area and the experience to feel confident about accepting projects in that area. For anyone feeling as if your editing business is getting stale, taking a new path could be the refresher you need.

Ruth E. Thaler-Carter (www.writerruth.com) is an award-winning provider of editorial and publishing services for publications, independent authors, publishers, associations, nonprofits and companies worldwide, and the editor-in-chief and owner of An American Editor. She created the annual Communication Central Be a Better Freelancer^® conference for colleagues (www.communication-central.com), now co-hosted with the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (www.naiwe.com) and sponsored by An American Editor. She also owns A Flair for Writing (www.aflairforwriting.com), which helps independent authors produce and publish their books. She can be reached at Ruth@writerruth.com or Ruth.Thaler-Carter@AnAmericanEditor.com.

On the Basics: Dealing with idea “theft”

© Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, Owner

An American Editor

© An American Editor. Content may not be recirculated, republished or otherwise used without both the prior permission of the publisher and full credit to the author of a given post and the An American Editor blog, including a live link to the post being referenced. Thank you for respecting our rights to and ownership of our work.

Freelance writers often worry about having their story ideas stolen. It’s rare, but sometimes it does happen. On the other hand, what appears to be idea theft might be something innocent. Here’s a recent example — and some tips for idea theft prevention.

A colleague in a social media group pitched a story to an alumni magazine. After asking whether they took alumni profiles, the writer had some seemingly positive e-mail exchanges with the editor via LinkedIn. Then the writer received this message and asked the group how to respond, if at all, to what felt as if the editor stole their story idea:

< Thank you so much for sending this idea our way. Dr. //// sounds like they are doing some wonderful work! … we might consider this story for a Q&A in the Class Notes section, but not for a feature at this time. We generally cover Q&As with our in-house staff and as such do not hire freelancers to conduct those interviews which are generally a few email exchanges.

< Thank you for being in touch and for sharing information about Dr. /// with us. >

As I responded in the group conversation, I sympathize (the only thing worse is being told that they’ve assigned your idea to an intern). Keep in mind that we can’t protect or copyright ideas — only the actual written expression of an idea can be copyrighted. This editor did take the writer’s idea, which would have upset me as much as it did the colleague, but the writer might have been able to protect that idea with a slightly different query approach.

When I suggested not naming the subject of a pitch, the colleague said that editor asked for the person’s name, which I said would be tricky. I probably would have responded with something like, “I’d rather not reveal the person’s name until I have a contract or agreement to write the story, as either a Q&A or narrative profile.” Again, that could result in the editor deciding not to assign the story to you, in part because it could imply a lack of trust, but it does give you some protection against your pitch being hijacked.

A response to the final decision in such a situation could be something like, “I’m not comfortable with having my pitch adopted as an in-house project. This feels like theft.” Doing that is likely to mean never working with that editor/publication, but it can be satisfying. Maybe write the message and then delete it unsent …

Another option could have been: “I appreciate the explanation and understand your process now, but would like to receive recognition for providing this idea. Do you pay for ideas that you assign in-house?” The answer probably would be no, but the question could generate a small fee, or at least plant a seed in the editor’s mind about a fair way to handle such situations in the future.

Fellow writers with similar story ideas might consider describing the person you’d like to profile without revealing the subject’s actual name: “An alum who …” Although even that doesn’t always work: I did something along those lines several years ago and the editor both immediately guessed who I was talking about and gave the profile to a staffer. The pitch was about a prominent local person, so maybe not all that surprising that my description could have given away their identity, but I’m still annoyed several years later!

If the subject of your pitch is someone you know who might sympathize with your quest to write about them, you could ask them to tell editors that they will only work with you — but that could backfire as well. Some editors might react by banning you from their pages forever.

In the online conversation, a group member suggested responding to the editor with something along the lines of “Thank you for letting me know. Please keep me in mind for paying feature assignments.” That shows grace and keeps the communication lines open for the future. Then keep looking for other outlets for that idea!

When you have a story idea in the future, look at several recent issues of a publication you plan to query to see which types of articles are labeled as staff-written or have no bylines. Those are often handled in-house, so craft your query to fit a different type of article.

Most publications nowadays publish their editorial calendars — planned themes and topics for the year’s issues — at their websites. Before querying, go there to check whether your idea, or a version of it, is already scheduled. You might even be able to see that it’s already been assigned. If your idea fits a given issue or theme, craft your query to make your idea stand out from whatever is already planned.

If you have a profile in mind, maybe pitch the person’s professional association(s) instead of their university alumni association publication. Other potential markets would be the person’s hometown publication, current local publication, even high school alumni association instead of college (although high school ones are less likely to pay), etc.

Writer’s Market remains a useful guide to what many publications seek from freelance writers, and Writer’s Digest magazine is still a good resource for information about new publications and the writing field in general.

Pitching a story idea is always iffy. Most editors are honest and won’t steal your ideas, but it can happen. The best way to protect your unprotectable ideas is to craft queries that are as detailed as possible without giving away what’s needed to write piece, and showing why you’re the ideal writer for that piece. And don’t write an entire article without a formal assignment or contract — on speculation (spec) — because that’s asking for your work to be used without compensation.

How do you craft your queries to protect your ideas from being hijacked? If you’ve had an article idea stolen, how did you handle it?

Ruth E. Thaler-Carter (www.writerruth.com) is an award-winning provider of editorial and publishing services for publications, independent authors, publishers, associations, nonprofits and companies worldwide, and the editor-in-chief and owner of An American Editor. She created the annual Communication Central Be a Better Freelancer^® conference for colleagues (www.communication-central.com), now co-hosted with the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (www.naiwe.com) and sponsored by An American Editor. She also owns A Flair for Writing (www.aflairforwriting.com), which helps independent authors produce and publish their books. She can be reached at Ruth@writerruth.com or Ruth.Thaler-Carter@AnAmericanEditor.com.

On the Basics: Making the most of job postings

© Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, Owner

An American Editor

© An American Editor. Content may not be recirculated, republished or otherwise used without both the prior permission of the publisher and full credit to the author of a given post and the An American Editor blog, including a live link to the post being referenced. Thank you for respecting our rights to and ownership of our work.

One benefit of belonging to a professional association is access to job opportunities. Postings and leads also turn up in LinkedIn and Facebook, among other venues, as well as from colleague and previous client referrals. There are ways to stand out from the (often huge) crowd of other applicants who respond to the same listings. Here are a few tips for increasing your chances of being the one who gets chosen.

• In general, always have a current résumé handy, and schedule regular updates. Ask a friend or colleague to proofread it (and any cover message accompanying a job post response or application for you, if there’s time) — it can be very difficult to proof our own material, and you want your résumé to be perfect.

• Only respond if you really have the experience and skills in the listing. There’s nothing wrong with going after new opportunities if they arise, but applying for jobs or projects you aren’t qualified for makes you look bad. It also can interfere with the ability of qualified competitors to be considered; when unqualified applicants flood the field, clients feel overwhelmed and cut off further applicants. 

• Don’t underbid. It’s expressly forbidden by some professional organizations when responding to their job or project opportunities, and many colleagues consider it unethical, but it’s a bad idea even if there aren’t any strictures against it. If a potential client or employer offers a great rate, respect it, and yourself, and your colleagues. Offering to do the job for less — or for free — undercuts everyone seeking to maintain decent rates for our editorial services. And it makes you look desperate, unprofessional and unethical.

• Make multiple use of your qualifications and activity. When you write a response to a current/recent posting, save it in Word so you can adjust it for future listings. It should include a basic opening sentence noting what you’re applying for, a “nut graf” about how your qualifications or experience relate to the job or project, and a closing graf that asks for — when appropriate — fee/rate, deadline and any other important details not covered in the listing.

• If you include a résumé or promotional brochure as an attachment, make sure the filename uses your name so it stands out from applicants who just use “Resume.doc” as the filename for theirs. You’ll look more professional and will be more memorable, and your material won’t get confused with anyone else’s.

And speaking of résumés, freelance colleagues might benefit from the Editorial Freelancers Association booklet “Resumés for Freelancers: Make Your Resumé an Effective Marketing Tool … and More,” by Sheila Buff and yours truly (I don’t profit from sales). It’s available at https://www.the-efa.org/booklets/#post.

Outside the organizations

For cold queries and responses to leads from sources other than your professional membership associations, which usually provide at least some information about scope, detail and rate, keep a list of items to include and confirm in an agreement, assignment or contract:

• Scope, such as length/number of words (if an editing or proofreading project is defined in pages, make sure to do your own word count before using the client’s number of pages as the basis of your fee and deadline), number of interviews or images, etc.

• Preferred style manual

• Deadline(s)

• Fee or pay rate/amount

• Payment policy (on acceptance vs. on publication vs. X days from invoice date, etc.) • Kill fee

• Protection against scope creep

• Copyright protection

What has worked for you in responding to job services or leads? What hasn’t?

Ruth E. Thaler-Carter (www.writerruth.com) is an award-winning provider of editorial and publishing services for publications, independent authors, publishers, associations, nonprofits and companies worldwide, and the editor-in-chief and owner of An American Editor. She created the annual Communication Central Be a Better Freelancer^® conference for colleagues (www.communication-central.com), now co-hosted with the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (www.naiwe.com) and sponsored by An American Editor. She also owns A Flair for Writing (www.aflairforwriting.com), which helps independent authors produce and publish their books. She can be reached at Ruth@writerruth.com or Ruth.Thaler-Carter@AnAmericanEditor.com.

On the Basics — In-person events and holiday gifts call for lasting giveaways

By Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, Owner

An American Editor

In-person events and conferences are back, and I’ve attended several recently that offered opportunities not only to meet, greet, network with, and learn from colleagues, other freelancers, and potential clients, but to think about how to make the best use of exhibitor and sponsorship offerings.

Cruising the exhibit area of any conference is always fun — and often educational, and even profitable. We can learn a lot about new products and services, sometimes try some out and maybe win prizes and raffles to attract us to various booths.

What I’ve always found interesting is the items that exhibitors give away. Chocolates and other candies are popular, as are packets of chips, popcorn, and crackers or cookies, especially for people whose products don’t lend themselves to portable samples.

The problem with giving away food by the bowlful is that it’s temporary (and attendees can be allergic to much of it). Exhibitors should think beyond the candy to giveaways that attendees will keep and use.

That means logo- and contact info-imprinted pens or pencils, mugs, flash drives, paper cutters, mouse pads, laptop or cellphone covers, tote bags, small backpacks or fanny packs (yes, those are still a thing!), notepads, keychains, T-shirts, and even stuffed animals, brain-power toys such as puzzles or action figures: anything that will last beyond the event. I’ve heard from and even seen colleagues who still have mugs and sweatshirts from my Communication Central conferences of several years ago!

And the more timeless, the better, so dropping the event date is often a good idea — although “timely” can be relative: This past year, facemasks showed up at several events, and might still be appreciated for another year or two as we continue to cope with Covid-19 mutations and variations.

Some of these might seem commonplace or over-done, but they work because they’re practical, useful and lasting. As several people said at a recent conference where I represented a reporting organization that was giving away pens and notepads, “We can never have enough pens.”

I would avoid anything magnetized, since magnets placed too close to a computer could damage files.

All of this is not to discount the value of the smell of popping corn to lure people to your booth in an exhibit hall — the popcorn might not last, but you could always include a lasting tschotchke to go along with it!

With the holidays approaching, the same philosophy of lasting items applies to gifts for our clients, especially because we rarely have any idea of what they might be allergic to. One of my favorite gifts to clients several years ago was a mug imprinted with the coming year’s calendar, along with — of course — my name and contact info. It was very well-received — but only good for that year. Since then, I’ve done mugs with my business name and contact info, but nothing with any dates.

And before you invest in such items, as well as the cost of shipping or delivering them, keep in mind that some clients — primarily those working for government agencies at any level — might either not be allowed to receive gifts from consultants/freelancers at all or have monetary limits on what they can accept.

What have you used or have tried using as event giveaways and client gifts? Which ones worked, and which would you not use again?

On the Basics: Yet another scam warning

By Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, Owner

An American Editor

Sigh … the creeps of the world just keep on trying. If only they’d apply all that energy, effort and — yes — occasional creativity to something productive, maybe we’d achieve world peace.

There’s a new version of the scam pretending to offer editing, proofreading or writing jobs with major pharmaceutical or publishing companies. This one is supposedly from Grifols Pharmaceuticals and refers to something called Telegram for interviewing instead of Google Hangout. Like previous versions, it claims to have found you through the EFA member directory, which many colleagues have found convincing; there probably are versions citing other professional associations as well. Delete, delete, delete! If you’ve received this and responded, do not engage any longer, block the supposed sender to whom you responded and change your e-mail password.

And while I’m on the subject, here are some protection tips from AARP, via “Dear Heloise,” in case you (or someone you know) receive one of the increasingly common blackmail attempts from scammers claiming they have access to your e-mail program, Internet accounts or computer camera, and will release embarrassing photos, videos or social media posts if you don’t pay them, usually via bitcoin or buying gift cards:

Do not respond.

Change your password(s) immediately.

Make sure your anti-virus software is current.

Delete messages from any senders you don’t know or recognize.

If you have friends or relatives whose cognitive functions or access to information like this might be a bit compromised, please warn them about these and other common scams directed at older people. Let’s do our best to thwart these jerks and keep each other safe.

On the Basics: The ethics of editing college applications

By Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, Owner

An American Editor

Once again, inspiration for an An American Editor blog post struck in reaction to a collegial discussion list conversation. (Some of you may have seen the beginnings of the conversation; this is an expanded version.)

A colleague mentioned having received a request to write or edit the client’s kid’s college application and said she responded by telling them that college applications should be the student’s own work. She characterized the request as a possible ethics issue, and I agree; I said I would have responded the same way. If they had only asked for editing services, it might have been different.

This is a frequent, albeit unfortunate, type of request. The asker usually has every intention of paying for the service, so it isn’t a scam in the financial sense, but either doesn’t know or care that it could be unethical. I manage or respond to these requests by making it my policy not to provide editing for college or grad school applications; proofreading, maybe, but even that can seem borderline inappropriate.

This might be an uncomfortable topic to discuss, but I’m interested in how colleagues think about it. Some institutions will let applicants use editors or proofreaders for application statements or essays, but forbid hiring someone to write those materials. Some draw distinctions between doing such work for native speakers vs. speakers of other languages, or between disciplines — hiring an editor or proofreader is OK for students in the sciences, engineering, maybe business, etc., but not for those in English degree programs.

I have a huge amount of respect for anyone who is willing to function in a language other than their original one, especially English, which can be a challenge even for well-educated origin speakers (as we often see here). And I’m not monolingual: I’ve studied and used French, German and Spanish — but wouldn’t want to tackle writing in any of them until I had spent time immersed in them again; even German, which I picked up in childhood mostly from listening to my Austrian parents and only studied formally much later.

In the application process, it seems more fair for someone’s command of any language to be clear in — literally — their own words, especially in areas like medicine, where lack of fluency could have life-threatening results.

On the other hand, rejecting an applicant because of clunky English in an application might be a disservice to all concerned. Many applicants are very talented in their fields and deserve the opportunity to continue their educations at institutions in countries other than their own. There also can be a difference between someone’s spoken and comprehended levels of language vs. their skills in writing it. And it’s valuable for students to meet and interact with peers from other countries and cultures, no matter which ones are involved. Being accepted into a program and interacting with native speakers, both instructors and fellow students, day in and day out would improve a non-native’s command of English as well.

One colleague found it “hard to believe someone has the nerve to ask for such a thing in this day and age.”

Actually, I find it understandable (not acceptable, but understandable). It isn’t new. There have always been ways for students to game the system, even if only by having their parents write or edit their school work or applications, and students have been selling their work to each other for ages and a day. It’s even easier to do nowadays than ever before: Entire businesses are built on writing student essays and applications (businesses that do the writing for students at any level, and people who work for such businesses, are unethical in my eyes and those of many others, both individuals and institutions/organizations). Papers, and probably application essays, can be purchased online with ease. Celebrities pay thousands to phony up their kids’ applications, sometimes without the kids’ knowledge.

There also can be a thin line between editing and rewriting, although the distinction between writing and editing is easier to draw.

I typed papers for fellow students when I was in college (back in the Dark Ages before computers 🙂 ), and would correct some of their spelling or basic punctuation errors as I went along, but I wouldn’t rewrite if their concepts weren’t clear. There was a big difference between typing up a handwritten paper and rewriting or even editing it. More recently, I proofread my niece’s résumé and a cover letter for her; she’s in landscape architecture and is bilingual in English and Hebrew. I was comfortable with catching a few typos that had nothing to do with her professional skills, but I did have an ulterior motive for making her material as close to perfect as possible: I’m hoping she gets a job offer here where I live!

The good news is that the growth of companies that do the work for students and the ease of plagiarizing via the Internet has led to innovation in response, such as anti-plagiarism software programs. These can be used not just to check on whether someone has copied from known published works, but whether they’ve used material that has been “outed” as generated by someone (or thing) other than the student in question.

In the discussion of this that I mentioned above, several colleagues had perspectives on this that were ethical and interesting. Some have worked for college writing centers by providing coaching and advice without actually doing students’ work for them. Others have developed freelance services with a similar focus — helping clients learn how to write more clearly and effectively, but not doing the writing for them.

How and where do you draw a line?

Ruth E. Thaler-Carter (www.writerruth.com) is an award-winning provider of editorial and publishing services for publications, independent authors, publishers, associations, nonprofits and companies worldwide, and the editor-in-chief and — as of 2019 — owner of An American Editor. She also created the annual Communication Central Be a Better Freelancer^® conference for colleagues (www.communication-central.com, now co-hosted with the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (www.naiwe.com), sponsored by An American Editor and this year planned for October 2–4 as a virtual event. She can be reached at Ruth@writerruth.com or Ruth.Thaler-Carter@AnAmericanEditor.com.

On the Basics: New resources for freelancers

By Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, Owner

An American Editor

I’m breaking precedent with a Sunday post to share some professional good news: The updated edition of my “Freelancing 101” booklet for the Editorial Freelancers Association (EFA), featuring new input from EFA Publications chairperson Robin Martin, and the updated new edition of the EFA’s “Resumés for Freelancers” booklet, which I’ve co-authored with original author Sheila Buff, are among the new publications available at the EFA’s new bookstore:
https://shop.aer.io/editorial_freelancers_association_bookstore

Robin deserves a huge round of applause for herding cats (um, authors) and – even more challenging – organizing the new bookstore.

I hope our subscribers find these publications useful. They were a lot of fun to produce and should be – if I say so myself – excellent resources for various aspects of a freelance editorial (not just editing) business.

On the Basics: Yet another scam warning

By Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, Owner

An American Editor

Sorry to end the week on a somewhat sour note, but I wanted to warn colleagues here about an apparent current new scam aimed primarily at editors. (Some of you may already have seen discussions about this one; this is for those who haven’t.)

If anyone gets requests from a supposed Ayse Cetin or Fatma, they are probably scams, although we haven’t figured out what the senders are after. They’ll say they need help with something for a fall class, probably in math — coaching or editing, or writing in general. The initial message is likely to include a Word document as an attachment.

If you respond, they’ll do a few rounds of e-mail correspondence (even if you say that you don’t work in their area), and then they’ll want to meet via Zoom. They’ve wasted a lot of time for quite a few colleagues so far in e-mail back-and-forthing and Zoom time, as well as attempts to research the supposed senders to determine whether the requests are legitimate — but haven’t actually hired anyone.

One confusing aspect in trying to figure out what they’re up to is that they’re spending a lot of time and effort on communicating with several dozen editors to date — far more than most scammers bother with before getting money out of people. I’m guessing that a version of the overpayment scam would evolve; others think this is an attempt at hacking e-mail or Zoom accounts.

If you’ve received and responded to this, change your e-mail and/or Zoom passwords. If you receive any version of this and haven’t already responded, delete, delete, delete.

This kind of headache aside,  here’s wishing colleagues a safe, healthy and fun weekend.

Ruth E. Thaler-Carter (www.writerruth.com) is an award-winning provider of editorial and publishing services for publications, independent authors, publishers, associations, nonprofits and companies worldwide, and the editor-in-chief and — as of 2019 — owner of An American Editor. She also hosts the annual Communication Central Be a Better Freelancer^® conference for colleagues (www.communication-central.com, now co-hosted with the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (www.naiwe.com), sponsored by An American Editor, and this year planned for October 2–4 as a virtual event. She can be reached at Ruth@writerruth.com or Ruth.Thaler-Carter@AnAmericanEditor.com.

On the Basics: The power of saying no as a reputation-builder

By Ruth E. Thaler-Carter

Owner, An American Editor

As editorial professionals, whether in-house or freelance, how do we build our reputations for not only what we do, but how we do it and who we are?

It may seem self-evident that doing good work is the first and most-important element of establishing a reputation of someone worth hiring, recommending, referring or subcontracting with. There’s more to it, though.

How we do business contributes mightily to an editorial professional’s reputation as well. And a huge factor in that process is knowing when, and how, to say no.

Saying no

It might seem odd to think of saying no as a way of establishing or solidifying your professional reputation, but it can work. Saying no to projects or clients means you know what’s right — or wrong — for your editorial business.

It’s hard to say no to a client or project, especially when you’re just starting out or funds are low and you’re worried about how you’ll pay the mortgage or rent, but doing so can be essential to the health of both your editorial business and your reputation. Saying no means you’re standing up for what you need from your business and what you expect from the people you work with or for. It means you have standards for, and limits on, how you do your work, and are willing to enforce them. Having the chutzpah to say no when appropriate gives you power.

Those standards or limits, and how saying no relates to them, can include:

Hours when you’re available — and saying no to requests (or demands) that you work outside those hours.

Type of projects you will accept and work on — and saying no to projects that aren’t right for you.

Rates you will work for — and saying no to rates that are too low.

Deadlines you will accept — and saying no to ridiculous ones that would make you crazy.

Treatment you expect from clients — and saying no to rudeness, unreasonableness, demandingness (is that a word?) and any other behavior that disrespects you as a professional.

Getting the message across

You can use your website to present your policies on these kinds of topics, as well as creating a template for responding to messages so you’re prepared to deal with challenges when they occur instead of feeling as if you’re a deer in the headlights of an unreasonable, confusing or inappropriate request. Here are a few suggestions for relaying your “just say no” message without actually saying no (at least, not upfront).

Posting work hours

The best way to head off client calls or messages at hours when you prefer not to be available is to put your “office hours” at your website (you do have your own website, of course). Many colleagues use their websites to let potential and current clients know that they aren’t available on weekends or outside specific hours.

Some people will still push that envelope, but posting your office hours means you have a way to push back. It’s also possible to set up a form of autoresponse that says something like “Thank you for your inquiry. I will respond at 9 a.m. of the next business day to discuss your project.”

You also can still do work outside those posted hours if and when you want — or need — to do so. That can mean saying no to the client but yes to whatever you have to do for a project or deadline to work in your favor.

Choosing your projects

Many colleagues prefer not to work on projects with content that is erotic, violent, racist, sexist, anti-Semitic or involves some other aspect that might be difficult to read. That’s our right. Some of us also have specific preferences for the genres we want to work on: fiction vs. nonfiction, young adult vs. adult or middle grade, fantasy, sci-fi, memoir, etc. You can make those go/no-go decisions as your business policy, post them at your website and incorporate them into your e-mail template for responding to potential clients. Like posting your office hours, that can say no for you.

Again, some people just don’t read such material and might contact you anyhow with the offer of work you don’t want, for whatever reason. You don’t even have to quote a reason, but it’s immensely helpful to be able to couch your no in terms of “Thank you for your inquiry, but as you can see from my website, I don’t work on projects such as this.”

Standing up for your rates

Most of us start out charging at the lower end of rates or accepting salaries at the low end of the bar for a variety of reasons, from lack of experience to lack of confidence. If you haven’t had any formal training or experience in your corner of the editorial world, are just launching a freelance business, want to try working in a new genre or topic area, or have no way of confirming that you’re good at what you do (or want to do), it makes sense to charge less rather than more. That goes for salary levels when you’re job-hunting in the traditional work world, as well as for freelancing.

Keep in mind that if you under-charge, you run the risk of spending so much time on low-paying projects to generate enough income to pay your bills that you won’t have the time or energy to find better-paying work.

Just be sure to, first of all, research rates through professional organizations and resources (such as Writer’s Market information, the Editorial Freelancers Association chart of common rates, conversations with colleagues, etc.) for a sense of what you might be able to charge based on your training, experience and skills.

Second, look for ways to defend what you want or need to charge. Your rates or salary should reflect that combination of training, experience and skill level with the added factor of what you need to cover your expenses and have something left for fun. An American Editor founder Rich Adin calls this your effective hourly rate: the income you have to generate to live your life on a level that is not just sufficient but rewarding; a rate based on you, not on someone else, whether a colleague or a client.

If you’re low on training, get some. Look to professional associations, college certificate programs and business resources to do two things: improve your knowledge and skills, and bolster your credibility. If you’re low on experience, look for ways to do more editorial work, even if it’s on a volunteer basis or at a starting-out rate. If your skills seem below par, look for volunteer opportunities, whether with a professional association or a charity you believe in, to do the kind of work you’re interested in and build up those skills. You might even look for a mentor who could help you strengthen your overall knowledge and specific areas of weakness.

The more you can show that you’re skilled and qualified, the easier it will be to say no to prospective clients that only pay peanuts.

Practice makes perfect

Because the necessity to say no is going to crop up for all of us, be prepared. Write out a script for how to turn down work that isn’t right for you, rates that don’t respect you, deadlines that are impossible for you to meet, etc. It can be brief. It doesn’t have to go into any detail or offer any excuses for your no. You might also want to create a backup script for the insistent client who doesn’t want to hear your no.

If you think about and plan for these moments beforehand, it will be much easier to stand up for what you want your business and your reputation to represent.

The bottom line

So how do all these aspects of saying no contribute to establishing your reputation?

Steeling yourself to say no when appropriate creates the impression of someone who is confident enough to have standards and stand up for them. Someone who is strong enough to resist pressure to behave in ways that would undermine their success and their ability to continually improve the quality of their editorial business. Someone who is more than reliable and skilled.

If you develop your ability to say no, you will establish your reputation as someone who is not only an editorial professional worth hiring, but one who can’t be scammed, scolded, underpaid or pushed around. That’s a reputation worth having.

Ruth E. Thaler-Carter (www.writerruth.com) is an award-winning provider of editorial and publishing services for publications, independent authors, publishers, associations, nonprofits and companies worldwide, and the editor-in-chief and — as of 2019 — owner of An American Editor. She also created and co-hosts the annual Communication Central “Be a Better Freelancer”^® conference for colleagues (www.communication-central.com), with the National Association of Independent Writers and Editors (www.naiwe.com), sponsored by An American Editor. She can be reached at Ruth@writerruth.com or Ruth.Thaler-Carter@AnAmericanEditor.com.