Well, I had the opportunity to time myself doing a quick read-through yesterday. I read a client’s blue-line with proof-reading in mind at 37.6 pages per hour. Mind you, I’ve edited this manuscript already twice. The client just wanted me to do one last proof. I was reading, only stopping occasionally to go back over and double check something. In some cases, I made a few notes. I figured that if I was doing straight reading, my rate might have been 42 to 46 pages per hour. <\/p>\n
Those of you who follow my (almost) daily blog posts know that I am referring here to the crazy claim of someone who calls himself an editor. He says that he can edit a 200 word manuscript (sight unseen) in 4 to 6 hours. I figured this is 33 to 50 pages per hour and I said this is impossible. Well, it’s impossible to line or content edit at this rate. It’s ridiculous. I’m still upset to know that there are scammers like this out there. I am particularly disheartened that I could not talk the hopeful author who told me about this “editor” out of using him to “edit” her book. Read my blog post for September 13, 2008.<\/p>\n
Here’s another misleading practice that you should know about. There are well-known, highly respected publishing professionals who “recommend” editors and book doctors, not based on merit, but on money. No kidding! If you want to be one of the recommended editors or book doctors, all you have to do is pay a fee. How do I know? I asked one of my colleagues to recommend me and he said, “Sure, that’ll be, $$$$.” <\/p>\n
Do you agree that this is deceptive? It will make you think twice before contacting an editor listed as recommended at any website, won’t it? I hope so. It’s in your best interest to conduct additional research, get legitimate referrals and to especially get a sample of the work this editor will do for you.<\/p>\n
Did I pay the money to be included in the list of editors at this site? NO!! <\/p>\n
I get a kick out of some of my clients, they say that they chose me to edit their books because they like my photo. They can tell I’m a nice person. Some of them say they were led to me—guided. Some have even called me a “blessing.” Awwwwww. <\/p>\n
I’ve worked with people for whom English is their second language. Two different women with two very different projects hired me to take the “accent” out of their writing—an interesting challenge. Thankfully, in both recent cases, these were intelligent women and pretty good writers. <\/p>\n
I’ve worked with authors who didn’t understand the difference between boys’ <\/em>and boy’s <\/em>or their<\/em> and there<\/em> and who didn’t know when to capitalize Mom. And I’ve worked with those who wrote a lot of long, complicated, cumbersome, run-on sentences that I had to decipher and tame.<\/p>\n There are as many editing challenges out there as there are writers. It keeps my job interesting. Of course, clients who come to me with their projects get more than just an edited manuscript out of the deal. If they want to tap into my 35 years of experience within the publishing industry and the fact that I still keep my finger on the pulse of the industry, I can coach them in other areas, as well. For example, I can help them to write a book proposal, choose an appropriate publishing option, approach publishers, write a query letter, build a platform, build promotion into their books, establish a publishing company, draw up a marketing plan and so forth.<\/p>\n For those of you who don’t know who Patricia Fry is, my book, The Right Way to Write, Publish and Sell Your Book <\/em>is an excellent introduction into my knowledge base and experience as well as the publishing industry in general. Well, I had the opportunity to time myself doing a quick read-through yesterday. I read a client’s blue-line with proof-reading in mind at 37.6 pages per hour. Mind you, I’ve edited this manuscript already twice. The client just wanted me to do one last proof. I was reading, only stopping occasionally to go back over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n http:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/rightway.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"