Jul 18, 2018 04:15:59 AM by Nichola L
Post a job and be very clear about what you are looking for and and how much you are prepared to pay. Specify the type of writing you want edited and give a word count as well as number of pages.
This is a useful price guide for qualified, experienced freelance editors: https://www.the-efa.org/rates/
Jul 19, 2018 08:15:19 AM Edited Jul 19, 2018 08:36:01 AM by Wendy C
Mike, there are various types of editors and each is different. First step is for you to determine what kind of editing you need and state that at the start of your RFP.
Developmental editors help to organize content, assess structure, assist with clarity, cut what doesn't belong, help writers to elaborate in places that are weak, and so on.
Copyediting is more of a technical edit. A copyeditor checks grammar, punctuation, and the like, but a copyeditor also looks at formatting, does light fact checking, addresses usage issues, and so on.
Line editors focus on the language itself. They look at vocabulary, pacing, syntax, overuse of certain terms, consistency of voice, and so on.
And proofreaders are really the final stop in the life of the manuscript -- proofreaders give the book the final once-over to catch any lingering errors after all those other editors have looked it over.
Jul 19, 2018 08:49:45 AM by Janean L
A superior, accurate, understandable, and efficient description of the four basic types of editing, Wendy! Well done!!
Jul 19, 2018 09:20:19 AM by Wendy C
Not original - think I found it on EFA long ago. But thank you, Janean. 😄
Jul 19, 2018 10:33:00 AM by Bill H
Wendy's post is absolutely on the money. Something I have done in the past is to hire an expert freelancer for thirty to sixty minutes to make me smart on what I'm looking for and how best to word the job to attract top people. I can enthusiastically recommend both Wendy and Nichola who replied to this post. I'm sure there are others.
Wendy did a quick review of a plot for my newest novel, and in less than twenty minutes saved me from a catastrophe.
Jul 19, 2018 01:35:16 PM by Wendy C
Just to clarify and save moderators checking jobs, etc. -
Clients very often post a job on multiple platforms and/or people are connected thru other venues.
@ Bill, it was a darned good story once a minor issue got solved. 😄
Jul 19, 2018 11:16:53 PM by Reinier B
@Wendy C wrote:Mike, there are various types of editors and each is different. First step is for you to determine what kind of editing you need and state that at the start of your RFP.
Developmental editors help to organize content, assess structure, assist with clarity, cut what doesn't belong, help writers to elaborate in places that are weak, and so on.
Copyediting is more of a technical edit. A copyeditor checks grammar, punctuation, and the like, but a copyeditor also looks at formatting, does light fact checking, addresses usage issues, and so on.
Line editors focus on the language itself. They look at vocabulary, pacing, syntax, overuse of certain terms, consistency of voice, and so on.
And proofreaders are really the final stop in the life of the manuscript -- proofreaders give the book the final once-over to catch any lingering errors after all those other editors have looked it over.
@ @Wendy, an excellent explanion of what different editors do, but what would you call someone who does the "heavy" fact checking, like I sometimes do with astronomy texts? In my case, I sometimes have to rerun eleborate calculations just to be sure the authors' basic premises and/or assumptions are correct, so does this make me a fact checker, or an editor? Or perhaps a saviour of sorts?
Jul 20, 2018 06:18:32 AM by Kat C
Heisenberg!!! 🙂
There are different levels of copyediting, and copyeditors can perform light, medium or heavy fact checking. The Copyeditor's Handbook gives a great explanation of this (page 12, 3rd Ed.). Also, yes, some publications may have a separate "fact checker" function.
Jul 20, 2018 01:06:20 PM Edited Jul 20, 2018 01:09:41 PM by Reinier B
@wendy_writes wrote:Reinier - SAVIOR would cover it. 😉
And as Kat wrote ...
I should really remove the editing/proofreading "skill" from my profile, since I did not come up through the editing and/or proofreading ranks as did all of you.
I only got into fixing astronomy texts when I pointed out some gross errors of fact (and logic) in a post on a forum that caters to budding cosmologists and advanced amateur astronomers.
The moderators there asked me to look over some other posts they had trouble with, which in time, led to some posters contacting me directly to look over their work. So I'm really not an editor in the accepted sense; instead, I only pick holes in ill-considered, poorly thought out, and sometimes badly presented cosmological / astronomical arguments / hypotheses / theories / ideas for a hefty fee.
ETA- I also charge people even if I don't find errors in their work
Jul 20, 2018 01:51:10 PM by Wendy C
Leave it in but change the wording to: astronomy scientific fact checking, editing, and proofreading. You have a rare skill - flout it!
Jul 20, 2018 10:45:04 PM Edited Jul 20, 2018 10:46:32 PM by Reinier B
@Wendy C wrote:Leave it in but change the wording to: astronomy scientific fact checking, editing, and proofreading. You have a rare skill - flout it!
Sadly, there is no demand for this on Upwork. The only astronomy related work I have done here was for clients I introduced to the site. Equally sadly, both clients left soon after because they couldn't be bothered to figure out the intracies of the client UI.
Jul 21, 2018 06:18:46 AM by Rene K
@Reinier B wrote:
@Wendy C wrote:Leave it in but change the wording to: astronomy scientific fact checking, editing, and proofreading. You have a rare skill - flout it!
Sadly, there is no demand for this on Upwork.
There still are community members happy to have you and your good advice in choosing astrophotography gear 🙂
Jul 21, 2018 12:43:43 PM Edited Jul 21, 2018 12:45:17 PM by Reinier B
@Rene K wrote:
@Reinier B wrote:
@Wendy C wrote:Leave it in but change the wording to: astronomy scientific fact checking, editing, and proofreading. You have a rare skill - flout it!
Sadly, there is no demand for this on Upwork.
There still are community members happy to have you and your good advice in choosing astrophotography gear 🙂
As the great Isaac Asimov had one of his characters say- "One is glad to be of service."
Jul 20, 2018 12:47:13 PM by Reinier B
@Kat C wrote:Heisenberg!!! 🙂
There are different levels of copyediting, and copyeditors can perform light, medium or heavy fact checking. The Copyeditor's Handbook gives a great explanation of this (page 12, 3rd Ed.). Also, yes, some publications may have a separate "fact checker" function.
Heisenberg; I love it more every time I see it