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donnamcfarland
Community Member

Ghostwriter with question about editing

I am a new book ghostwriter. For my first job, I told the client that if I did the writing, someone else should do the proofing and editing. He said of course, and provided people to do that. He also made a lot of changes himself. It went fine.

 

I'm now on my second job and my new client's view is that I'm the expert and he will publish whatever I give him with no edits. I find that unnerving! I realize now that I should have worked this out with him before I gave him a bid so I could cover the expense of hiring an editor myself, or how do you all handle the proofing and editing when you ghostwrite books? Thanks.

4 REPLIES 4
jr-translation
Community Member



Donna M wrote:

I am a new book ghostwriter. For my first job, I told the client that if I did the writing, someone else should do the proofing and editing. He said of course, and provided people to do that. He also made a lot of changes himself. It went fine.

 

I'm now on my second job and my new client's view is that I'm the expert and he will publish whatever I give him with no edits. I find that unnerving! I realize now that I should have worked this out with him before I gave him a bid so I could cover the expense of hiring an editor myself, or how do you all handle the proofing and editing when you ghostwrite books? Thanks.


You are the expert that is why you are here.

 

I translate books and have build my own team with proofreaders and editors because not every freelancers the clients hire on Upwork are experts. I started to only apply with a rate that includes editing by a professional editor I trust. You might have to bite the bullet this time but use this as a chance to build your own team.

Yeah, that's kind of what I'm thinking. Wanted to find out what other people do. Thanks.

Donna M wrote:

Yeah, that's kind of what I'm thinking. Wanted to find out what other people do. Thanks.

 


 ___________________________

You are hired to write, not to provide the whole package. Obviously you try to deliver as cleanly as possible, but it is next to impossible to fully edit and then proofread your own work, unless the text is really short. The client should factor in the cost of an editor, or accept that the writer has to factor in the cost of hiring one, and even then, editing and proofreading are two separate skills. 

As usual, Nichola is right. In fact, there are several different types of editors. The people I hire to do beta reads are really editors. I don't use line or copy editors, but I rely on my go-to developmental editor to save my work of fiction. I once did the proofing myself, and still found a type after the book was published.