bah, ethics

[lagilman]

Just sent an e-mail off to a potential client, telling her the reasons why one should choose to work with a professional editor outside of an actual publishing house contract*...and the reasons why one shouldn't.


I have no trouble separating good money from headstrong fools. But it's the innocents who worry me.






*of my queries, maybe 1/3 actually need my services. Of that third, maybe half of them have seriously considered the cost versus benefits. The ones remaining are the ones I can and will help. This cuts down on my income, yeah, but I sleep better at night. Silly me.

Comments

[redstarrobot.livejournal.com]

How do you define "needing your services", the top third, the bottom third, or the middle third of what crosses your desk?

[lagilman]

How do you define "needing your services",

First, I rule out the people who are just poking around the edges of 'well, I want to write a book..." That takes care of a sizable percentage.

Then I do triage -- what do they want from me? Is it something I can actually provide? Although I have contacts and I'm not afraid to use them, I'm not a sideways conduit or a guaranteed shortcut past the slush pile.

Once I've narrowed down what they want, I tell the ones remaining how much my services cost.

That narrows it down further -- there are a lot of people out there who want to pay $50 for a manuscript evaluation. I tell those people to buy a good, brutally honest friend dinner, and hand the manuscript to them.

Then we are left with the Serious People, who have a completed or almost-completed manuscript in-hand that they want to take to the next level. They're the ones who need someone like me.

[qnotku.livejournal.com]

Curious here -- are the Serious People, overall, unpublished or published? And, if they're unpublished and willing to pay your price, how many go on to sell that ms. after you've provided your services?

Teri

[lagilman]

It's running about 3-1 not under contract (several of the not-under-contract clients have been published before, in some format).

After sixteen months of doing this, I've had one unaffiliated client sell their novel directly to a publisher, and two more landed agents. I consider that pretty good results, in today's market.

I've also cut a few clients, when I discovered that they were more into the feedback process than the result. I don't do endless iterations. I am not a wean-off for workshop junkies. Life's too short and my time's too valuable to me.

[lagilman]

(to clarify -- those are the results that I know about. Not all of my clients report back to me)

[equesgal.livejournal.com]

Ah, this is why I quit holding the novel workshop at my house. It's a waste of time to take the time to tell someone what's wrong with their novel in progress only to realize they really just wanted to hear how wonderful it was and aren't going to change anything/finish the book.

[janni.livejournal.com]

there are a lot of people out there who want to pay $50 for a manuscript evaluation. I tell those people to buy a good, brutally honest friend dinner, and hand the manuscript to them

I like this response! Am going to keep it in mind for future use. :-)

[djonn]

Interesting -- I got an email from a potential client with a similar request this morning (via referral from a current client), and am contemplating a similar response. Either the universe is doing the synchronicity thing again, or....hmm. Not sure I can go there, given that there's an NDA in the equation.