Why Did I Lose That Job?

I truly don't care when I lose a job to someone I feel is more experienced than me. In some cases, I have actually referred potential employers to other freelancers, whom I feel are more than competent- especially if I don't have the skills or time to complete their project.

However, it still baffles me how I can lose editing jobs to people who have misspelled words and grammar errors on their profiles. 

As a freelancer, your profile should be immaculate. I still go back and check my profile for typos and not much has changed on it in years. Although I am sloppy about grammar on my blog (I don't make money from doing this), I am immaculate in my business presentation. So why would someone choose someone else who isn't?

Now I understand in some cases. One "editor" who didn't speak English as a native wanted native English speakers to edit the work he had. In other words, this was a middle man who needed to make money, so no doubt he went with the cheapest bids. One of the freelancers this person hired had stilted English (so I wonder if he/she truly is born and raised in the U.S.A.) and the other scored a whopping 60% on some of the posted writing tests they had taken. (Guru offers writing tests that are timed. You take the test and then you can post the scores on your profile if you want along with the date the test was taken.) 

I would not hire an editor who could not score 100% on the relatively easy spelling test, but other people seeking editors don't seem to care. Granted, misspelled words are quickly caught by Word, but in some cases Word is wrong especially with newer words or if you are using a specific style manual. In other cases, you are writing for a British audience and need to know the differences in spelling used there. Your freelancer should be able to go beyond a Word auto-edit. 

Yes, someone may say they needed someone cheap. Then why are they paying someone to edit their work at all? MS Word is free and although it isn't effective unless you know grammar and spelling rules, I question the "typo" editors even knowing that. Some may think the more eyes that look at something the better it will be, but this is false. If you send your work to Louie who can't even spell water, you can bet he knows nothing about plot development, character development, denouement, or anything else that could help. He certainly isn't going to know if you have used big words correctly or used passive sentences too frequently. And worse- he may actually introduce more typos. I have seen freelancer "samples" that did this. Does he have to know the APA style manual for a work of fiction? No, but he better be able to maintain consistency in his editing. This means if he decides to use serial commas in the first chapter, he better make sure they are always there in the rest of the book.

I don't charge exorbitant prices, and in some cases these people with typos claim to be more expensive (that doesn't mean they actually cost that much because I have frequently caught freelancers charging less than their posted prices). I don't post my prices because they vary based on the difficulty of the work and how long I have worked with the employer (I tend to charge less for long-term work unless I accidentally underbid on the first project). My rates also tend to go up a little with inflation. 

There are three parts to any job: price, time, and quality. If you want it cheaply and quick, you aren't going to get well-edited. In that case, why pay for any editing at all?