I have decided I am going to place a disclaimer on my freelancer page and in my contracts stating that if someone sends me plagiarized work to edit, I will charge a $25 fee and return it to them. If they want to hire me to fix it, they will have to post a new job on Guru, invite me to it, and if I have time I will apply.
Plagiarism is just too nasty to try and fix. It takes up too much of my time. Although I edit 20,000 - 40,000 words per day and I write 10,000- 15,000 words per day, I can only fix about 2,000 plagiarized words per day.
I hope that placing this disclaimer will keep people from plagiarizing, but even if it doesn't it will let me back out of doing the job for them.
The last person I rewrote something for wanted to take it back and rewrite it himself to save money. When I told him I didn't want him to do that, he first told me to take my time fixing it and then demanded it immediately. If I would not have had the editing job with him, I would have given it back to him and said "do it yourself" from the start.
The problem is that I already put time into editing the manuscript before I usually catch plagiarism. For me to hand it back to them without getting payment is causing me to lose money for the time I already put into it. On the other hand, keeping it and rewriting it myself takes too much of my time away from other jobs. I feel this is the fairest way for me to get the money I earned and for them to get the work done in a timely fashion.
What do you think?
Saturday, June 29, 2013
Monday, June 24, 2013
Writing for myself
Obviously freelance writing here and there is not as profitable as writing your own stuff and publishing it under your own name. However, it is a whole lot easier to get paid if you freelance.
The problem is, that like all authors, I want to make it. I want to be an author and make enough money so that I an do it full time and cover all my bills (especially my college debt).
But the difficulty is finding the time. I have a competed study guide that I want to self-publish. However, it needs just a little more tweaking because I originally wrote it in the style of certain published study guides. Unfortunately when I sent it, the company had decided to discontinue that line. Now I have to fix it, but I am so busy trying to get jobs and finish the jobs that I haven't had time to tweak it, copyright it, and self-publish it.
I also have a romance novel that is halfway finished. And a children's book that just needs pictures. It is very frustrating to not be able to complete these projects because I am too busy with others that give me instant money.
Then there is my husband's book. This is a fully complete book. However, if you have followed my blog at all, you know my technology curse. I sent a query by email to the agent I wanted to represent it, and have seen no response despite following the rules and waiting. Then I checked my sent mail box to see when I sent it, and I found the query had disappeared. Sigh. Time is the only thing I don't have and yet I find myself constantly needing to make more of it.
The problem is, that like all authors, I want to make it. I want to be an author and make enough money so that I an do it full time and cover all my bills (especially my college debt).
But the difficulty is finding the time. I have a competed study guide that I want to self-publish. However, it needs just a little more tweaking because I originally wrote it in the style of certain published study guides. Unfortunately when I sent it, the company had decided to discontinue that line. Now I have to fix it, but I am so busy trying to get jobs and finish the jobs that I haven't had time to tweak it, copyright it, and self-publish it.
I also have a romance novel that is halfway finished. And a children's book that just needs pictures. It is very frustrating to not be able to complete these projects because I am too busy with others that give me instant money.
Then there is my husband's book. This is a fully complete book. However, if you have followed my blog at all, you know my technology curse. I sent a query by email to the agent I wanted to represent it, and have seen no response despite following the rules and waiting. Then I checked my sent mail box to see when I sent it, and I found the query had disappeared. Sigh. Time is the only thing I don't have and yet I find myself constantly needing to make more of it.
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Editing
Today I am editing a minister's book. I didn't necessarily apply for this job. Actually, I applied to edit a dissertation. However, the woman writing the dissertation wanted me to edit this book for her minister as well.
It is very difficult editing a book on Biblical doctrine when you don't have the same doctrine. As an editor, you need to smooth content (this is not true in all cases, but it is true for this particular job). Sometimes people write things and do not realize they are not coming across as they probably want them to come across. But you also should not change the meaning of something that the author wants to leave that way.
In some cases, like when you are writing fiction for someone, you can write or edit something that you know is completely false - after all it is fiction. Usually, I will send a quick note to the employer and inform them of the error and then explain why I am going to keep it.
Non-fiction is another story. In most cases, I will let the author know their is an error and I ask if they want me to fix it. I have been quite stubborn in the past about not writing stuff I know is false. However, how do you tell a minister he's wrong about something? Especially if it is something that could be a matter of opinion?
Needless to say, I do not generally bid on non-fiction Christian books - even just to edit. But, I bid on the dissertation and this is a side job of that. Sigh.
It is very difficult editing a book on Biblical doctrine when you don't have the same doctrine. As an editor, you need to smooth content (this is not true in all cases, but it is true for this particular job). Sometimes people write things and do not realize they are not coming across as they probably want them to come across. But you also should not change the meaning of something that the author wants to leave that way.
In some cases, like when you are writing fiction for someone, you can write or edit something that you know is completely false - after all it is fiction. Usually, I will send a quick note to the employer and inform them of the error and then explain why I am going to keep it.
Non-fiction is another story. In most cases, I will let the author know their is an error and I ask if they want me to fix it. I have been quite stubborn in the past about not writing stuff I know is false. However, how do you tell a minister he's wrong about something? Especially if it is something that could be a matter of opinion?
Needless to say, I do not generally bid on non-fiction Christian books - even just to edit. But, I bid on the dissertation and this is a side job of that. Sigh.
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