Re: OT: Declining a copyediting test

["Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>]

I would advise the client that their writing samples suffer from serious
errors in structure and composition that cannot be corrected by a
simple grammar-and-spelling copyedit and require rewriting (at a higher
rate, assuming I was available to do it, or by someone else if I was not).
However, I would also ask them if they still wanted me to do the simple
grammar-and-spelling edit, and if they said yes would do just that.  It
may run counter to some sensibilities here, but My objective in such a
contractor-potential client exchange would not be to satisfy my own
personal sense of document aesthetics, but to determine if it was possible
to deliver work that satisfied the client at a rate I considered
commensurate with the time and effort required.  The client may be
perfectly satisfied to publish something that is atrociously written but
has correct grammar and spelling, and if I am contracted as an editor
and not the writer, I can live with that if they can - as long as my name
is not on the bloody piece of c**p.

Gene Kim-Eng



"Bonnie Granat" <bgranat -at- granatedit -dot- com> wrote in message 
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