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Ten Signs of a
Scam Book Doctor
ER for Writers:
Some of the Most Common Mistakes
Writers Make and
How to Avoid Them
|
Ten Signs of a Scam
Book Doctor
Jerry
Gross
Working
with an expert, ethical book doctor can often make the
difference between being published or remaining unpublished.
Conversely, working with an unqualified, unethical book
doctor can often be hazardous—even fatal—to your career
You’ve worked hard to save the money to hire a book doctor. Make sure
that the book doctor you hire will turn out to be a good
investment. Here are 10 signs that someone who claims to be
a professional book doctor may be trying to scam you.
1. A scam book doctor states
that you can’t get published unless you hire a
book doctor. You may hear that
editors and publishers demand that a manuscript
be professionally edited before they will
consider it for publication, or that agents
won’t take on a client unless the writer first
works with a book doctor to polish the
manuscript.
Not true. Agents and editors still take on manuscripts
that need a lot of work, but, to be candid, they
don’t do it too often because they are usually
overworked and overwhelmed by the volume of
material submitted to them. That’s why working
with a good book doctor can at least improve
your odds of being accepted by an agent and an
editor. |
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2. A scam book doctor
guarantees, or at least implies, that his
editing will get you accepted by an agent.
Not true! No reputable book doctor can make
this statement because no book doctor can
persuade an agent to represent a project that
the agent does not like, believe in, or see as
commercially viable. Beauty is in the eye of the
beholder, and editors and agents often see a
manuscript’s potential through very different
eyes. |
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3. A scam book doctor
guarantees, or strongly implies, that once she’s
edited your manuscript, an agent will definitely
be able to sell it.
Not true. The vagaries, shifts of taste, and trends in the
publishing marketplace are such that agents
themselves cannot be sure which manuscripts will
be salable. |
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4. A scam book doctor admits (or
you discover) that he has a "financial
arrangement" with the person or company who
referred you to him. In plain
English, this means that he kicks back part of
his fee for the referral.
This is inarguably unethical. There should be no financial
relationship between the book doctor and the
referring party. If one exists, it can adversely
affect the honesty and integrity of his
evaluation, his line editing of your manuscript,
or both. |
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5. A scam book doctor does not
guarantee that she will edit your manuscript
personally.
Since you are hiring the editor for her
specific expertise, insist that she guarantee in
writing that she will edit the manuscript
herself. If she won’t do this, look elsewhere
for an editor. |
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6. A scam book doctor tells you
that he can’t take on your project, but will
subcontract it.
However, he won’t tell you who will edit it,
and he won’t provide you with that editor’s
background, samples of that editor’s work, or
any references. And he does not give you the
right to accept or refuse the editor he
suggests.
If you do decide to work with another editor because
the one you wanted is overbooked or otherwise
unavailable, then you have every right to know
as much about the person recommended by him as
you know about the editor making the
recommendation. You also have every right to
decide whether you want to work with the editor
whom he recommends. |
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7. A scam book doctor won’t
provide references from authors or agents she’s
worked with.
Obviously, the editor won’t provide you with names of
dissatisfied clients, but you can learn a lot by
gauging the enthusiasm (or lack of it) with
which the client discusses working with the book
doctor. Ask questions: "Was she easy and
friendly to work with?"; "Was she receptive to
ideas?"; "Was she available to discuss her
approach to line-editing, critique of the
manuscript, or both?"; "Did you feel that you
got good value for your money?" |
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| 8. A scam book doctor won’t
provide samples of his editing or critiques. |
| Engaging in a book
doctor without seeing how he line-edits or
problem-solves a manuscript is akin to buying
oceanfront property in Arizona from a real
estate salesman on the phone or on the Web. Talk
is cheap, but good editing is expensive. Make
sure you are buying the expertise you need;
demand to see samples of the editor’s work. If
he balks, hang up the phone! |
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9. A scam book doctor sends you
an incomplete Letter of Agreement that
does not specify all the costs you will incur,
what she will do for each of her fees, a
schedule of payment, and a due date for delivery
of the edited or critiqued manuscript.
Every one of your contractual obligations to each other
should be spelled out clearly in the Letter of
Agreement before you sign it. If changes are
agreed upon during the course of the
author-editor relationship, these changes should
either be incorporated into a new Letter of
Agreement that both parties sign or be expressed
in rider clauses added to the Agreement that are
initialed by both editor and author. There
should be no hidden or "surprise" costs at the
time of the final payment to the book doctor. |
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10. A scam book doctor wants the
entire fee before he begins to work.
There are many
different kinds of payments possible when an
author hires an editor; the most common is half
the fee paid on signing the Letter of Agreement
and the other half when the work is completed.
Full payment before the editorial work has begun
is not an option. Hang up immediately if the
book doctor demands such an arrangement. |
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| A final caution:
Be convinced that you are hiring the right book
doctor before signing the Letter of Agreement.
Not only your money, but also your career is at
stake! |
Ten Signs of a
Scam Book Doctor
ER for Writers:
Some of the Most Common Mistakes
Writers Make and
How to Avoid Them
|
