Once you find the best editor to whom you will hand over your precious baby, you would want to make sure those hands are rock steady. Buttressing them with a written agreement is the insurance you both need.
Most editors have a formal agreement they use. Read it carefully when they send it to you.
Make sure the editor has included the scope of work, the delivery timelines, the payment schedule and any special terms or requests you have negotiated with them.
For example, you might have asked them to help you write the blurb or author bio. Or you may have asked them to help you put together the query letter for the publisher.
If the editor does not have a standard agreement format, make sure you summarise the scope of work yourself. You can create a PDF file or a non-editable Google (or Zoho) document and share it with them.
The point is to have it all written down as clearly as possible. Ask them to agree, at least by email, that they accept the project under the terms listed in the document.
This is no guarantee of smooth sailing. But stating everything in unambiguous terms minimises the chances of the project turning into a grief-fest.
Here’s is how:
👉 #1: People forget things, especially if they have been discussed over a phone call. Even on an email exchange, it is easy for a few points to be lost in the deluge.
When you read an agreement, it will help you remember if there were any special requests made. It helps to keep both parties on the same page regarding the scope of work.
👉 #2: A clearly defined scope of work will help your editor to estimate the delivery schedules more accurately. It will also keep you on your toes because you will know when you will need to make time to devote to your manuscript’s development and rework.
For example, if your editor has promised only to edit or revise the blurb but not write it from scratch, you know you have to write it in time so they can work their magic on it and you are not left scrambling at the last moment. I don’t know about you, but yours truly hates the last-minute scrambles. They are painful to witness in others and impossible to live through when they happen to you.
👉 #3: When things are written down and have been agreed upon, you need not feel as if you are asking for a favour when you ask them to polish your author bio (for example).
Even if this is a free service, it is still part of the agreement. This means it is as much of an obligation for the editor as the rest of the work.
👉 #4: Your editing agreement must include a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) clause. This agreement must be honoured even after the editing agreement is successfully over, the work delivered and the payment made in full.
As everyone who wields a pen knows, plagiarism is all too rampant. We have all heard horror stories of people appropriating other people’s intellectual creations and palming them off as their own.
An NDA clause will protect you from any risk of your baby getting kidnapped.
👉 #5: Heaven forbid, in case of a misunderstanding (or dispute), you will have a formal document to hold them to their promise.
A written agreement would protect you if you are at the receiving end of any sleight of hand — intended or inadvertent.
Of course, one can write all kinds of terms and conditions in an agreement and yet be short-changed. Or have just a verbal agreement yet have expectations exceeded.
There really isn’t a fool-proof way to guarantee protection. But that doesn’t mean we leave our doors wide open and invite avoidable grief.
How do you make sure that your service provider sticks to their commitment? Do you have any tips to share?
If you have a story to share about how you were saved by a written agreement, do let me know in the comments below.
