MAYA ROCK GUEST POST AND QUERY CRITIQUE GIVEAWAY

Happy Monday Everyone! I have a treat for your today. Freelance editor Maya Rock is here with a guest post on what to look for your freelance editor contract. Maya has been a freelance editor running Rock Editorial Services for six years and was formerly a literary agent at Writers House. Before we get to her guest post, I have some follower news to share.

FOLLOWER NEWS

Bish Denham has a new book that releases, THE BOWL AND THE STONE. Here's a blurb: Sam

and her best friend, Nick, with imaginations as big as the world, have the whole island of St. John, in the U. S. Virgin Islands, as their playground. But when a man disappears like a vapor right in front of them, they must confront a scary new reality as carefree summer games turn into eerie hauntings. And here are a few links:

Blog: http://bish-randomthoughts.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BishDenham.Author/

Twitter: @BishDenham

 Available now at:

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Bowl-Stone-Haunting-Virgin-Islands-ebook/dp/B01I5H0NOW/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1468862247&sr=1-1&keywords=the+bowl+and+the+stone#nav-subnav

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/650290

 Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/pub/simplesitesearch.search.do?sitesearch_query=bish+denham&sitesearch_type=STORE

Now here's Maya!

SIX TERMS YOU SHOULD NAIL DOWN BEFORE MOVING FORWARD WITH A FREELANCE EDITOR

Hiring a freelance editor is a step many take before pursuing an agent, publisher, and sometimes even while in the midst of fulfilling a book contract. If you’ve decided to hire a freelance editor, here are some terms to nail down before you begin working together. Getting these terms straight will ensure that your work together proceeds smoothly. Please note that many freelance editors do not use formal agreements but are still legally bound by what they put in writing over email.

1.   RATE: Before you move forward with hiring a freelance editor, you should know how much the entire project is going to cost. Once you know the rate, you might want to determine whether this rate is in line with what others in the field are offering and, of course, make sure it fits into your own budget.

2.   PAYMENT: How does the freelance editor want to get paid?  PayPal, check, and credit card are all possible options.  What’s the payout? Half up-front, half on-delivery? Sixty percent up-front, forty percent on-delivery? All on-delivery? All on-agreement? Does the freelance editor have a certain timeframe that they want to be paid in? For example, I give authors seven days to send the payment after delivery.

3.   DELIVERABLES: It’s important to have clarity on what the deliverables—what the freelance editor will be returning to you—are.  If you’ve signed up for an editorial letter, you should know the approximate length of the letter and have a good idea what topics are being addressed. If you’re getting a line edit, you might want to ask how many comments you should expect on each page. A good way to get an idea of what you’ll receive is by getting a sample edit before committing to working with the editor on a full project

4.   FORMAT: Make sure that you know what format the freelance editor wants to receive your material in.  As a Word file? A single attachment?  Do they have guidelines for how the file is formatted? It’s traditional in the publishing industry to have double-spacing, one-inch margins, and pagination, and it’s likely your editor will want your manuscript formatted like this, too--but it won’t hurt to make sure.

5.   DUE DATE: When is the editor going to get back to you? Not all freelance editors give precise due dates. If your editor doesn’t give a due date, will he or she tell you what month or week they’ll come back to you by? Without a clear timeline, you run the risk of having the project drag on. Granted in traditional book publishing, hard and fast deadlines are not that common, but that doesn’t necessarily have to be the case in freelance editing.

6.   FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS: Does your freelance editor have a policy for handling follow-up questions? Can you speak on the phone, or will the freelance editor only answer emailed questions? If the phone, for how long? If your freelance editor does email follow-ups, how long can the emails be? How long will he or she accept follow-up questions for? After all, if you come back two months after the freelance editor has read your manuscript, he or she might have forgotten too much to be effective.

GIVEAWAY:  I’m giving away a twenty-minute over the phone query letter critique!

LINKS: Here’s where you can find out more information about my services—www.maya-rock.com/book-editing-services

Maya is generously offering a 20 minute over the phone query letter critique. To enter, all you need to do is be a follower (just click the follow button if you’re not a follower) and leave a comment through November 5th.  If your e-mail is not on your Google Profile, you must leave it in the comments to enter the contest. Just let me know in the comments if you do not need a query critique too.

If you mention this contest on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, mention this in the comments and I'll give you an extra entry. You must be 13 years old or older to enter. This is an international giveaway.

Here's what's coming up:

Next Monday I have debut author Jill Diamond and her agent Jennifer Rolfe here with a guest post and giveaway of Jill's MG mystery LOU LOU AND PEA AND THE MURAL MYSTERY.

The following Monday I have a guest post by debut author Monika Shroeder and a giveaway of her MG contemporary BE LIGHT LIKE A BIRD.

The Monday after that I have an interview with debut author Jenny Moyer and a giveaway of her YA science fiction FLASHFALL.

Tuesday that week I'll be participating in the Gratitude Giveaway Hop.

Hope to see you on Monday!