Collaborating with Writers

Chapter 3, Question 1

All of the following are strategies I would use to prevent mistakes with an author and actions I would take to minimize the damage should the same mistake occur.

1. Upon receiving a document to be edited, the editor should immediately do three things. 1) Open the document to verify that everything is there and that your computer has a program that can read the document. 2) Save the document in two different places, under appropriate names. 3) Send an email confirmation of receipt and return date to the writer. If I failed to do this immediately, I would do it as soon as possible. In the email confirmation, I would apologize to the author and reassure her that I will meet the return deadline.
2. It is impossible that an editor will be sufficiently knowledgeable on every subject that crosses his desk. If some research is unable to shed light on the subject, it is appropriate to email the author asking for an explanation. If I was in this situation and unable to gain the necessary knowledge in an acceptable amount of time, I would recommend the author to a suitable colleague. However, if it was alright with the writer, I would prefer to learn about the topic as best as I could. I would offer to at least proofread the document, or edit more deeply and flag uncertainties to be looked over by a subject matter expert.
3. If an in-person meeting is not possible with a new client, I would offer to talk via Skype, phone, or email the client a sample of my edits on a document that is similar to theirs. If there was any sign of a potentially tense relationship, I would also be sure to ask about the writer’s expectations and previous experiences with editing. Anytime a writer is angry about my edits, I should check over my work and maybe even ask a coworker to glance over my edits.
4. An editor should always and immediately do the three things listed in part A upon receiving a document for editing. If he has trouble opening the document close to the deadline, he should exhaust every available effort to open it before contacting the writer. Then, he can avoid alerting the writer to the mistake, inform the writer that he is editing but he won’t be finished by the deadline, or seriously apologize for the mistake and try to renegotiate their agreement to work with a different version of the document.
5. When an editor and client have worked together for years, it is easier for the editor to make tough decisions when the author is unavailable. One way to avoid this situation might be for the editor to make a habit of establishing certain things with long-term clients. In this case, I would provide the writer with two different versions of edits. One version would call for the same amount of revisions I typically provide. The other would be more work, and have the edits needed to get the grant proposal up to par. I would let the writer choose to read what he has time for. I would tell him how many extra hours the rigorous edits took, so that he could offer to compensate me. It wouldn't bother me too much if he didn't offer to pay me for extra time if we continued to work together.