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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Seonaid" data-source="post: 3451287" data-attributes="member: 11195">But that's not true. Three people (that I remember) have posted here that they'd be willing to do it for free. Maybe the other two were tongue-in-cheek, but I'm dead serious. If you give me credit and the right to take a couple pages' excerpt for my portfolio (hell, you could even pick the pages, if you're afraid I'll spread secrets), I'd be happy to edit for free. I don't even want a comp copy of the product. It would be nice, but it's not necessary. Or if you feel bad "not paying" me (or whomever), offer a token--a comp copy and a couple of bucks. I once read a textbook published by a small press that was so riddled with errors that it was almost unreadable. I would have seriously edited their book--it was about 100 pages and, with the number of errors, would have taken several hours' work to do--for $10. There were three authors, all of whom had full-time jobs that weren't writing, and that would have been less than $4 out of each of their pockets if the publisher wasn't willing to pony up.It pains me to see things that aren't edited well. Particularly if, as has been bandied about, there is some sort of expectation of a certain level of production.That being said, I would much prefer a document that's obviously been spell-checked and grammar-checked (i.e., things like "they're" and "there" are missed, but there's no spelling mistakes, like "womman") or one that's had a major "find & replace" than one that appears to have had no one look at it. At least that publisher cared a little bit about it.And let me just say that if there are any publishers in any field who are relying on their writers to be well enough versed in grammar, punctuation, and all the other rules of writing, they need to read this thread. It's been said before and I could add to the list, but writers are not good editors much of the time.Edit: I should add that most likely people who edit for free one day will want to be compensated for it, especially if they're trying to get a fledgling career off the ground, but you'll never run out of people willing to get into the business, even if it's just to tell their friends, "Hey, look, my name's in this one!" And as long as they're screened appropriately, it won't cause more work for or otherwise be detrimental to the publishers. A good screen will take a little bit of time to set up, but once it's done, it won't take more than a moment or two to assess a candidate.</blockquote>

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