Building Successful Freelancer-Client Relationships
by
Erin Wilcox
In Memory of Jesse Weissman
Acknowledgments
Thanks to the members of EFA Arizona for their ongoing support and inspiration. Special thanks to Wynne Brown for copyediting this booklet and to the EFA Board of Governors, especially the Publications Committee, for their tireless efforts on the membership’s behalf. Much gratitude also to Susannah Driver-Barstow, EFA’s office manager, who keeps the organization running, day by day.
Introduction
Today’s publishing landscape offers more opportunities than ever for freelancers and clients to work together. Major publishers, university presses, and small presses regularly hire freelancers to support every aspect of the publishing process. Many writers seek editorial services to develop their projects prior to submitting to an agent. Self-publishing authors avail themselves of expertise-for-hire at various points in the creative process, from research and fact-checking to project management, editing, proofreading, indexing, and book design. Freelancers might be called in on a short-term basis, or we might be engaged for longer-term projects. Whatever the scenario, a good-faith relationship between freelancer and client enhances both the editorial process and finished product. But how do we build that trust?
What follows is a guide for both freelancers and clients as they negotiate contract work. It is based on my fifteen years in the field working as a copyeditor, writer, acquisitions editor, developmental editor, and member of the Editorial Freelancers Association. While serving on the EFA Board of Governors, I founded the organization’s Twitter team and instituted the monthly Freelance Friday chats, to provide engagement opportunities beyond members’ regional chapters and networking groups. Along with the visionary Jesse Weissman, EFA’s first chapter development coordinator, I cocreated the association’s e-mail discussion list for chapter coordinators, which facilitates communication among the leaders of our ever-expanding global network. I also founded EFA’s Arizona chapter, which I led for six years and now enjoy as a participant. In all these roles, I have remained constantly engaged with other independent editorial specialists, talking to freelancers about client relationships and what works for them.
Beyond my own experience in the field, this booklet draws on a short list of primary sources, many of which are available for free or at a nominal rate through the EFA website. The bibliography for this booklet includes those EFA resources I have found most useful—the documents and pages on our website that I return to, time and again. Of these, I would like to underscore the EFA Code of Fair
