Frequently Asked Questions
Below are questions that our clients/potential clients have asked us in the past. If you do not see your question answered here or elsewhere on the site, feel free to ask us! This list will continue to grow as we get more questions.
Payments and Invoicing
Q - If you invoice through Square, how is it possible that I am able to pay through PayPal?
A - While Square currently has no option (at least that we know of) to pay directly through there via PayPal, simply request our PayPal username, and submit a payment directly to us referencing the invoice number. The next time we're in the office after we receive it, we'll mark the invoice as paid, and you'll get a confirmation through Square saying as such. For sure this isn't the cleanest solution, it's the best we know of at the moment, without invoicing through multiple programs.
Q - I have a very tight budget, and can only allocate <insert small amount of money here> per week/month. How will that work?
A - We're happy to work with you on a timeline that suits your budget. If your total project cost is, say, $800, and you can only pay $40 per month, we have no problem stretching out the project over 20 months. We also don't have a problem if you, for example, get a bonus from work and can put $200 towards the project on one of those months, or if you have to skip a month due to financial hardships. Just let us know as soon as you can, and we will work with you on an adjustment to the timeline.
Submission and Quote Process
Q - Do you have any samples of past work that I can see?
A - Editorial samples are a weird one, in that it just doesn't feel right showing the work of others with our correction marks all over it. If you would like a sample, we would be happy to edit a small sample of your work to give you an idea of what we can do, which we (as well as previous clients) have found to be a much better representation of what our work can do for you. Typically with new clients we will go through a small section of the manuscript anyway, to get an idea of how much work it will take, so we can generate an accurate quote.
Q - Why are the projects billed at a rate per-word? I've seen other editors bill an hourly rate.
A - Current and past editors that we've worked with are neurodivergent, and thus have different ways of thinking and working. When we create the quote for your project, it's based around what we feel is an average work speed for us. This could mean we get chapters done at a quicker rate some weeks, or at a slower rate other weeks.
Editing Process
Q - If I hire Ottercorrect to do copyedits, and I decide halfway through the first round of edits that I want to also do story/developmental edits (or vice-versa), is that possible?
A - Certainly! We will need to send out an amended contract, but that's possible. If you're adding on story edits partway through a copyedit, we'd likely want to go back over the sections we've already completed, as we'd rather get all of the story edits done before we focus too hard on copyedits. If you just want to add copyedits, we can either go over the previously-completed parts immediately, or simply start looking over them on the next round of edits.
Q - Ottercorrect has finished the final round of edits, but I/a reader have still found a typo. Why is that?
A - Editing has never, and will never be a perfect process. You can pick up any title published by a major publisher, and you're going to find a least one error in it. They will likely be harder to find, yes, because those titles have had multiple editors working on them, but they will be there. If you find a few small errors scattered throughout a book we or other freelance editors have worked on, that's a normal and unfortunately unavoidable part of the process. If you find a large number of errors still in the book after working with us and feel as though it needs another editing pass, we would be happy to discuss that with you.
Miscellaneous
Q - Why is there a "meet the team" section of the website if there is only one editor? / Why was there another editor on the "meet the team" part of the website before that isn't there now?
A - Ottercorrect Literature Services is owned and primarily run by one person: Sean Gerace. We have worked with other editors in the past as contractors on projects, and while they were actively working on projects for us they were listed as part of the team. While we would love to continue working with those and many other editors, we simply don't have the projects/revenue to currently do so. We hope to bring previous editors and new editors alike back at some point, but for the foreseeable future things are what they are.
Q - If you invoice through Square, how is it possible that I am able to pay through PayPal?
A - While Square currently has no option (at least that we know of) to pay directly through there via PayPal, simply request our PayPal username, and submit a payment directly to us referencing the invoice number. The next time we're in the office after we receive it, we'll mark the invoice as paid, and you'll get a confirmation through Square saying as such. For sure this isn't the cleanest solution, it's the best we know of at the moment, without invoicing through multiple programs.
Q - I have a very tight budget, and can only allocate <insert small amount of money here> per week/month. How will that work?
A - We're happy to work with you on a timeline that suits your budget. If your total project cost is, say, $800, and you can only pay $40 per month, we have no problem stretching out the project over 20 months. We also don't have a problem if you, for example, get a bonus from work and can put $200 towards the project on one of those months, or if you have to skip a month due to financial hardships. Just let us know as soon as you can, and we will work with you on an adjustment to the timeline.
Submission and Quote Process
Q - Do you have any samples of past work that I can see?
A - Editorial samples are a weird one, in that it just doesn't feel right showing the work of others with our correction marks all over it. If you would like a sample, we would be happy to edit a small sample of your work to give you an idea of what we can do, which we (as well as previous clients) have found to be a much better representation of what our work can do for you. Typically with new clients we will go through a small section of the manuscript anyway, to get an idea of how much work it will take, so we can generate an accurate quote.
Q - Why are the projects billed at a rate per-word? I've seen other editors bill an hourly rate.
A - Current and past editors that we've worked with are neurodivergent, and thus have different ways of thinking and working. When we create the quote for your project, it's based around what we feel is an average work speed for us. This could mean we get chapters done at a quicker rate some weeks, or at a slower rate other weeks.
Editing Process
Q - If I hire Ottercorrect to do copyedits, and I decide halfway through the first round of edits that I want to also do story/developmental edits (or vice-versa), is that possible?
A - Certainly! We will need to send out an amended contract, but that's possible. If you're adding on story edits partway through a copyedit, we'd likely want to go back over the sections we've already completed, as we'd rather get all of the story edits done before we focus too hard on copyedits. If you just want to add copyedits, we can either go over the previously-completed parts immediately, or simply start looking over them on the next round of edits.
Q - Ottercorrect has finished the final round of edits, but I/a reader have still found a typo. Why is that?
A - Editing has never, and will never be a perfect process. You can pick up any title published by a major publisher, and you're going to find a least one error in it. They will likely be harder to find, yes, because those titles have had multiple editors working on them, but they will be there. If you find a few small errors scattered throughout a book we or other freelance editors have worked on, that's a normal and unfortunately unavoidable part of the process. If you find a large number of errors still in the book after working with us and feel as though it needs another editing pass, we would be happy to discuss that with you.
Miscellaneous
Q - Why is there a "meet the team" section of the website if there is only one editor? / Why was there another editor on the "meet the team" part of the website before that isn't there now?
A - Ottercorrect Literature Services is owned and primarily run by one person: Sean Gerace. We have worked with other editors in the past as contractors on projects, and while they were actively working on projects for us they were listed as part of the team. While we would love to continue working with those and many other editors, we simply don't have the projects/revenue to currently do so. We hope to bring previous editors and new editors alike back at some point, but for the foreseeable future things are what they are.
