A Newbie Must Ask These 6 Questions Before Hiring An Online Document Editor

Rohan Mathew

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Have you spent hours finishing your dissertation, novel, blog, or memoir? Remember, that last full-stop is not the end of the dynamic process of creation. Your document still needs rounds of proofreading and editing. For this, you can easily hire an online document editor and associated companies to take care of all your needs. If you have decided to spend the extra money, make sure to put your finance for valuable content services. Here are the six best questions that you can ask an editor, to gauge their productivity and skills.

Do you specialize in any specific genre?

If you are consulting a content firm dedicated to editing, they mostly have a team of editors. These editors are well-versed with sentence structuring, punctuation, grammar, and clarity. Additionally, they also have a defined niche to work in. For example, a technical expert will edit your technical blogs, and a medical specialist will handle the medicinal content, and so on. Also, the professional should have an experience of managing relevant content types, like, a novel editor may not be great at editing research papers. You have to question the agency about their team and hire a document editor.

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What are the charges for editing?

When you have to make the final choice between potential editors, the rates will matter a lot. You may not necessarily want to go for the lowest price, but also look at the quality. Therefore, it is essential to ask how your agency will calculate the editing rates. Most of them charge it as per the hours spent on editing. But there can be per word charges or a flat fee as well. Make sure to negotiate your deal.

Can you showcase feedback or references provided by past clients?

As a newbie, you probably don’t have a good idea of the editing industry. You will also have a little uncertainty in trusting the claims of the online editor or the agency. So, you should ask for some references from previous client work. Due to a bond of confidentiality, maybe they will not disclose the client details. But they can always provide you with sample documents for a clear idea of their services.

Do I get to avail of sample editing before finalizing the project?

Editors work very hard to get the best out of a document while retaining its original essence. Their compensation should always be according to the efforts put in. Simultaneously, the editor also understands that you are new to the industry and may also be skeptical. In such cases, some agencies allow you a sample editing package. They edit the first 500 or 1000 words of your document and cross-check the development with you. If everything is fine, they proceed with the editing, as per your deal.

Is there a guarantee of confidentiality?

A constant concern amongst all the clients is the confidentiality of their work. How can you be sure that your content is safe from plagiarism? Who guarantees intellectual property rights? The privacy policies of the agency address all such queries. Remember to go through them thoroughly and then ask for further assurance from the editors.

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What is your editing process?

As the online documents will only be shared digitally, the editors use different software to assist you. But it depends on the editors and the agencies, how they provide the document to you. Confirm the procedure with them in detail. Always give preference to those who provide you with two files: tracked and clean. This way, you can monitor the changes better and even improve your writing style.