Words for Hire blog's Karen Swim tells the story of Jane, a freelance editor hired by Miranda to proofread an e-book. To Jane, this request entailed an exhaustive review of Miranda's copy to ensure proper spelling, grammar and punctuation. Accordingly, Jane scoured every word of the book. "When it was time to deliver," says Swim, "she did her fourth and final check" [and] "emailed the client a marked up version and a 'clean' version."

Unfortunately, Miranda wasn't happy with the results. "I wanted you to get this ready for publication," she told Jane. "You made no enhancements." This confused Jane, who clarified that Miranda hadn't asked her to edit the manuscript. Miranda's baffled reply: "Aren't they [editing and proofreading] the same thing?"

The answer is no, and the semantic confusion meant Jane had delivered a product Miranda didn't expect. "[T]here had been a complete breakdown in communications," notes Swim. "Miranda thought she understood proofreading and editing, but to a writer they are vastly different."

The Po!nt: Make sure you're on the same page with freelance contractors. "In our effort to be understood, we may try to speak the language but if we incorrectly apply a term we may not get our hoped for results," says Swim. "When providing someone with instructions, it is important to be clear and give detail. When receiving instructions, it is equally important to ask questions, and confirm mutual understanding."

Source: Words for Hire. Click here for the full post.

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