Avoiding The Rush Job

Many is the time I’ve had to say no to a job.

It was not because I didn’t want to take the client on – sometimes I’ve kicked myself because the job was right up my street. It also wasn’t due to a full calendar. It was because the timescale was so ridiculously short I wouldn’t have had time to do the job needed.

Let’s elaborate…

Proofreading, editing or indexing a document isn’t done by a computer program, it’s carried out by an actual human being. Asking a professional to carry out some work on a book assumes a couple of things:

1. The professional has enough time to read through the document
2. The professional has enough time to digest what has been written
3. The professional has enough time to carry out the task at hand.

Take for example a straightforward proofread (not an edit) of a 100,000 word document:

The…