[ SECRET POST #2916 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2916 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 050 secrets from Secret Submission Post #417.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 (second time) - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - posted twice ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

05. http://i.imgur.com/BHkeP3v.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

I know this is far from OP's point, but...you can sell fanfic editing services? What's the supply/demand ratio on that? If there's one thing I'm good at, it's noticing every last typo in the things I read, but I feel like a) a lot of people are like that and b) those who aren't probably wouldn't be willing to actually pay for help even if they wanted it (which many don't seem to).

[(Anonymous)]

SA

Forgot to put "since there are others who do it for free" in that last sentence.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm doubtful it would work, too. People do it for original fiction but even then freelance editors are usually people who've done it professionally, not just some random person in fandom. Most fanfic writers I know who need editing find it on their own, and they couldn't necessarily afford to pay for it, anyway.

[(Anonymous)]

Probably very low given how many people there are out there who are willing to beta for free.

[(Anonymous)]

I wonder if we're going to be seeing a secret from someone dissatisfied with the overpriced editing they purchased in a few months.

[(Anonymous)]

LMAO

[kallanda_lee]

Look, as someone who tries to make money off writing and is in a tight spot financially: give our friend a break. It's better that robbing stores, ffs. And you'd be surprised what kind of shit some professional copywriters or editors get paid for.

It really is just supply/demand. If ou friend is expensive and does shit work, no-one will buy the service. If they will, then it's your friend's right to sell it, and it's reall none of our business.

[dreemyweird]

Seconding all of this. Honestly, this concern for random strangers who are engaging in an entirely fair business transaction with OP's friend is outright weird.

[(Anonymous)]

This.

[(Anonymous)]

I used to be a professional proofreader. There are literally zero qualifications needed for that job. It tends to happen by luck.

If this person has good spelling and grammar, they're already ahead of many other editors, I'm sad to say. I've been shockingly edited in real life. So has my friend, who's an award-winning professional writer.

So good luck to the OP's friend and I hope she makes it work.

[lb_lee]

Yeah, when I was homeless, I wrote for money. (And still do now.) I try to quietly dissuade people from paying me to write fanfic, just because it makes me extremely uncomfortable, but fuck, that's money that supplies me with shampoo and pants. As it is, I try to make it a bit of a pain, and most people ask me to do something else.

Which is good, because I fucking SUCK at fanfiction. Never understood the folks who said it was so much easier to write...

[(Anonymous)]

idk, it sounds like she might be weak with comprehensive editing but a decent line editor if she's able to catch all of the spelling/grammatical errors and whatnot. is she claiming to be a comprehensive editor?

either way, yeah, it's pretty weird to charge for fanfic editing services. I'm also not really a fan of people who have fic commissions (and, yes, before anyone asks I'm also not a fan of people who do fanart commissions)

[(Anonymous)]

sa

also, I can see why you don't want to say anything to her. it would probably just be best to let this one go since it sounds like she's in dire need of financial assistance. I kind of doubt she'll get many requests anyway, I don't generally see people who have much success with fic commissions and I've never even seen someone try to charge for beta reading, so who knows how that will go

[dreemyweird]

If my friend were in a tough financial situations and were offering dubious services of this sort (as long as they don't endanger anyone, of course, and aren't fraud), I'd hope for someone to purchase them even despite knowing that they're dubious. Because damnit, my friend's medical bills are more important than someone's disappointment/hurt feelings.

[(Anonymous)]

no one is being forced to buy your friend's writing

[(Anonymous)]

Friend's skill-set aside, I'm a little more stuck on your comment about being uncomfortable with profiting off fanfiction. I've never understood why fanart commissions are so much more commonplace than fic.

[(Anonymous)]

I will try to answer this from the perspective of someone who has never seriously considered either, but has interacted with people who sold both. Basically, I think a large part of the issue is that fanart tends to be much more self-contained. A person can buy a piece of fanart and dictate what happens in it down to the finest details. But when buying a chapter of a fanfic, they generally can't get that specific because it messes with the plot.

[(Anonymous)]

I'd say it's because most people think selling fanart is okay (for reasons I don't entirely agree with or find logical, like 'oh but it's the cost of suppppliiiies!'), but they do not feel the same way about fanfic.

[(Anonymous)]

Editing/proofreading is an expensive service in the real world, and I doubt all of those self-professed real life editors are so perfect either.

I have a feeling that anyone who buys fanfic beta from a stranger without references is going to be an impatient sort who doesn't really want constructive criticism anyway. Perhaps basic spelling and grammar editing is all that would be appropriate for those cases.

The editing side of your friend's idea might actually work, as long as your friend can stir up enough interest with her marketing. That's where the real skill will lie.

I'm not going to touch the fic-for-pay side as that's been covered in discussions here so many times.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm having a really hard time believing that there's that much money to be made doing this.

Then again, I lived in a country with insanely inflated medical prices for a long time.

slightly ot but

[(Anonymous)]

I never get why English writers are so obsessed with spelling and grammar. yes, if you're ESL, you better get somebody to proofread your text when you publish. but English is EASY compared to other languages!

shouldn't getting the basics right be a given? so many writer's tips and advices for quality writing go on and ON about this! even advanced writing classes give you grammar lessons. it's often an advice for unpopular fics as well.

I never see this happening in my mother tongue.
and frankly, I've read fanfics with errors before- in German and English- and idgaf. writing is more than spelling and pristine oxford english grammar.

[(Anonymous)]

as someone who does this on the side (if on the off chance someone else comes along and buys something off of me), i charge for word count and say, "hey, i'm comfortable with x, y, and z but not a, b, and c. and if you want fanfic, i'll have to research the series a little bit to feel for the characters" mostly to cover my ass.

i'm sorry you feel that way about your friend's medical issues though. i hope she gets the help. the best thing you can do is just reblog/retweet or post something about it to direct people to her but don't make any extra effort other than that if you feel that so much.

[mimi-sardinia.livejournal.com]

Your friend's editing weaknesses sound like mine, only she's not self-aware enough to realise she's weak in those points.

[(Anonymous)]

Why don't you try talking your friend into using the KDP for original fiction instead? She can write books to her heart's content, throw them out there, and people can buy them. That's how I'm writing at the moment, and it's been working well for me!

She can also offer her editing services on places like Smashwords, though, she'd have to actually be good at it, or it may come back and bite her.