Professional Book-Editing-Services.com

GHWard · Jan 15, 2013

I came across this advert link while checking my email. Can anyone offer any advice as to their reputation (i.e. has anyone used their services... what has your experience been?)

http://www.book-editing-services.com/?gclid=CIyp7sG067QCFRQcnAod3TwAUg

EMaree · Jan 15, 2013

Check up at the top of this forum for some wise advise.

A publisher or agency using Google ads to solicit your novel probably isn't anyone you want to write for.

And to name some specifics issues:

The lack of any named editors or clearly stated credentials makes is a big red flag for me.
It seems like a huuuge venture, with UK, NZ, AU, US and Canadian numbers. A lot of reputable editing organisations are single-person ventures of very small teams, it's not really a field for 'corporate' style staffing.
Stock pictures. Stock pictures everywhere. None of these people look like they're actually part of the company.
The site is horrible to navigate.
The site also uses a very generic 'online business' style and doesn't seem geared towards writing. They could be selling anything.
Testimonials section is just names, no titles for actual published work.
Slogan is "editing for you 24/7". Real editors need sleep. Editing isn't the kind of job you want to rush out as quickly as possible.

I'm sure the other members can point out many more issues.

JournoWriter · Jan 15, 2013

Looks like an online car insurance site.

James D. Macdonald · Jan 15, 2013

ONLY Native English Editors

We do NOT outsource to the Philippines, India or other areas of the world where English is simply a complementary “mother” language.
Our editors are born native speakers of English and have achieved all their education and training in the first language of English.
Book-Editing-Services.com’s editors are originally from the US, Canada, England, New Zealand, Australia and other similar English-speaking countries.

Insert glyph of me pinching the bridge of my nose and shaking my head.

Unimportant · Jan 15, 2013

This has got to be the oddest breakdown of book types I've ever seen:

Writing / Editing Types

Novel Editing

Fiction Editing

Non-Fiction Editing

Book Editing Services

First Time Author

Christian Editing

Black Genre Editing

LindaJeanne · Jan 15, 2013

Unimportant said:
This has got to be the oddest breakdown of book types I've ever seen:

Reminds me of Borges' breakdown of the different kinds of animals:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_Emporium_of_Benevolent_Knowledge's_Taxonomy

aliceshortcake · Jan 16, 2013

Well, if you're a first time black Christian author you're certainly spoiled for choice...

areteus · Jan 16, 2013

Freelance farm by the looks of it. They charge a premium and then give the work either to a bunch of freelance workers they have the contact details for and pay a pittance to or post it up on freelance sites to the lowest bidder who can prove they are a native speaker and keep the profit.

Either way you get what they pay for which is not likely to be a skilled editor with industry experience but rather a basic copyeditor who may be capable of spotting spelling mistakes that your spellchecker would have caught anyway.

I have seen jobs like this posted on guru.com and similar sites and the pay is never good. No one with any decent experience would be bidding on them and even if they did they'd likely get underbid massively by someone with a lot less experience.

EMaree · Jan 16, 2013

areteus said:
Freelance farm by the looks of it. They charge a premium and then give the work either to a bunch of freelance workers they have the contact details for and pay a pittance to or post it up on freelance sites to the lowest bidder who can prove they are a native speaker and keep the profit.

Either way you get what they pay for which is not likely to be a skilled editor with industry experience but rather a basic copyeditor who may be capable of spotting spelling mistakes that your spellchecker would have caught anyway.

They seem very determined to say otherwise:

No Freelance Editors
Freelance editors miss deadlines, ignore emails, avoid phone calls, request more money and let their private lives interrupt your paid editing.
Stop searching! We have an experienced, qualified TEAM of professional book editors ready to assist you.
Our editors are full-time professionals with a minimum of 10 years experience in editing, proofreading, writing, critiquing, publishing, etc.

areteus · Jan 16, 2013

Protesting too much, perhaps?

victoriastrauss · Jan 16, 2013

All you need to to assess this service is to look at the sample edits it provides. Editors include Dr. Natasha and Anita.

The samples demonstrate both the level of editing (rudimentary, essentially limited to spelling/typo corrections and grammar tinkering) and the level of client the service typically deals with (given that these are the samples the service believes are representative of its work).

The fact that the version of Track Changes they're using doesn't appear to be English kind of gives the lie to their claim that "Book-Editing-Services.com’s editors are originally from the US, Canada, England, New Zealand, and Australia."

- Victoria

EMaree · Jan 16, 2013

Book-Editing-Services.com’s editors are originally from the US, Canada, England, New Zealand, Australia and other similar English-speaking countries.

How very unusual that both the editors in their samples seem to be using a Swedish (based on a translation of a few words, sorry if this is off) edition of MS Office. That immediately makes me think a) their officer's IT technician has obtained a copy of MS Office using some rather dubious methods or b) they have a significant staff base in Sweden.

As much as I love Sweden, a truly beautiful part of the world, it's laws are very lax on certain subjects and that's caused it to attract (lucrative) trouble in the past. I don't know what their laws are regarding literature and written interllectual property, but it makes me a little bit uneasy when a company seems to be deliberately hiding Swedish links.

Can one of our tech-y types run a WHOIS on the site? I'm currently behind a firewall.

LindaJeanne · Jan 16, 2013

EMaree said:
Can one of our tech-y types run a WHOIS on the site? I'm currently behind a firewall.

http://www.whois.com/whois/book-editing-services.com

Unsurprisingly, they're using a registrar proxy to hide the site owner information: http://www.DomainsByProxy.com

Edited to Add:
A search on the US Phone Number they give brings up a plethora of sites:
http://www.copy-editing-services.com
http://www.manuscript-editing-services.com
http://www.thesis-editing-services.com
http://fiction-editing-services.com
http://www.book-editing-services.com
http://www.academic-editing-service.com
http://www.dissertation-editing-services.com

And, um, I thought they said they didn't use freelance editors?
http://www.professional-editing-services.com/freelance_editors_jobs.php
(And what sort of freelance editor would want to work for them, given their attitude about freelance editors as quoted up-thread?)

And more sites found with the UK phone number:
http://www.ezspeechwriters.com
http://www.firstediting.com

James D. Macdonald · Jan 16, 2013

Did y'all notice that in the first paragraph of the sample edit of a novel that they display, poor Anita missed a hideous typo?

Her whole body shivered and her heart skipped a heat.

Never mind the cliche. Surely the author meant to type "...her heart skipped a beat."

This is what they're pointing to as an example of what you can expect? This is a particularly good edit? They're proud of this one?

Oh my stars, this is .... my words, failing me.

Anita doesn't have a clue about capitalization, is shaky at best on comma usage, and doesn't flag a single cliche. Her suggested rephrasings are no better than the original author's words.

Running your manuscript through Word with the grammar-checker turned on would give you a better edit. (I note that no true editing has taken place. Editing involves plot and scene and character and all those things that a MicroSoft Word can't give you.)

Deleted member 42 · Jan 16, 2013

A Website offering editorial services that appears

to have been constructed by someone less than acquainted with standard English
or with professional editing practices
or that fails to offer names of editors and their specific qualifications

is a very large red flag.

JulieB · Jan 17, 2013

James D. Macdonald said:
Did y'all notice that in the first paragraph of the sample edit of a novel that they display, poor Anita missed a hideous typo?[/QUOTE}

James D. Macdonald said:

Running your manuscript through Word with the grammar-checker turned on would give you a better edit. (I note that no true editing has taken place. Editing involves plot and scene and character and all those things that a MicroSoft Word can't give you.)

Click to expand...

And that still wouldn't have fixed that typo.

Weirdmage · Jan 17, 2013

EMaree said:
How very unusual that both the editors in their samples seem to be using a Swedish (based on a translation of a few words, sorry if this is off) edition of MS Office. That immediately makes me think a) their officer's IT technician has obtained a copy of MS Office using some rather dubious methods or b) they have a significant staff base in Sweden.

As much as I love Sweden, a truly beautiful part of the world, it's laws are very lax on certain subjects and that's caused it to attract (lucrative) trouble in the past. I don't know what their laws are regarding literature and written interllectual property, but it makes me a little bit uneasy when a company seems to be deliberately hiding Swedish links.

Can one of our tech-y types run a WHOIS on the site? I'm currently behind a firewall.

I'm Norwegian myself, but can confirm that the editor in the sample I looked at is indeed using a Swedish version of MS Word.
Scandinavians may be some of the highest level non-native English users in the world, but English is a second language for Scandinavians.

Sweden doesn't have particularly lax laws when it comes to copyright. The reason that people, like those behind Pirate Bay, has sought refuge on Swedish servers is that they have very strict laws about giving out information about who uses the servers placed there.

When it comes to using these services... There's no doubt that they are lying about their editors being native English speakers, at least judging from the samples they chose to put online.
And it makes me wonder what else they are not telling the truth about.

EMaree · Jan 17, 2013

Thanks for the info Weirdmage, and sorry for my misinterpretation of your neighbouring country's laws.

I definitely wouldn't touch these guys with a ten-foot-pole.

GHWard · Jan 18, 2013

Thank you all. I appreciate your help in this matter

Professional Book-Editing-Services.com

GHWard

A Broken Keeper

EMaree

a demon for tea

JournoWriter

Just the facts, please

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

Unimportant

No COVID yet. Still masking.

LindaJeanne

On a small world west of wonder

aliceshortcake

Wilde about Oscar

areteus

EMaree

a demon for tea

areteus

victoriastrauss

Writer Beware Goddess

EMaree

a demon for tea

LindaJeanne

On a small world west of wonder

James D. Macdonald

Your Genial Uncle

Deleted member 42

JulieB

I grow my own catnip

Weirdmage

EMaree

a demon for tea

GHWard

A Broken Keeper