Do *Not* Edit A Chapter As a “Test!”

Dear Angela,

Last year, I contacted a writer about a job listing editing a book. I included a copy of my writing resume, testimonials, contacts, rate sheet, and a list of links to articles and sites I had written and/or edited. The writer replied promptly with a request that, as a test, she was having all applicants edit a chapter. I had just read something in WritersWeekly about that very subject a week or two before and responded to the writer that I was a professional and the information I sent should be sufficient to determine whether or not she wished to work with me. I didn’t hear anything for a few days, but evidently she heard quite a lot. Her next email mentioned that, because so many of the people who responded balked at editing a chapter as a test, she was going to make her decision based on a test paragraph. Looks like I wasn’t the only person reading WritersWeekly at the time who caught onto this scheme. Thanks for alerting us to the scams.

As always…

J M