A concise new guide that can assist self-employed editors and their clients to work together more effectively is now freely available on the Institute of Professional Editors website.
Working with self-employed editors: A guide for clients provides information about what constitutes fair and acceptable professional practice, and principles for preventing or solving problems in the editor–client relationship.
The resource was developed by IPEd’s Pay and Conditions Standing Committee (PCSC). PCSC Chair Kerry Davies AE said IPEd developed the guide in response to feedback from editorial staff and contractors working in the book publishing industry and reports of unrealistic expectations from some clients.
“The guide forms part of IPEd and the PCSC’s ongoing efforts to advocate for fair pay and conditions for the editing profession,” Davies said.
“This resource is designed for editors to provide to their clients when negotiating an agreement, whether formal or informal. Clients can also access the guide to familiarise themselves with the principles and practices they should adopt when working with self-employed editors.”
Davies said IPEd’s advocacy work also included research to propose changes to the Book Industry Award.
“This is a major piece of work, developing arguments with strong evidence for increases to the rates in the award,” Davies said
Kerry Davies AE is the winner of this year’s Janet Mackenzie Medal for four decades of remarkable service to the editing profession and to the Institute of Professional Editors (IPEd), the industry association for editors in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
The three-page Working with self-employed editors: A guide for clients can be used with the editor–client agreement template developed by IPEd and the Australian Society of Authors (ASA) in 2020, which is available to both IPEd and ASA members.
Working with self-employed editors: A guide for clients is available as a free download on the IPEd website.