They do it to authors, too. Dump copyedits, proofs, and other scutwork on them over holidays, then go off and leave the authors to work while they take a vacation.
After all we're freelancers. We lie around all day napping and eating bonbons. Who cares if we have to work through weekends and holidays? We don't do anything at any other time.
I remember that I not only got my proofs for the lupus book to do in 2 days flat, after they delayed production for no reason anyone understood, but I found no one had copyedited the book: it had all my queries to the editor lovingly typeset right into the proofs.
When asked, the editor said he made his decision to do that based on the fact that I was a copy editor, thus I wouldn't need copyediting. Uh, right.
I copyedited, then proofread, the book in 2 days flat. I was also as angry as hell at the time.
I believe that the (salaried) staff of publishers think of writers as hobbyists who don't really need the money and who don't really need any time to do this "easy" work. After all it's not real work, so of course they don't have to set real deadlines. Or pay on time (my most rankling issue with publishers, and the most ongoing).
What got me was one person who got all in my face when I pointed out it was a rush job and therefore should have been a rush rate on the cover letter she sent with the ms. "But you said yes!" she chided me. I was dumbstruck. Not only was it out of character, but it sounded as if she was angry with me for something that she thought was me getting too big for my britches. As if I should keep my head down and be happy to receive the scraps from the table.
And she knows damn well that she can do that to me, because I've been begging for scraps for the last year, since I was screwed by T.W.
It made me furious. Of course, I apologized and accepted the book at the usual rate.
As if I should keep my head down and be happy to receive the scraps from the table.
That is exactly it.
Someone this morning asked me if I can charge interest for overdue payments, to offset the late charges on the bills that are late because of them (we won't even mention the damage to the credit rating). I was laughing too hysterically to offer a coherent answer.
A certain person who is deceased and I used to have words about that: if my bills were late and the power, say, was cut off, his books would be late, so why wasn't he paying on a timely basis to have his books produced? Granted, the bills were delayed by a certain other person whom I shan't name, of course, to force me to push the issue to get him to get mad at me. It was a nice political move on her part, but I have hopes it'll eventually bite her in the ass
( ... )
We've never been able to get a WGA going for print authors and editors, and that's too bad. Unfortunately our skill is not known to be difficult or complicated and it sure don't get no respect, so like teachers (who have unions but who are still paid bupkis while administrators rake in six-figure salaries) we get teh screwage
( ... )
After all we're freelancers. We lie around all day napping and eating bonbons. Who cares if we have to work through weekends and holidays? We don't do anything at any other time.
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When asked, the editor said he made his decision to do that based on the fact that I was a copy editor, thus I wouldn't need copyediting. Uh, right.
I copyedited, then proofread, the book in 2 days flat. I was also as angry as hell at the time.
Reply
I believe that the (salaried) staff of publishers think of writers as hobbyists who don't really need the money and who don't really need any time to do this "easy" work. After all it's not real work, so of course they don't have to set real deadlines. Or pay on time (my most rankling issue with publishers, and the most ongoing).
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And she knows damn well that she can do that to me, because I've been begging for scraps for the last year, since I was screwed by T.W.
It made me furious. Of course, I apologized and accepted the book at the usual rate.
Reply
That is exactly it.
Someone this morning asked me if I can charge interest for overdue payments, to offset the late charges on the bills that are late because of them (we won't even mention the damage to the credit rating). I was laughing too hysterically to offer a coherent answer.
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