朱丽红译
编辑手稿和定做礼服有点类似。我给出提供的服务和相应的价格表，对新客户的咨询给出解答。因为费用是很多人最关心的问题，所以我会告诉客户我将对原稿先做一轮(一次)编辑，我会校正我所能发现的错误并留下免费的注解，告诉客户这些地方需要做再次修改以及是否需要返回来做手稿的两轮(次)编辑。既然是顾客付钱，那么我应该让她决定她想要做几轮(次)编辑，而不是我认为她需要做几轮(次)编辑。考虑到期刊出版目前的形势，我认为大约有一半比例的手稿只需做轻微修改, 即一轮(次)编辑。我只是偶尔做要超过三轮(次)编辑(同一份手稿)。其实，就收入而言，对一份手稿做超过一次编辑对我来说是没什么大好处的，因为第一轮编辑的收费标准是6美分/词 (6c/word)，而第一轮以后的编辑的收费标准是多加了2美分/词 (extra 2c/word)。那么，为什么我还要提供两轮甚至三轮编辑呢？因为反复修改是写好文章的关键, 这一点每个人都应该知道。我对自己的每一篇研究手稿平均修改次数超过20次，并且我认为我是一个擅长写作的人。
Editing a manuscript and making a tuxedo
By Zuojun Yu
After having posted my Blog on “Editing a manuscript and buying a pair of socks”
http://blog.sciencenet.cn/home.php?mod=space&uid=306792&do=blog&id=454802,
I was still thinking how to communicate with those of my clients who do not understand what editing is about. Therefore, I came up with this new Blog title.
Let’s say that I am a tuxedo maker. A customer walks in and asks a lot of questions, because it’s his first time to buy a tuxedo. I show him a list of choices he needs to make, and take his measurements after he decides to retain my service. He puts down a deposit, and is told to return in 2-3 weeks for fitting. At the fitting, he complains about the sleeves being too short. I agree they should be 1.5 inches longer, and ask him to return for pickup. I give him a choice of paying today, or tomorrow at pickup. He pays me and thanks me for my service, which is common in the West.
Editing a manuscript is somewhat similar. I give a copy of our services and prices, and answer questions from new clients. Since the cost is a main concern for many people, I often tell them that I would edit the manuscript once (correcting as many mistakes as I can find and leaving free comments when I have any) and tell them if they should revise and return for another round of editing. Since the client is paying, I let her decide how many rounds of editing she wants (not what I think she needs). About half of the time, I think light editing (one round) is good enough, considering today’s atmosphere of journal publications. Only occasionally I would edit a manuscript more than three times. Editing a manuscript more than once is not good for me in terms of earning, because I charge 6c/word for Round 1, and extra 2c/word for extra round of editing. Then, why do I offer Round 2 or even Round 3? That is because revision is the key to good writing. I revise my own research manuscript more than 20 times on average, and I am not a bad writer myself.
Now, I need to find a friend to “translate” this into Chinese for me, because in the latest incident this client declared that his English is no good (therefore he could not tell if my editing is good or not; he even interpreted my email “It’s not about my time, but your $$$” as “Go ahead and submit the paper” when he asked if I have time to read/check his manuscript again).
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