I’ve had a bad experience with an editor lately – an independent one, not one of the wonderful folks at Torquere or Dreamspinner – at a place called “Wicked Pride” that I thought based on reputation would be reliable. Unfortunately, after three months and having prepaid $172, all I’ve gotten back of my ~28K is a half-editted word doc (when I submitted and asked for a google doc), and a lot of empty promises. I am highly disappointed, especially since the owner assured me that she prided herself on her professionalism. I have kept all the emails, and I can prove that she said she was finished but “googledocs wasn’t letting her share the doc”, then she said she would do it again, and it didn’t show up. THEN there was a litany (I haven’t counted, but no less than four or five times) where she promise she was “almost done” and I’d have it “in a few hours”. Always some excuse why she couldn’t – the flu, then multiple hospitalizations, then computer problems – some of which may have been true, but I have my doubts, ESPECIALLY after she promised to refund my money and didn’t. Now she is refusing to answer my emails or facebook messages at all, which I find highly unprofessional.

So you indy writers out there, please be wary of hiring editors, even if they look professional. I guess I should have gotten recommendations, so if anyone has a recommendation for a good, reliable editor, please let me know. And don’t be afraid to spread the word that Ari had a horrible experience with Wicked Pride and that Tash Hatzipetrou (the owner/editor) is unreliable and unprofessional.