Establishing Client Trust (Or, What Not to Do)

A while back I subscribed to a software service that backs up my website. No more than a week later, I got an urgent message from the company saying that I was running out of room for backups and that I needed to upgrade my plan. They threatened that they wouldn’t be able to save new copies of my website so I had to ACT NOW!!!

How Not to Establish Client Trust

I looked into this. The website is about 1 gig, and I had originally purchased 10 gigs of backup. So what the company was doing was just saving a new version of the website every day instead of setting it up so older versions would drop off (most backup services are set to purge old copies automatically). In a week I’d used up about 7 gig of space, in a month I would have used close to 30, etc. If I’d done what the email said and bought more space, in a couple of weeks or months I’d get another email urgently telling me to buy more.

But I don’t need fifty saved versions of the website. It’s not a bad idea to have a few older versions in case the current version somehow gets corrupted, but I don’t need more than a few.

So I fiddled around with the controls and worked out how to make the older copies drop off the backup in order to make room for new copies. Problem solved without requiring an upgrade.

How to Establish Client Trust

Okay, so what does this have to do with running an editing business?

Because it has to do with trust. And our clients are entrusting us with their work. They have to feel we are worthy of that trust.

Do you think that after I got that urgent message telling me to buy an upgrade and not giving me any other options that I feel very much trust for this company?

No, no I do not. The thing is, I’ll find another backup service that’s cheaper and does the work just as well, and then I’ll leave this company. I have no reason to stay. They could just as easily have given the second solution (to have older copies drop off) in the email as well as the first (to purchase an upgrade). And if they’d made an argument for why I might want to purchase an upgrade anyway, I might have listened.

But because they didn’t, and I had to do a lot of extra work to figure out how to solve the problem, my main feeling about this company is “thanks for nothing, you jerks.”

Now, I like to say I’m coin-operated, and I’m a big fan of money, too. But I also have respect for my clients. If a client can’t afford a full developmental edit, I’ll offer a manuscript assessment. If they’re not sure where to start, I’ll point them to some resources. If someone can’t afford a class, I’ll send links to a few good books (some of them may be mine, but some may not, depending).

If people view you as someone who helps them solve problems, instead of as someone whose main goal is to extract their money, they’re more likely to trust you, return to you for additional services, mention you to their friends, and so on. Those are all very important for building a business versus trying to soak one client for as much money as possible.

You notice how I never give the name of the backup company in this post? That’s because I’ll never help spread the word about their services.

I’m not saying you have to rush around doing everything for everyone and for free (I’m also a very big fan of boundaries), I’m just saying that viewing your clients as people rather than pockets is crucial to establishing a solid freelance business.

New Class! Coaching and Editing Discovery Drafts

Starts September 15, 2025

$330 ($297 for members) – but save $100 this week! (see below for the coupon code)

Discovery drafts are typically the first draft of a novel that an author uses to explore the story they’re writing, whether the story has been prompted by a situation, a setting, a character, or a theme.

The discovery draft typically includes stops and starts, directions the story could take but doesn’t, characters that fade in and out, either an overly produced setting or a nonexistent one. It’s not a draft that’s ready for a developmental edit, which is typically done on a near-final draft of a novel that the author has revised several times and feels is in good shape.

With a discovery draft, the author typically doesn’t feel that way at all. They’ve got a lot of ideas that are bouncing around in the story and know they’ve got a sprawling mass or they’ve ground to a halt and have cut to the chase and wrapped the story up in a way they know is unsatisfactory.

They don’t want someone to point out where the characterization is inconsistent or how they could make the dialogue sparkle more. They know the characterization is inconsistent and the dialogue wooden. What they’re looking for is someone who can help them see, out of this welter of possibility, what the heart of the story is and where it might lead.

Whether the author has written an everything-but-the-kitchen sink draft or a skeleton draft that’s all bones and no flesh, you can help them, through coaching or editing, figure out where the most promising possibilities are in their story.

This class will discuss how coaching and editing discovery drafts differs from beta reading and developmental editing. It will show you how to fit discovery draft review into either coaching or editing services (depending on your inclinations and the author’s needs). And it lays out the different types of discovery drafts you may encounter and the best ways to help authors figure out what to do next.

Each week includes a new lesson and a new assignment to be submitted for the instructor’s feedback along with online discussions about issues raised in the class.

The class is entirely online and asynchronous (you don’t have to be in any particular place at any particular time to participate) but weekly assignments are due by specific deadlines.

For more information about the class and to register, click here. To save $100, use the coupon code DISCOVERY

Coupon good this week only (expires at midnight Pacific time on Sunday, August 10, 2025).

For Members

The accountability forum has changed its name to open forum to reflect the suggestion that we leave it active but change its focus a bit. You are still free to post your weekly goals and accomplishments, but it will be more of a place for asking questions and sharing ideas.

The current marketing challenge ended on Friday. Thanks to everyone who participated! The next quarterly marketing challenge starts October 17, 2025.

New discount for PerfectIt and Draftsmith software! Save 30% off your purchase of PerfectIt and 20% off your purchase of Draftsmith. PerfectIt is a well-regarded program that many copy editors use to help ensure their edits are applied correctly across an entire manuscript. Use the coupon code you’ll find in the Membership Program classroom.

Upcoming Classes

Instructor-led classes starting soon:

• Editorial Toolkit: Beta Reading, starts Sep 3, 2025

• Editing for Plot and Story Structure, starts Sep 8, 2025

• Editorial Toolkit: Coaching Writers, starts Oct 1, 2025

• Editing for Character Development, starts Oct 6, 2025

• Editorial Toolkit: Book Doctoring and Ghostwriting, starts Oct 29, 2025

About Jennifer Lawler

I help editors figure out what the hell they’re doing.

If you’re an aspiring, new, or established book editor or story coach, I can probably help you learn how to do the work better and more profitably.

Through Club Ed, I offer developmental editing classes, a freelance editor membership program/support group, and a slightly bony shoulder to cry on.

I’ve worked as an editor for more than twenty years. I learned how to edit in the trenches of traditional publishing with its insane deadlines, pitiless competition, and crushing bureaucracy. To that I added a Ph.D in English literature with a specialization in medieval literature because of a long story.

Editorial clients have included Simon & Schuster, Girl Friday Productions, Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, Barnes and Noble Custom Publishing, and others, along with many independent authors. 

For fiction self-paced classes, click here.

For fiction instructor-led classes, click here

For nonfiction self-paced classes, click here

For nonfiction instructor-led classes, click here

For on-demand instructor-led classes, fiction and nonfiction, click here