Finding an Editor for ‘The Eagle Order’ Addendum

In a recent blog post, I spoke about my venture in finding a new copyeditor, seeking a new partnership for my novel The Eagle Order and the other books in the series. In that post, I detailed the reasons why I said, "No," to certain editors who applied for the position—and it was a range of reasons.

Because of the nature of the post, I decided to share the post not only with the writing community, but with my editing networks too. There were people who laughed at some of the reasons, amazed at how "off" things were. But I also encountered significant pushback regarding my comments about no website.

Many editors came forward, insisting that having no website hasn't harmed their business in any way, and that I was discounting experienced editors because of my viewpoints.

I will concede that this is indeed the case: I am discounting experienced editors because of my viewpoints. BUT on a first glance, how do I know for certain that they were experienced editors and not just someone who knows how to use AI tech to make them look good on paper?

In today's post, I want to take a deeper dive into the no-website arguments and explain why I feel that having no website could be working against you if you are a service provider.

Again, this is one of my longer blog posts, but it is what it is. (Hmm… I seem to be writing a lot of long blog posts lately. I guess I have a lot to say.)

The comments that sparked the pushback

In that post where I spoke about why I said, "No," to other editors, I had the following lines:

A significant number of the inquiries came in from a Gmail address. I was okay with that, because getting a custom domain email is an expense that some editors might not be ready for. (Hell, even my cover designer uses Gmail.) However, when there was no website or other online presence to back up the fact that this is a real person, I had to say, "No," right away.

I feel bad about this, because many of these instant Nos included resumes to show their qualifications. But with no website (and only a Gmail address), I had no way of confirming that this impressive resume wasn't put together by ChatGPT.

I went on to say, "No website equals no work from me."

Let's break this down a bit further, diving into the reasons why I feel the way I do.

Gmail as a business email suggests lack of experience

Let's start by looking at the nature of the email used for business purposes. In this argument, I'm not referring to the custom domain emails that just happen to be Gmail accounts, because those are still custom domain emails. No, I'm talking about those using an @gmail.com email address for business purposes.

There was a time in history (not that long ago) when it looked bad if anyone was using an AOL address for business. Hotmail addresses and Yahoo addresses were met with the same negative viewpoint. But for some reason, Gmail has always been treated differently. I don't know why, but it is what it is. Possibly because of all the additional features that come with having a Gmail account. However, in some circles, using a "free" email address, regardless of the domain that it uses, is still considered unprofessional.

In my little corner of the world, a person using a Gmail address as their business email tells me that they are in the startup phase of their business and haven't got everything set up yet. This could mean anything from a new editor, still working in their first editorial role, through to an experienced editor, who is setting up a freelance business for the first time. But regardless of the person's editorial experience, there is still this impression of lack of experience when it comes to business.

For me personally, this isn't an issue, because I actually like working with those in their startup phase. However, any person running a freelance business will eventually want to have that custom domain email, shedding the startup perceptions.

Scams often come from Gmail

It's an unfortunate truth that the publishing industry is filled with scammers, hunting for the unsuspecting writer to take advantage of. Most of those scams seem to come from Gmail addresses. And because of how "good" ChatGPT has become, it's getting harder and harder to spot those scams... unless you know exactly what you're looking at or are able to take the scammers off-script.

If you don't believe me about the nature of these scams, just check out the wealth of blog posts on the Writer Beware blog. In a recent post, Victoria Strauss reported on how the Nigerian Prince scam has morphed into book club and book review scams. And ALL of these scams seem to come from Gmail addresses. But what her blog post didn't say is that these scammers are no longer just sending emails that can be filtered out by the spam filters. These scammers have taken to using contact forms, copying and pasting from ChatGPT.

What's alarming to me is that I found myself following the rabbit hole of a book club scam all of a month ago. The comments in the email about my book were incredibly flattering, and it really did look like this person had read my book, simply because the comments pointed out things that were unique to my book, pointing out plot twists and other elements. But as I dug deeper into it (after the fact), I realized that all the comments were copied from reviews about my book available from Amazon and Goodreads. And when I got the email insisting that I send them a PDF copy of my manuscript, the alarms went off in my head, because that isn't how book clubs work. And when they suggested that I pay every reader taking part in the book club... "Um... Ding, ding, ding... We have a scammer!" But I continued to go down the rabbit hole, trying to uncover the scam... only for Google to step in and block the emails.

And that's my point here.

Because Gmail has become the spawning ground for scams, Google has taken active steps to halt scamming activity in its tracks. And because of the added checks now involved, innocent emails can easily be flagged as spam. And those using Gmail accounts for business emails could find themselves in a situation where their Google accounts are suspended.

But don't think that custom domain emails are immune to the Google checks, or that scams don't come from custom domain emails, because that is 100% not true. I see many scam emails that originate from custom domain emails. And because of certain events that happened years ago, my old business domain was flagged as spam... and it took me months to get out of spam jail.

There are tactics that one can use to tell Google that our emails are legit... but you have to have a custom domain email with full control over your DNS records to be able to use them. That means having a self-hosted website with a self-hosted email server (an expense that some editors are not ready for).

But that "no website" statement…

Freelancers need websites

A website is the modern-day version of the business card and information prospectus. It's your chance to showcase to the world what it is you do—and everything else that goes with it.

A well-built website can lead to business with no active marketing efforts required. And I know with certainty that this is the case, because I once helped another editor get their website up and running. It wasn’t even complete, and had only been operational for a week, and they were getting cold inquiries from random Google searches.

In general, I believe that any freelancer seeking to work with the general public needs to have an online presence. There are a variety of ways to build that online presence. Having a website is the easiest and cleanest method that has the widest reach. But it's also the safest option too, both from an internet security perspective AND from a platform longevity perspective.

Let me explain.

General internet searches

The most important aspect to a website is the discoverability factor. If a random prospective client does an internet search for your name, can you be found? What comes up?

This is a good exercise to do anyway, because it tells you how widespread your name has become and whether you are gaining attention from other corners of the world. But believe it or not, this is how a large number of writers start their search for an editor or cover designer.

They know they need an editor, but they don't know anything about what an editor does. They know they need a good cover, but they have no idea where good cover designers hang out. So, they open their favored internet search engine… and look to see what comes up.

I will admit that not everyone will show up in a random search with generic search parameters. It takes a long time to build enough credibility to have a high enough SEO ranking for a random person to find you. But we all have to start somewhere, right?

And believe it or not, having your own website actually helps with the SEO ranking thing, particularly if that website is frequently visited from different corners of the internet.

Referrals

When someone refers someone else to your services, what information is expected to be shared?

I want to help the freelancers on my team to find other clients. But when I pass on their name, I'm going to pass on their website information.

I refuse to hand out an email address that isn't mine to another person, even a custom domain email address. This is particularly the case on public forums on the internet. The sharing of email addresses on a public forum opens up people to scammers and spammers, and I refuse to do that.

It was bad enough when a client of mine got flooded with scams that were addressed to me… just because I tagged her public profile on Facebook. The scammers followed the links on her Facebook page to her website, got her email address from her website, and started spamming her… thinking she was me. Posting another person's email address is just asking for trouble. And when that email address just happens to be a Gmail address…

"Hello, hackers, here is some candy for you."

BTW, I won't pass out phone numbers either.

So, when I'm recommending someone's services to others, I will only ever pass on public profiles. And the best URL to hand out points to their website.

Besides, every service provider I know (the ones with websites) have their own specific onboarding sequence for new clients. Their contact forms will have specific questions that they need the answers to before taking on new clients. For example, my cover designer asks questions about the genre, the release date, the types of covers needed (i.e., ebook, print, or audiobook), and what the story is about.

Within my contact form, I ask questions about the genre, word counts, the story premise, whether the manuscript has been read by other writers (or editors), and whether AI-generative tools were used in the creation of the story. This is all information that will impact on my decision about whether I work with that client or not. But you can only find those questions through my services inquiry form.

So, the website is what I'm going to pass to others… in part because it helps writers to decide if this is a person they might be interested in working with.

First stage vetting

A website also helps prospective clients get a feel for the person that they are thinking of hiring. The images and tone of the voice used help us to get a sense of their personality and what is important to them. But there might also be things that tell us that we might not be interested in that person.

For an editor, web copy that is riddled with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors could be a huge red flag. A graphic designer with a website that uses red links on a red background could be the warning sign. For a publicist that has a website that sends you into popup hell… Well, you get the idea.

Writers are looking for someone who they will be trusting with their writing baby in some capacity. They want to feel confident that we will treat it with respect. If there is anything on the website that makes them uncomfortable, writers will be more likely to hire someone else.

Peeps, I've had clients who have admitted to me that they chose me because of my frank blog posts. For one client, it was my post providing a LGBTQ+ glossary for the unknowing parent that won them over. From that blog post alone, they knew I would get where they were coming from. (But please do not feel like you need to blog, because you don't. Blog only if you want to. Yet another topic that I've written about… numerous times.)

My point is that the website is a valuable piece of marketing real estate that we can control the messaging on.

The website can have other details

Speaking of controlled messaging…

On a website, a freelancer is able to have dedicated pages that talk about their services, testimonials from clients, and more in-depth information about their qualifications. I would also recommend that websites for anyone in the publishing industry (writers, editors, and other service providers alike) now incorporate an AI policy statement. I also include my terms and conditions on services.

But a website doesn't need to be complicated. A basic author website consists of four (4) pages: about, contact, books, and privacy policy. A freelancer website could swap out the books for services… and done.

So, hopefully, you can see the benefit of having a website, but now it's time to address some of the arguments that were thrown at me as reasons why certain editors didn't have a website.

Even a FREE website is still a website

There were some editors who pushed back by saying that they "couldn't afford a website."

Nope. Wrong answer!

I have written about this particular argument multiple times over the years, including a blog post that was released in January 2025 (which included a list of reputable hosting providers of free websites), and my viewpoint on this is never going to change.

If you're not exactly sure what you want to do with a website (i.e., not sure about the domain name, hosting options, or for that matter on a very tight budget and money needs to be spent on other things), then start with a free one. There is nothing wrong with a free website. You can create a professional-looking site with little effort, without it costing you the earth.

Yes, anyone running a business will likely want to eventually have a self-hosted site, but even I started with a free website—with a custom domain sitting on top of it.

Social media is NOT a website

There were some editors who said that they didn't have a website because they had strong social media profiles, with many of them specifically referring to LinkedIn. I have a few thoughts about this one… and none of them are good.

Before I dive into this part of my reasoning, I need to make a division here between websites and blogs, because they are NOT the same thing.

A website is the static pages that contain the most up-to-date information about whatever it is you want to share with the world. However, a blog is the frequently changing posts that contain random information about whatever you blog about; old posts are quickly buried, depending on how frequently you blog.

For this discussion, I'm focusing entirely on the static-pages website.

And this is part of my argument here.

Social media is fleeting and rarely static

Most social media sites are designed for a short attention span. Posts fly by at an insane rate, and news feeds can look like nothing but noise. That's no way to gain attention.

But because the posts fly by so quickly, anything that is static information is quickly lost. And you can't assume that people will visit your profiles, so you need to provide other means of sharing that static information.

Which brings me back to a website, because what link are you going to share for where that static information can be found?

Social media could suddenly disappear

The biggest danger associated with relying on social media as your primary marketing channel is that it could disappear without any warning.

Some years ago, there was a change in Australian legislation that impacted on copyright and the sharing of news articles that came from Australian news outlets. And because Facebook didn't want to deal with it, they decided to block ALL links that were to Australian news sites.

I mention this because my own website got caught up in that mess, even though I'm not in Australia or a news site. But the algorithms on Facebook said that I was… so for a full week, I couldn't share any of my blog post links to Facebook.

And if you need another reminder of how social media could suddenly disappear, just think about all the panic that happened when TikTok temporarily disappeared for US-based users.

For me, it was just a reminder on how anything could take out a social media site. It's a site that we users don't control.

Social media is not controlled by the users

While social media sites would be nothing without its users, the users don't control the site. This means that they have no say on how posts are formatted, what posts are shared to the network, or exactly what happens to your content once it's been posted.

In fact, the terms of service for many social media sites state that the content a person shares can be used for any purpose the service provider feels they want to use it for. This includes training any AI systems, by the way.

And if you happen to be using a particular social media site as a blogging engine… Well, I think you can see the danger there. (At least, I hope you can see the danger.)

LinkedIn is the professionals' social media

Since LinkedIn was specifically mentioned, let's look at LinkedIn.

For those who don't know, LinkedIn is considered the professionals' social media. Functionality has been built into the website that allows members to list their job history, experience and skills, and to automatically generate CVs (and resumes) on the site. In fact, some companies within New Zealand insist that job applicants apply through LinkedIn, giving companies the ability to quickly see everything they need to know about the applicants.

Publishing industry professionals can be found on LinkedIn too. So, there is merit for those editors who insist that they don't need a website because they have a LinkedIn profile. But I ask those editors to consider who their clients are before saying LinkedIn is all they need.

If their typical client is businesses, publishers, or other professionals, then okay, they might not need that website. But if they're aiming to work with indie authors who write genre fiction, LinkedIn might not be helping.

Did you know that to see a LinkedIn profile, you need to be logged in to LinkedIn? This means that you need a LinkedIn account. And not all indie authors have a LinkedIn account. So, if the only way to see your online presence is through LinkedIn…?

Let's just say that for those who got grumpy with me because I excluded them from my "pool of considerations" because they didn't have a website (but had a LinkedIn profile), I'm going to push right back and say that you're missing out on possible leads because a prospective client might not have a LinkedIn account.

The coaching element that is unique to me

For me specifically, there is another aspect to this no-website argument.

In my book Hidden Traps of the Internet, I tell writers that if there is only one thing they do to build that online presence, then it should be to build that website. And because I strongly believe that all writers seeking publication should have a website, then I need to have a website too.

I need to walk the talk… and so I do.

And if you're reading this blog post, you're reading it on my website!

For me, I'm building a team of professionals that I work with. And all of us understand the merit in what we're doing with our marketing and why we're doing it. We all have websites.

I'm not going to dispute the idea that I discounted some editors who might have indeed been very skilled at what they do simply because they didn't have a website. But when hiring freelancing professionals to help me with various tasks associated with my business, their websites are going to play a role in my decision-making process.

Need some guidance on building an online presence?

Are you needing some insights on building a manageable online presence? Are you confused about this whole website thing?

Well, in my book Hidden Traps of the Internet, you will find multiple chapters that talk about domain names, self-hosting vs free websites, and the components of a basic website. There are even some hints for freelancers on how to change the base content to be more attractive to our prospective clients.

And if you need that added help, you can always reach out to me for some one-on-one mentoring regarding the platform thing.