Ah, what a debt we owe this woman. She revealed the secrets of 21st-century plagiarism to us, yes, but she is also a vivid illustration of how unscrupulous clients take advantage of freelance editors and legitimate ghostwriters. We don't know how many freelancers she treated fairly, or how many verbal agreements she honored, because those don't go viral on social media or mentioned in the industry news. But she is the poster child for the importance of written agreements.
We use a "Letter of Agreement" instead of a complicated, hard-to-read contract written in legalese. A Letter of Agreement simply lays out the basic expectations and terms to which both of us will agree, without attempting to address every possible contingency. It also does so in plain language: if anything in your Letter of Agreement seems ambiguous or wrong to you, let's talk about it and come to an agreement on that point... hence the name, "Letter of Agreement." The version we sign is the final version. You and I agree to fulfill our responsibilities in the Agreement in good faith, and if a conflict arises that we cannot resolve between ourselves, it specifies that we will seek mediation before (or instead of) hauling one another into court.
Of course, if you have some weird aversion to mediation, that's fine, we can change that part too, as long as we can agree on the new terms. The point isn't to trick one another; the point is to have a simple, mutually satisfying agreement that we can look to for clarification and accountability in the future.
And yes, you're welcome to borrow the wording from our Letter of Agreement templates and adapt them for your own use. (You're welcome!)
This is our standard template for a Letter of Agreement for book authors. Click the image to download a sample .pdf if you want to look it over. Of course, the sample won't apply perfectly to your unique situation, but it does contain all our standard policies and gives you an idea of what to expect in your own Letter of Agreement. We will customize one for you during your initial consultation, or afterward in an email conversation with you.
This is our standard template for a Letter of Agreement for thesis and dissertation coaching & editing. Click the image to download a sample .pdf if you want to look it over. Of course, the sample won't apply perfectly to your particular situation, especially if you are doing something else besides a straightforward dissertation, but it introduces all our standard policies and gives you an idea of what to expect in your own Letter of Agreement. We will customize one for you during your initial consultation, or afterward in an email conversation with you.