Professional Services

The Marketplace is a service facilitated by the ACT Writers Centre, where we connect writing professionals with paid work. When a submission is provided to the Centre, the following process is followed:

• the Office Manager reads the submission and identifies a suitable writing professional for the job, in consultation with the Centre Director;
• the Office Manager approaches the selected writing professional with the details of the project, including any relevant documents, and a request for a quote; and
• the writing professional’s quote is passed on to the submitter, with the ACT Writers Centre’s commission and GST added.

If the quote is not satisfactory or the person approached is unavailable, the above process is repeated.

Once a quote has been accepted, the submitter is asked to pay at least 50% of the quote to the ACT Writers Centre before work is started. Once this has been paid, the job will start and contact details of the writing professional may be shared with the submitter (with permission). The quote must be paid in full before final materials are provided to the submitter.

For several of The Marketplace’s services, we ask submitters to provide copies of their writing. In particular, for our Editing services we require submitters to upload a full copy of their manuscript to receive a quote. This is because a writing professional cannot give an accurate estimate of the amount of work involved in editing a manuscript without seeing the quality of the entire manuscript.

However, we understand that many writers are cautious about who will see their work. We would like to provide reassurance that the only people who will be provided with a copy of the manuscript are staff of the ACT Writers Centre and the selected writing professionals, as outlined above under ‘About Our Practices’.

It is very rare for a creator’s copyright of their work to be challenged. However, there are some steps writers can take towards protecting their copyright – the Australian Copyright Council has a fact sheet on protecting copyright here.

• This service is only available to members. If you are not a member, please join prior to submitting a Marketplace request.
• Quotes require no obligation on the part of the submitter.
• Quotes are set by the writing professional. The ACT Writers Centre adds a small commission and GST.
• Work will not be started until 50% of payment has been received. Final materials will not be delivered until 100% of payment has been received.
• All writing professionals are covered by the ACT Writers Centre’s public liability insurance for any work engaged in through this service.
• All communication between the writing professional and the submitter will happen via the Writers Centre until the quote has been accepted. Contact details will not be shared without express permission.
• Manuscripts submitted must meet formatting requirements, as outlined in the relevant form guidelines. If your manuscript does not meet formatting requirements, you will be asked to resubmit.

The Marketplace is an opportunity for writing professionals to engage with new clients and receive paid work opportunities. There is no cost to join, but approval is not guaranteed. If you would like to apply to join The Marketplace, please fill in the form at this link

Please note that our Manuscript Assessment and Mentorship services have set rates. Information about these rates will be sent to you upon acceptance of your application, and are also available via request to admin@actwriters.org.au. You will be able to set your own rates for all other services.

All applications for membership of The Marketplace are considered by the Centre Director, and approval is not guaranteed.