how long to wait for a response

[AverageGary]

Sent 50,000+ word story to an editor first week in November. She responds she hopes to be back to me by end of the week.

Following week she writes she's working on it and will get back to me soon. I respond it's fine, life gets in the way.

Two weeks later I still haven't heard anything and send an email wishing a Happy Thanksgiving. No response. I see on her profile her birthday is a few days later, send an email wishing a Happy Birthday. No response.

Last week i send an email asking if there are any updates. No response.

Is it time to give up? Or should I still be patient?

 

[nikyc]

How long to wait, that's a tough question and I would imagine that it depends very much on the person you're working with. 50k+ words of anything would take more than a few hours to edit. With it being for free in combination with the restrictions of life, yeah I could see that taking longer than a while, even uptowards to a few weeks.

That said, some editors often take on more than they can chew, especially if they haven’t done much editing before. The lack of responses could be an indicator that this might be the case. It could also be that she’s just very busy. Since she’s not responding, you just can’t know, which gives you the option of waiting or finding someone else.

Personally I would say you’ve given her enough time to respond. A simple ‘working on it’ would suffice, but no communication at all is a bad sign whether she has abandoned you or not. It’s a nice thing when someone offers to edit your stuff for free, and as such I think it deserves the benefit of the doubt. However, in the end there’s only so much you can do.

I would say try to find a new one, and if she responds at a later stage just thank her for her time and move on. If she has done any edits and you end up using them, make sure to give her credit.

 

[sr71plt]

If an editor won't communicate it's time to move on, yes.

 

[LadyVer]

Sent 50,000+ word story to an editor first week in November. She responds she hopes to be back to me by end of the week.

Following week she writes she's working on it and will get back to me soon. I respond it's fine, life gets in the way.

Two weeks later I still haven't heard anything and send an email wishing a Happy Thanksgiving. No response. I see on her profile her birthday is a few days later, send an email wishing a Happy Birthday. No response.

Last week i send an email asking if there are any updates. No response.

Is it time to give up? Or should I still be patient?

You need to find a VE who will respond to all your communications. And yes, it's time to give up.