Fellow editors, I have a question for you.

What do you do when a client decides to ghost you?

You all probably know what I mean. In the professional sense, ghosting refers to not returning your emails or calls, being silent when you make attempts to communicate, and vanishing from your life.

First and foremost, do not be insulted. Clients ghost editors for many reasons.

One reason might be embarrassment on the client’s part. I have heard of scenarios where the client takes quite a while to pay. When the editor sends a friendly reminder via email, the client pays and the editor communicates their gratitude and says they would love to edit more work for the client. The client says nothing. Months later, the editor sends a simple “Hi! How are you doing?” email containing nothing about soliciting work. Again, crickets.

In this case, the client might be embarrassed that they took a while to pay and might be avoiding the editor because they associate the editor with their mistake. Or perhaps the client thinks the editor was being pushy. Sending a polite, friendly email reminding a client to pay is not being pushy, and any client who thinks it is pushy is someone with whom it is risky to work.

Another reason may be that the client is just very busy and, whether the editor likes it or not, having their work edited is not at the front of the client’s mind. This is neither the editor’s nor the client’s fault.

Whatever the reason, the editor needs to know what to do.

Do not contact the client any more frequently than every six months—maybe even once a year. Any more than that and you will be classified as a pain in the fanny. Please think about companies that send spam to your email or make junk calls to your phone. You don’t want to be like them.

If you have contacted the client three times and are still not hearing anything from them, it is time to cut bait. You have done all you can. Leave their name and contact information on your client spreadsheet (you do have a list of all your current and former clients on a spreadsheet, right?) but make a note saying they have ghosted you and include the date of your last contact with them, even if it was years ago.

If you are an editor and have been ghosted, what was your way of dealing with it?