The staff members put in charge of the project took the first step, by advertising the job offering. After that, it was a disaster that has cost the hard-pressed Irish taxpayers nearly E100,000.
A cynic would say that the staff member who was supposed to review freelance submissions intended to hand the job off to a friend who needed work, because there's no evidence that anyone evaluated the writer who was hired. There's no evidence that anyone evaluated the three submissions that were rejected, either.
The money was spent and the book that was ultimately produced was found to be so riddled with errors that it had to be pulled.
On the surface, it's a black eye for freelance writers, a professional group of underpaid but highly skilled wordsmiths who understand the importance of getting it right. An expensive tome that turned out to be a complete waste of money reflects badly on those who research what they write, and then go back and check it all again.
You would think that a group of bureaucrats who deal with books and the written word all day would have a better understanding of how the freelance writing process works. Once again, the bureaucrats have proved us wrong.
It wasn't the writer's fault that the contract was flawed and the library board failed to oversee the project in any way. Even so, it's the freelancer who looks like the culprit in a scheme to defraud the National Library.
The library has learned its lesson and in future will have a clear contract in place before paying for freelance work. Little things, like deciding in advance how the book will be proof-read, must be settled before the next check is cut to a freelance writer.
And more than one person is going to doing the vetting. Just, you know, to keep things honest.
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