How to Work with an Editor

It's a symbiotic relationship between freelance writers and magazine, online and newspaper editors. After all, you want to get your material in print (and maybe even get paid for it). They have tons of blank space (or cyberspace) to fill every day, week or month.As a freelancer and editor with 30 years under my belt, I have seen how to please an editor and how to drive one nuts. If you want to cultivate a good relationship with a handful of editors, do the following:

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Common sense
• Courtesy
• Dedication to serious writing
• Patience & determination

1. Send a query letter. No phone calls. Editors hate them. Send a query letter by snail mail or email, depending on their criteria.
2. Find out pay rate and terms in advance of your submission. If there is no pay or low pay, make sure you get a byline (and, if possible, a hyperlink or email address and bio).
3. Read the publication's editorial and submission guidelines. Make sure you are contacting the most appropriate publication for your article idea.
4. Learn how to write a great query letter. Any basic writing book will have samples. Remember, this query letter is your introduction and proposal for a project. If you claim to be a writer, make sure your query letter demonstrates that.
5. Only address one topic per query letter. If an editor asks for a list of topics, that's fine. Otherwise, the laundry-list query letter generally ends up in the trash.
6. Meet deadlines. Period.
7. Turn in typo-free copy. Proof your work and then proof it again. The biggest problem I see in submissions is copy that was a darn good first draft, but needed to be polished and checked at least one more time.
8. Ask for tear sheets and/or copies of the publication when it comes out. You will want these for your sample file.
9. Always write a "thank you" note after the item appears. It's one of those rare things that editors notice, and it only takes you a few minutes.
10. Never complain about what the editor did to your article. Editors have space requirements and have been known to butcher articles from time to time. If you complain, you can usually kiss that editor goodbye for future work.
11. If an editor is a jerk, move on. There are plenty of good ones.
12. Cultivate the long-term relationship. Editors love to have a stable of reliable writers they can call when the need arises. If you learn how to work with them and meet their needs, they will work with you and meet your needs.

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