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Topic: Keeping contact with contacts
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| Author | Message |
| clairezulkey | Posted – 9/15/2005 4:01:35 PM | show profile | email poster You've worked on an assignment or two with a certain editor and enjoyed the experience. However, because of time commitments or lack of constant pitch ideas, you don't send queries on a very regular basis. You do want to maintain your good contact, but you don't want to annoy the editor by sending too many non-assignment related communications. How do you professionally keep up relationships with editors who you don't talk to that often? ------ Editor of MBToolBox |
| clairezulkey | Posted – 9/16/2005 9:41:49 AM | show profile | email poster OK, so I want to hear what you guys do. Do you send occasional ''how are you doing'' emails? Do you call in to see if they need any help? Do you do nothing? ------ Editor of MBToolBox |
| lenagrove | Posted – 9/16/2005 10:09:49 AM | show profile Sometimes I will send editors I've worked with things that might interest them...things that don't involve my asking for work. For example, once I sent a really good editor I'd worked with a copy of James Kilpatrick's ''Writer's Art'' column. The headline was something like, ''One Great Editor Is Worth a Thousand Writers,'' or something to that effect. The piece made me think of him, so I sent it. I wasn't trying to suck up or anything; the article gave examples of editing that reminded me of some of the things this editor had done for my work. I learned a lot from him and really appreciated him. Or if I see a news article that would interest an editor I know, I'll email it just because I think they'd be interested in it. But that's only with people I'd worked with enough to know what interests them outside of their job. I guess I just treat editors I know somewhat well the same way I would anyone else. |
| brianvan0711 | Posted – 9/16/2005 10:10:28 AM | show profile | email poster This is a very general professional issue, in which pretty much everyone who works freelance or for-hire needs somehow to stay relevant to his/her client base... or for sales people, for the same reasons... or for anyone, because when you need to get out of a bad job (or bad apartment) it always helps to know people... The answer is that you figure it out as you go along. Like any type of relationship among peers, you'll know whether or not an editor wants to hear from you as you feel them out over time. Patience and understanding is very important. You'll build a rapport and find natural ways to keep in touch with editors who want to continue to hear from you. Alternately - and I'm sure this is the concern among many of you who find contact with editors intimidating, and rightly so - if someone's too busy or too self-important to keep in contact with you, then don't waste their time or your own with superfluous information. People who don't want to be contacted or cannot keep up communication shouldn't be contacted unless it's absolutely necessary. Send messages when you have something for them, and let their own inbox/organization/schedule/attitude be their problem. I'm not implying that editors are typically mean-spirited; they're really not, I assure you. As a freelance writer, as a staffer, and as a photographer, I know that even the nicest editors have so much stuff flying in front of them, work and personal, that it's easy to drop the ball with promising future opportunities. In that case, you're doing them no favors when you send something along that doesn't have practical value. You're better off putting the work into a relationship with someone who can actually get back to you and work with you. Collaboration is a two-way street. Even if you can pitch blindly, work in a vacuum and fax finished pieces over when necessary, it's so much better when you don't have to do that. |
| Ms_O | Posted – 9/16/2005 11:26:57 AM | show profile My editors are all in a different country to me (I'll be migrating there soon and I've started writing for them already), so I've started up a weekly newsletter of news from my country that's specific to the music genre of magazines, and also aims to be useful to editors. It includes news of magazine launches, music press headlines, interesting websites, etc. So far only one person has unsubscribed, and I've had some great feedback, including an offer of a column. Wily, but it works... and it's interesting for me to do, too. |
| lvanderkam | Posted – 9/16/2005 12:33:02 PM | show profile I guess the line between pushy and non-pushy networking is different for everybody. I heard a speech once from a freelancer who spent something like $1000 a year on editor gifts. Like, for Halloween right now, I'm sure she's got little black and orange gift bags with sweets in them. Then she'll mail or (probably more effective) drop them off in person. This is never something I would do -- I'm not a craftsy person or giftsy person, and it would come across as completely fawning and inappropriate. But it worked for her. |
| leftcoaster | Posted – 9/16/2005 12:55:25 PM | show profile I find the last post about editor's gifts interesting. In the corporate world, it's extremely common for vendors to send clients something at Christmas, like a gift basket, to basically thank them for the business they gave them during the year. Most often, they would come from agencies, but I also received them from individual freelancers. Is this something that's not common in the publishing world? |
| escribo_palabras | Posted – 9/16/2005 1:06:44 PM | show profile >>Is this something that's not common in the publishing world? I remember getting an occasional gift/bribe at the book publisher I worked at as an assistant and thinking, ''Oh, they're REALLY trying to get in good with us.... Mmm, these chocolates are good...'' |
| Lotus665 | Posted – 9/16/2005 1:40:14 PM | show profile I don't usually keep in touch unless it's to send a query pitch or inquire directly whether there is any work available. I figure clients/editors are busy and don't really want to hear from me in a non-assignment-related way. I feel very shy about it. If the client's organization is having some kind of event, I do try and attend and make a point of saying hi and chatting with my contact person. Even if it means a bit of travel (e.g. I live in Philadelphia and I will sometimes come to NYC for something...it's a must!). ------ Lotus665 |
| clairezulkey | Posted – 9/16/2005 3:27:21 PM | show profile | email poster Are there any editors here who have any preferences? Do you like to have your contributors keep in touch and remind you they exist or does it seem more like brown-nosing? ------ Editor of MBToolBox |
| Lotus665 | Posted – 9/16/2005 3:53:23 PM | show profile As a once and hopefully future editor, I don't need to be reminded that the good contributors still exist when we're not working together. They're in the Rolodex. If they have pitches, they can send 'em! If they want to send a Christmas card, that's nice gravy. But nothing more is necessary. To me, if a writer does good work and is reasonable to deal with, that is all that matters. Unless we have an outside-of-the-office friendship going, in which case calling just to say hi is nice. If someone has something important to let me know, such as a new phone number or they just got certified in some expertise that would make them a good go-to person for a story I might not have thought of them for earlier, I would appreciate being contacted. ------ Lotus665 |
| monicamarie4 | Posted – 9/16/2005 4:00:03 PM | show profile Ugh, I did not lke the story about the freelancer who spent so much on gifts for editors. That does not seem too classy to me. If it worked for her, more power to her, but I really find that sort of thing too obnoxious. I liked Brian's remarks about getting to know someone's style and following through in that way. Some people might appreciate a quick hi, how are you email, others are too busy and would be annoyed. For people you have written for more than two times, I think it is easier to gauge their response level to checking in via email or phone. If just writing for someone once or twice, I don't think I would check in unless I had a solid query to send along Or, if a recent issue blew me away, I might send a quick comment or two as to what article(s) I appreciated and a quick description of why. Nothing too long or complicated, just an honest compliment about the publication. |
| brianvan0711 | Posted – 9/17/2005 3:43:06 PM | show profile | email poster It's very true - everyone is different, and you should take the time to concentrate on that person's communication preferences, even for a second, so that when you communicate in the future everyone is most comfortable. Personal attention is about little things like this, and not about contrived ideas to do something in an automated way for an entire vague group of people (which is what I thought the little gifts represented - certainly not a bad gesture, but it's not very thoughtful or effective if it looks like something prepared and sent out in mass quantities). |
| shel | Posted – 9/19/2005 12:37:52 PM | show profile I'd rather get a pitch than a 'hey-how-are-ya' note. A pitch is always a good thing to receive; as long as it hits the target. Solid pitches help me move the train along. Loosey-goosey pitches, that are really topics and not story ideas, waste my time. As an editor, I will admit that those who pitch get assignments simpy because they are top of mind. Those who don't get left at the end of my list. I wish I had the time and organizational skills to evaluate each assignment and each writer and make a perfect match. I do not. |
| clairezulkey | Posted – 9/19/2005 5:38:00 PM | show profile | email poster Shel and other editors: would you say that the being in contact helps when you assign pieces to freelancers, or again is that based more on merit than familiarity? I think writers worry that we'll be forgotten sometimes... ------ Editor of MBToolBox |
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