I am here to help answer your freelancing questions, or at least help ask people who might know.

Do many editors Google their prospective writers or freelancers, regardless of whether candidates submit clips with their emails and resume? For instance, let's say an editor at Jane gets a great pitch from a writer who's not on staff. They love the pitch and plan to use it. But then the author Googles the freelancer and finds just wretchedly written stories on an old 'zine or something. So do editors ever Google a writer even if she provides clips? Does the bad writing from years ago make a difference to an editor? Because I think a lot of young writers that started out on the web have a stash of Journalism 101 class websites, with amateur writers and designers. It seems that sometimes those kinds of articles come back to haunt you. Especially if someone Googles just your name and the first link that comes up was something you wrote before you knew the journalism basics. So should writers hound former webmasters an demand they take down the old stories? Or do you just hope they don't Google you before the interview?

I thought this was a really good question so I asked a few editors and freelancers. My original gut reaction was that you shouldn't worry about it, as long as you have sent the editor your newest and brightest clips. Everybody starts out somewhere and I doubt that editors are going to purposefully look for your earlier work. But don't take my word for it...

"I actually don't generally Google freelancers," says an editor at a bridal magazine in New York. "The exception to this is when I've gotten a pitch from someone who seems sketchy, or I'm checking out someone who's reputation may be suspect and I want more info. If I find old, bad writing, that could be the writer's fault, or it could be a case of bad editing. If I like the writer's clips and their vibe on the phone, I won't hold their scary college poetry against them."

"However," the editor continues, "I do Google a lot when fact-checking. And in more than one instance, while Googling a writer's story, I've run across a story they've done for someone else that is frightenly similar, which is a definite no-no. Self-plagarism would definitely keep me from reusing someone, and with the internet it's much easier to track down." (So ideally don't self-copy, but if you feel like an editor might not understand that you feel you took two distinct spins on the same topic, you might ask a webmaster about taking down the older version."

"I've had pieces that I've written that I had taken off various websites because I wasn't happy with them. In the end, a piece on a small 'zine can have a higher position on Google than a piece on a better-known site. Also keep in mind that print magazines don't always link to the web. You could have a piece in Esquire that's fantastic, but no one will ever see it. They will see, however, that piece you wrote on blow-jobs when you were twenty-one," says one very well-published freelance writer in New York. "I think editors do Google potential writers, but the clips are more important. To compare it to dating, it might be like looking at a potential date's high school photo, rather than at a more recent photo."

(Re: the hard copy magazine articles, if you have a website that links to your articles and are capable of making decent pdfs, by all means, scan them and link them to your site. They might not rise to the top of a Google search of your name but at least they are available online then.)

So you probably shouldn't worry too much if there are less-sparkling examples online, but be sensitive that every editor might not share your sensibilities. "I had some links related to some political activities of mine (specifically Operation Ohio)," says a freelancer here in Chicago, "and no one said anything negative about that - a few editors even commented favorably. But then, I'm not pitching the National Review or the Reader's Digest!"

If you've got a question, don't ask an expert: ask me! I know SEVERAL experts. Utilize that email or anonymous tip or AIM thingie.