It’s Not Just Freelancers: Editors Have Frustrating Habits Too

It’s only fair. Back in November, we whipped up a collection of things that freelancers do to wrinkle the brows and prematurely gray the locks of their dutiful editors. After that revealing piece, we who labor on the other side of the assignments now understand a little bit better the do’s and don’ts of endearing ourselves to those on the mastheads.

But oh no, lovely editors, you don’t get off that easy. Because there’s a list of gripes and grievances freelancers have about you, as well, that, if addressed, could take working relationships to almost warm and fuzzy heights. And, if it doesn’t get quite that friendly, at least we’ll all be able to read our emails without rolling our eyes when certain names pop up. Here’s what bugs writers about their editors:

1. They go M.I.A.

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It’s like an editorial one-night stand: Writer meets editor. Editor initially responds to writer, then falls off face of Earth. Writer spends valuable time chasing editor, wondering what happened. Whether it’s acknowledging a pitch, answering a question or confirming receipt of a submission, freelancers want responsiveness from our assignment-making colleagues.

“We know that editors are incredibly busy, but take the time to let freelancers know that you got their stuff,” suggests Apryl Motley, a Maryland-based communications consultant who specializes in association publications. “When we don’t hear from you, we figure it’s a done deal, and we’re on to the next assignment. Then, you email us all out of the blue with queries and requests for additional copy.” Which leads us to…

2. They can be laissez-faire with writers’ time.

Editors are in the sometimes precarious position of playing middle man between the writers who craft the stories and the higher-ups who institute a whole litany of behind-the-scenes expectations. So sometimes, in their job juggling, they can lose track of time — and pass that needs-to-be-done-in-the-eleventh-hour urgency on to their freelancers. Freelancer Lindsy Van Gelder ain’t feeling that. “Ideally, I would hand in a piece and the editor would give me a heads up of when it’s likely to be edited so I can make sure I have a day or two free if changes are needed, but this rarely happens,” says the veteran journalist, who’s penned pieces for highbrow outlets like The New York Times, Allure and O.

“I did a rush job for a magazine a few months ago, turning down other work to make my deadline. The editor then sat on my article for nearly two months and only got it back to me when I was booked for several weeks running with other projects.” There’s an old saying that can usually be spotted on signs around the desks of badgered secretaries, but it seems pretty appropriate here: A lack of planning on one part should not constitute an emergency on the other.

Meanwhile, another time related pet peeve Gelder has, she says, is what she calls “the idiocy of payment-per-word. I don’t think it takes greater talent to write a 3,000-word story than a 1,500-word story. If anything,” she says, “I’ve found economy of language a rarer skill among writers than diarrhea mouth. And of course, some stories require a lot more interviewing and research than others. What editors should be paying writers for,” she concludes, “is our time.” Cha-ching.

3. They expect freelancers to be too hands-on.

We pitch the stories, we write the stories, we proof the stories, and we pass them off. We may be able to round up some 300 dpi images to accompany our submissions. That__?s pretty much the extent of our part in an article’s editorial life cycle. Beyond that, things start getting very complicated.

“It’s not unreasonable to ask us to request photos or other artwork that might run with a story. However,” says Motley, who regularly contributes to blurb, the official blog of Association Media & Publishing, “once we’ve done that, it’s better for everyone involved — especially the frustrated art director or graphic designer — if we step out of the process and let editors work directly with the sources to get what’s needed.” Being the go-between for spec-heavy companion art can be time consuming and onerous for someone with only, like, the kindergarten basics about that part of the publication world.

4. They don’t grasp the frustration of chasing checks.

Payment for a submitted piece has gone into that check-sucking abyss in the great unknown. Perhaps an invoice wasn’t passed on to accounting, or it got lost in the shuffle once it got there. Whatever the discrepancy, our light bills and car notes hang in the balance until we’re able to get that crisp paper in the center of our hot little hands, and sometimes the editors who are living in the sweet oblivion of regular, biweekly salaries are less than empathetic about the urgency. They can get a little put out playing mediating between the folks who issue the payments and the anxious others waiting to receive them. But being a diligent gatekeeper keeps us happy, working and fed. And really, that’s all we ask.

NEXT >> 6 Things Freelance Writers Do That Drive Editors Nuts

Janelle Harris is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C. She documents her editorial adventures at www.thewriteordiechick.com.