Like scandals and socialites, mechanics and checkbooks, runs and pantyhose, freelancers and editors just go together. OK. Maybe they’re not one of the first (or second or third) famous duos to come to mind but, for the most part, they rely on one another to create editorial magic for a world of readers, both online and in print.
At some point, a writer is going to run up against an editor who hops on her last nerve and dangles on it in American Gladiator-like fashion — but the agitation goes both ways. Betwixt the assigning of new stories and adjusting their serial comma-ed simple series for the umpteenth time, editors have their own list of likes and dislikes that can get you flooded with assignments or blackballed. In an effort to help you sell more (and irritate less), we asked several of them for their biggest pet peeves about freelance writers. Brace yourself.
1. They don__?t get the basics right.
Also on Mediabistro
There are some editors who have developed a reputation for being dragons of nitpickiness, and they have earned their rightful places in editorial infamy. There are others who just ask that their names be spelled right or, at the very least, the name of their publication is correct. So it understandably irks them when one or both of those faux pas are laid at their doorstep by freelancers expecting to get in their good graces — and get assigned a story. Fail and fail some more.
2. They get lazy.
Everyone makes a little oopsie now and then — heck, if they didn’t, editors would be out of jobs. Yet, getting sloppy by not proofing your work before submitting or tossing out 500 words when you know the column runs at 750 is not a good way to keep the assignments rolling in. Rebecca Dolgin, executive editor of XO Group Inc., which produces uber popular pubs like The Knot, The Nest and WeddingChannel.com, has two pet peeves that fall squarely under that category: “Not providing back up for their stories and forgetting to invoice,” she says. Getting repeat business from an editor means that, once upon a time, they liked your work. Mucking it up with laziness when you’re clearly capable of better is a surefire way to get added to an editor’s “do not call” list.
| “People should never mistake having a relationship with an editor for doing your due diligence when it comes to a pitch.” |
3. They pull the ol’ pitch-and-stalk.
Stalking doesn’t work well in relationships, and it won’t endear you to an editor, either. “I tell people how I communicate best, so do not do drive-bys at work. Freelancers think that because they sent a pitch, it’s an automatic ‘in’ like ‘I sent my pitch. I don’t understand why you haven’t responded,'” says Tanisha Sykes, senior editor of personal finance and careers at Essence, who’s actually had freelancers lure her downstairs by claiming to have a package for her just to find out the status of their pitch. (Cue screeching horror movie music.) That’s clearly not the way. “I have a lot of pitches that come across my desk. Maybe that particular one is just not a good pitch for us right now,” she says, adding, “I think people need to go back to mediabistro.com and really look at how editors want them to pitch.”
4. They miss deadlines and don’t give a heads up (or a damn).
You can get on an editor’s bad side faster than a Kardashian marriage can fail by not delivering a piece as promised. “Be honest,” says Michele Zipp, senior editor of The Stir, a blog on Cafemom.com, named one of the 50 best websites by TIME. She has a simple, not at all outlandish expectation of writers. “It’s okay if you can’t get to an assignment, but just be truthful about it and don__?t make up an excuse.”
The entire business of pumping out editorial content runs on production schedules, and the last thing editors want to do with their long hours is hunt down a story. It’s just another thing to schlep onto their to-do list and doesn’t make the individual at the other end of the story any more popular for it.
| “You can get on an editor’s bad side faster than a Kardashian marriage can fail by not delivering a piece as promised.” |
5. They waste everybody’s time with irrelevant pitches.
Hitting on the exact right formula that makes a pitch sing — and sell — takes research and perseverance and sometimes just lots of trial and error (emphasis on error). Editors hate it when the story ideas they get just flat out don’t have anything to do with their publication. Dolgin lists it as one of her top three irks about freelancers.
Just as bad, adds Sykes, are writers who think that previous experience with the mag precludes them from pitching. “If we’ve developed a good rapport, they think a one-sentence pitch is comprehensive,” and that’s not right, she says. “People should never mistake having a relationship with an editor for doing your due diligence when it comes to a pitch.”
6. They publicly bite the hand that feeds them (or, in this case, fed).
It’s amazing the many ways we can shoot ourselves in the foot in just 140 characters or less, and freelancers are far from immune to the impetuousness of social media. It__?s ever so easy to take to Twitter or Facebook and sock it to an editor who ripped your story to shreds or shot down your 50th pitch for the 50th time. But if it gets back to the editor at the end of the 140-character assault, you can kiss that gig and probably a dozen others buh-bye. (If you already hit ‘send,’ there are some graceful ways to recover from a public faux pas.) So, think before you Tweet, and respect the relationships you worked so hard to form. Knowing when to use “less than” and “fewer than” is cool, but your success as a freelancer also hinges on the intangible: likeability.
NEXT >> 7 Things They Don’t Tell You About Freelancing
Janelle Harris is a freelance writer in Washington, D.C. She documents her editorial adventures at www.thewriteordiechick.com.
Topics:
Mediabistro Archive