5 Ways to Woo An Editor

Editors are invaluable liaisons between writers and audiences. To get from Point A (ideas) to Point B (readers), even the best writers need help coordinating logistics, maintaining a consistent voice, and safeguarding stories from typos. Editors are integral to the mechanics of great writing.

According to design and photojournalism specialist Sarah Dickenson Quinn, “Though editors’ voices are seldom heard and their names are unknown, their touch is everywhere.”  Quinn said that with eyes for “good work” and love for a “good story,” editors are the “last line of defense” between great ideas and demanding audiences.

The relationship is symbiotic. Editors need talented writers, and these same writers need happy editors to find, win, and keep work. Freelancers should follow these five best practices to keep the rapport as strong as possible:

Quality, proofed, and typo-free work

Last-minute writing will always appear rushed, so, freelancers should always set aside enough time to produce top-quality work, Quinn said, as accuracy and credibility are top priorities to editors.

An editor’s job is to proofread, but writers should do the same.  Polished work is invaluable to an editor who is reading blog posts from different freelancers all day, every day.

A strong client service ethic

Great work means more than great writing.

Writer and IT consultant Susan Harkins encourages writers to think of freelancing as a customer-driven business. In other words, happy clients and editors are a writer’s top priority.

She reminds writers to stay focused on the publishers needs and to constantly find opportunities to innovate and add value. On-time submissions, adherence to stylistic standards, and willingness to make revisions are necessary for achieving this goal. A strong client service attitude will inevitably lead to referrals and more gigs. At the end of the day, editors need freelancers who are consistent, flexible, and trustworthy.

Editorial intuition

In the blog post “10 (11) Ways to Tell Your Editor Hates You,” author, editor, and artist Adrien-Luc Sanders painted a satiricical portrait of editors as “mean, narrow-minded, ruthless people.” He cited examples of warning signs including pointing out errors, explaining proper usage of grammar, suggesting improvements, making writers do the work of implementing changes, and expecting that writing should mature with each story revision.

In actuality, the editor’s hope is that the freelancer will learn, adapt, and grow as a writer. Eventually, criticism will grow sparser as the writer’s judgment becomes stronger. When editors take the time to invest in their freelancers’ career development, writers should show mutual respect by striving to preempt their editors’ needs.  Intuition will keep this reciprocal support system strong.

Balanced and effective communication

“You may think you know what customers want. But what if you’re wrong?”,  Brad Sugars asked in an article about building positive customer relationships.

When facing questions, writers should take a lesson from Sugars and always consult their editors about ambiguous situations. That’s why editors are there in the first place. As author and Professor of Creative Writing Don Lee put it, “What most writers don’t realize or believe is that, on the whole, editors are on their side.”

Writers should keep communication balanced, however. A barrage of five-paragraph-long emails doesn’t benefit anyone. Editors need writers who can operate independently and use good judgment. To that end, emails should always be as focused and forward-thinking as possible.

A positive and visionary attitude

Writer Dan Smith blogged about dealing with negative feedback, an experience that even the best writers face. Responding to a client comment about typos and grammatical errors. “My first reaction was to be protective of my work and think that the feedback must have been wrong,” he said.

Then, he saw that the feedback was true.

Smith took a step back to embrace the feedback and improve the quality of his future writing, looking at why the errors happened. “Things have been particularly hectic,” he said.

Feedback —positive and negative — is always healthy. Writers should always take an editorial revision constructively and never personally. At the end of the day, editors aren’t trying to deliver insults. They’re taking a hammer and nails approach to meeting their bosses’ needs.

Image courtesy of Flickr, William Hook