November 30, 2005
I decided I wouldn't really address fiction editors here because, well, I'm not entirely sure how to make them happy. Anybody really know, let me know.

But in terms of the nonfiction editors I work with regularly, I think I've got a few clues. They're pretty obvious, but like a lot of obvious things, not all writers are aware of this, so I'll lay it out for them.

1. Give 'em what they want. Editors are busy and they have deadlines that tend to be written in stone because of production schedules and advertising needs, which pay the bills. They also have bosses. So if you can give them story ideas that are what they need and want, you're making their life easier. This is hard. What seems to work well for me is if I'm off with a pitch that they turn down (at least if I've worked with them before), I e-mail back that I'll give it some more thought or more research and get back in a couple days. And then do.

2. Deadlines are sacred. I'm an editor. My CLIENT FROM HELL couldn't hit deadlines if their life depended on it. FUBAR, if you know what the acronym means. Drove me crazy. Drove the graphic artist even crazier, most likely. Cost everybody money because of the printing scheduling. Give your editor the materials on time, or even a little bit early. They'll appreciate it. Again, make your editor's life easier. If you can't hit the deadline, tell them so. [sidebar: be careful about getting things in too early. This causes 2 problems. One is that editors lose things, and two, if they have the time to work on your piece at their leisure, some (not all) editors will take that as a chance to tinker and tweak and make otherwise gratuitous changes just because they have time, which creates work for you.]

3. Go easy with re-writes. I've been essentially lucky in that my editors don't generally try to totally rewrite my pieces. Some consult me. Some don't. Usually I can see why the changes are made that are. Sometimes I don't. I usually just shrug and say, Whatever. I'm up to about invoice #122 so far this year, so I've written around 80 articles in 2005 and about 40 book reviews, plus a novel or two and edited 4 issues of one journal and one of another. Each one is not my baby, so I generally take changes and suggestions in stride. If they're way off base, I say so. If they're inaccurate (it's happened) or they've managed to incorporate some grammar or spelling errors in the process, I correct them--politely. If an editor turns out to be a monster in terms of corrections and changes, I tend not to pitch them anymore, figuring they really aren't looking for a writer, they think they can do it all themselves. Luckily, that rarely happens. Editors are too busy for it.

4. Keep it clean. Basic journalism, folks. Double-check your spelling and grammar. Double-check source names and make sure everybody's name is spelled right, including the companies, etc. Have I made mistakes with this? Of course. Not happily. Do your due diligence. Be professional. Sometimes shit happens, but at least you know you tried your best. Only god's perfect, but you can try to be.

5. Be polite. Be professional. It's a business relationship. You can expand personal boundaries a bit if you work with an editor regularly or you note that his or her personal style goes in that direction, but carefully filter the information you hand out. "Need to know" is a good approach.

Best,
Mark Terry