Filling an Editor's Needs

by Mike Sedge

It all started, for me, in Ms. Parrett’s fourth-hour English class. I was then a handsome 17-year-old captain of the Kearsley High School wrestling team and, in all honesty, an average student. That is, with the exception of English, where I always seemed to excel.

Even then, I had a keen ability to focus on what others needed and, when it was to my advantage, took the appropriate steps to fulfill these requirements—two basic concepts of marketing. In the case of Ms. Parrett—who had moved to Michigan from California after a heated divorce—needs ran from someone to carry heavy bags to a sympathetic ear to listen to her woes of "I was in Los Angeles during the hippie movement and understand what today’s kids think."

While my friends called me a "brown nose," when grades were dished out my plate always seemed to contain a little more than the other average students. What I did not realize then is that I was building the foundation of what would eventually become a profitable marketing career. And, yes, I also learned enough about writing in that and subsequent classes to allow me to publish more than 2600 articles and several books, to date.

At that early age I was already applying the laws of marketing. Ms. Parrett had a need (help carrying bags, someone to listen). I was fulfilling this need (carrying the bags, listening). In exchange I was "paid" with an extra + if not an entire grade jump. Because of this, I was a labeled a "brown nose" by fellow students. Eighteen years later, Entrepreneur magazine would redefine this action, calling me a "marketing wizard."

Identify a Need
The first thing you must do to achieve marketing success is to step into the shoes of your customer, figuratively speaking. Daniel Goleman, author of the best-selling book, Working with Emotional Intelligence, suggests that individuals with high emotional intellect have a knack for listening and understanding oterhs' points of view. They also possess the ability, says Goleman, to utilize the knowledge and insight they gained from listening in order to get ahead or achieve, whereas many others might fail. You want to be among those individuals who succeed. By listening and understanding the needs of your clients, you will.

Whether you are trying to sell your writing abroad or domestically, you must always take the approach of "how can I help the editor" rather than "how can they help me?" Magazine editors have a number of pages to fill each month. Book editors must generate a certain number of projects each year. You, on the other hand, are there to fill these needs with your writing skill. This can also be carried over into numerous other areas. If you enjoy speaking, for example, you may find that local schools require an experienced writer/teacher, or perhaps a group needs someone to lecture. Opportunities for promoting your work and yourself are nearly endless.

For me, the "fill a need" concept is so important that I recently added the following catch line to my company stationery: "Our job is to make your job easier." This phase came about after an editor who had commissioned a $5000 job called to explain that due to editorial changes, a total rewrite would be required. She went on to say, in an apologetic tone, that according to the contract I was required to do this at no extra cost.

"Mary," I replied, "my job is to make your job easier. If a rewrite is needed, a rewrite you will get."

She was thrilled. Not only had I filled her existing need, but had removed the "bad guy" burden from her shoulders. In doing so, I had adhered to another of the six steps of marketing—customer service. I guaranteed that the writing fit her immediate need and insured that the customer was happy with the product. My reward? In addition to full payment for the article, I received two more assignments from this editor over the next five months, and more will probably come.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it. If it were always as easy as that, naturally, we would all be best-selling authors. It takes a great deal of under-cover work to successfully fill the needs of most editors—for there are times when even they do not know what they need or want. Even before you start, however, you must ask yourself: "What do I have to offer?" There may be times when your answer is "nothing"—and there is no shame in that. You must simply move on to other markets.

What have you to offer?
Let me give you an example. You are, let’s say, a travel writer and have had three articles published—two in local newspapers and one in a national magazine. You would almost sell your first-born son to see your byline in Travel and Leisure. You even have a friend who works as secretary to the managing editor. From her you’ve learned that during the next 13 months the only editorial need is for foreign-destination features, and they insist that writers have first-hand knowledge. Because a trip to Bali, Cairo, or Florence is not planned for your near future, you may be better off seeking markets with a wider opportunity, whereby you can fill an immediate need with your talents.

Another question that goes hand-in-hand with "what do I have to offer" is "who am I?" As strange as this may sound, rarely does one sit down and contemplate who he or she is and what he or she can provide an editor that no one else can. Have you ever done it?

Before you can successfully explore the needs of editors, and fill them, you first must know your strong and weak points—and now is the time to find out. Sit down with a pen and paper. At the top of the page write: Who am I? Halfway down the page write: What do I have to offer? Then begin to make your list.

Here is mine:

Who Am I?

Male

46 years old

American

Writer

Photographer

Married – two children

BA in History/Government

Living in Southern Italy

4 years in US Navy

Hobby: scuba diving, hiking

What do I have to offer?

Experience with US military.

First-hand insight into Italy

Cross-cultural marriage

Raising children in a foreign country

Photographs with my features

An American view of European issues

Diving off the coast of Italy

Hiking the Alps

Italian wines

The list could go on and on, but I think you’ve gotten the idea. Everyone—EVERYONE—has something to offer the right editor. When Newsweek’s special supplements editor, Mark Svenvold, was looking for someone to write a feature on Italian fashions, a fellow member of the International Food, Wine and Travel Writers Association suggested he contact me. Why? Not because I am an expert on Italian fashions—I know very little, in fact—but because I am 1) in Italy and 2) an American writer. In short, I filled the need with what I had to offer and who I was.

Based on your own listings you should see a pattern of where you might best focus your marketing efforts. Let’s say you’ve lived your entire life in Fort Worth, Texas. This instantly makes you, in the editor’s eyes, an expert on the city, the people, the history, the cowboy culture, even the rodeo and Billy Bob’s Texas! You have, in your own backyard, hundreds of article and book ideas waiting to be discovered, explored, and written.

Just as I did not tell Mark Svenvold that I knew little about Italian fashions, there is no need for you to explain to an editor that you’ve never ridden a horse. Nor must you reveal that your only rodeo experience is what your Daddy used to watch on TV, and that while your girlfriends were at Billy Bob’s looking for future husbands, you were getting a Ph.D. at Texas Tech. Selectively revealing what you tell editors is merely another aspect of marketing—sort of like the television ads telling you that the price has been slashed 20%, without saying that the new bottle design also holds 20% less product.

I believe that a good, professional writer can write about anything. Therefore, when an editor offers me a job—whether it be Italian fashions, underwater archaeology, protecting NATO’s Southern Flank, or how to become a Latin Lover (yes, I did write that)—I rarely, if ever, say no. My research and interview skills are sufficient enough for me to put together an editorial package that is rarely refused. So should yours.

-- MS
©2000 Michael Sedge