How to Work with Magazine Editors

by Leslie Ellenbogen Vogel

A large part of enjoying a successful newspaper and magazine writing career is learning how to satisfy your editors. Below are some useful tips gathered from seasoned editors along with a few personal anecdotes that may assist you in this effort.

1. Establish Open Communication with Your Editor

Whether you are a freelancer or a full-time employed writer, this is probably the most critical point, because it can help in everything you do --both the interviewing and the writing. Get into the habit of talking stories out as much as possible.

Never be ashamed to ask questions. It saves you tons of embarrassment later, not to mention the anger of your editor. Make sure you understand exactly what the editor wants. If you are sent to cover a story on a topic of which you are not very clear, ask the editor. Do research. Ask the expert in the area. Keep asking until you are secure in your knowledge.

In other words, if your editor assigns you a story about horticulture and you have a brown thumb, ask questions.

2. Work on your form

Make sure your story is well organized and doesn't skip all over the place. Take extra care with your lead paragraph and with the kicker, or last paragraph.

The lead should draw the reader into the story. Try to make it clever, but concise. Unless it is a pure news story, it does not have to include the five W's (who, what, where, when and why).

The kicker concludes your story in a neat way rather than leaving it hanging. It could be a quote that summarizes your story or something of that sort.

3. Check your facts and check your spelling

It is a major faux pas to misspell the names of people and places within your story. Always double or triple check with those you interview.

If addresses, phone numbers, or websites are to be included try to visit (or look up) the address, call the phone number, or click on the web address to make are they are accurate. Publications hate printing corrections for dumb, unnecessary mistakes; therefore, your editor will not be pleased with you.

If you are given number figures, check them to make sure they add up. For example: "We collected a total of $11,000. The boys received $8,000 in donations and the girls received $2,000." When you add those figures, the total is $10,000. The source could just be mistaken in the total numbers or could be trying to "pull a fast one." Your editor will want you to check the numbers before filing your story.

4. Establish time frames and hours of availability

When assigned an article, find out when your deadlines are scheduled. If you think that they are not practical or they are unrealistic, discuss this with your editor beforehand.

If, along the way, you find out that contacting the proper source or verifying vital information will take longer than originally expected, alert your editor as soon as possible. It is far better to contact your editor earlier if a problem arises than to wait until you have passed your deadline.

Freelance writers face some special circumstances when establishing relationships with editors. One of the most important elements is informing the editors when the writer is available. Let them know the days and the hours you can be counted upon to cover stories or to go over already filed articles. If you have a special appointment, let the editor know.

Of course, there will be those times when the editor is facing an impending deadline and must speak with writer of a piece. It happened to me. Two years ago, my cell phone rang as I was about to be examined in my doctor's office. At the same moment, the physician entered the room. I glanced quickly at my phone and Caller I.D. showed it was one my editors. I was faced with a dilemma: push "send" or slide down into the stirrups. Since I had previously e-mailed my schedule to this editor, I slid.

5. Don't take it personally

It is an editor's job to correct and critique. If they wish to move a paragraph or delete one, do not take it as a personal attack on your writing ability. Sometimes it is simply a matter of available space. Or perhaps the editor believes the focus of the story is better expressed within a paragraph you have placed less prominently within the piece.

As a writer whose name appears in the byline, you want the article to reflect your best writing possible. That is what the editor aims for as well.

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Why are these five tips important? A better relationship with an editor means better work, better writing and better assignments. Ideally, the more you learn from an editor, the better your stories will be. The writer who gives what the editor requests is the one who will be selected for the best assignments.

Special thanks to Carol Jertson, editor Hometown Herald and Melina DeRose, editor South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Leslie Ellenbogen Vogel is a forty-something wife, mother, former teacher and freelance writer/editor. She has had articles published in In Focus Magazine, composes feature stories for the Community sections of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, creates articles for Bridges.com and writes a weekly “New Business” column for the Hometown Herald (part of the Broward County edition of The Miami Herald). Recently, she was nominated for a Quiet Storm Women in Media Award.