by Leo Wiles
19 February 2016
As a freelancer, chances are you have, at some point, settled into a super-comfortable relationship with an editor. They loved your copy, everything seemed to go through without a hitch, and the work was regular. Then – bang! Your contact moved on, someone new moved into the position, and all of a sudden you weren’t flavour of the month anymore. In fact, you were kinda out in the cold.
It sucks, and when it happens it’s easy to doubt yourself or your abilities – but there are actually many reasons why the new editor may not have a starry-eyed appreciation of your work. (For the record, let’s assume that it’s not because your copy’s sloppy / late / lacklustre… and that you didn’t sleep with their mother / brother / wife / husband / son etc.)
Sure, the last editor had time to dissect the nuances of Game of Thrones and thought that everything you wrote was gold, never changing a word (not even the sell). The new guy, however, won’t even answer your emails or return your calls. Before you start researching voodoo dolls online, take a breath. Perhaps the replacement has a different style, or is more focused right now on getting some runs on the board than taking time to reach out to freelancers they don’t know.
Bean counters are notorious for yanking away the freelance budget around the end of the fiscal year in June-July. Killed copy or articles that were forever in the ‘maybe’ pile are on the flat plan all of a sudden, and departments which have overspent in the past twelve months can find themselves writing a lot more in-house than they used to – all at the expense of freelance commissions.
Decades before I met my first snarky sub, my Great Aunt Lu (an old school teacher) used to return my childhood letters complete with red mark ups when she replied. Needless to say I HATED writing to her. It can be the same working with a neurotic editor. You know the one: you hand in the copy which has adhered to the brief only to be told that it’s nothing like they wanted and they can’t believe you would ask to be paid for it. On top of the bewilderment and hurt you feel at their slash and burn account, when you see it on the newsstand the feature has run as you originally wrote it! If you encounter this editor, be humble, make the changes and run away never to return. Because it’s not you – it’s them!
Being an editor is a manic task of filling a title or website with great copy that people keep returning to read. One of the ways to keep their job is to hire people they know will turn in sparkling copy – rather than risk spending money with someone who might not deliver. Which is why many editors bring in their own A-team of speed-dial standbys; often former colleagues they trust. It’s probably nothing personal, but you can’t compete with these long-standing relationships – and if you’re not in the inner circle it can be hard to break in. (We’ll cover how in an upcoming blog post.)
Nobody made it to an editorial position without putting in the hard yards. Constantly coming up with great ideas, commissioning them and delivering them may not be brain surgery, but it sure as hell makes for an intense 14-hour day. And nobody puts in that kind of energy without wanting to have something to show for their efforts. Often, in making a section or title their own, that can mean a freelancer’s copy is butchered or changed beyond recognition.
An editor in a new position – especially at a magazine with a less-than-healthy or rapidly-dropping circulation – is probably under intense pressure from the publisher and ad sales to get it right. And that might mean everything, especially all the content, is under extra scrutiny. Things are tweaked and rejigged according to new strategies or SEO principles. Or maybe the mag is heading in a new direction or targeting a slightly different readership – all of which may coincide with your perfectly fine (but not) copy hitting the editor’s desk.
Have you ever had a new editor give you a hard time – or freeze you out? We’d love to hear your experiences, especially if you managed to forge a new working relationship.
