Have you ever thought that editor should appear in your thesaurus (http://www.m-w.com/home.htm)
under devil somewhere between Beelzebub and fiend? I felt that way
until I become one…an editor, that is.
My job, like every editor's job, was to acquire, repair and publish
manuscripts. Although I had only 50 manuscripts to edit and enjoyed
a flexible deadline, the less tutoring and rework I had to do the
greater the odds were that that author's work would be published in
the anthology. (Write "Travel anthology" in the subject line of an
email to b2fowl@aol.com for your free copy.)
Generally, manuscripts submitted to me were interesting and
demonstrated an understanding of the basic principles of
composition. Deviations from standard practice, however, made "me
want to cry and run away," as Simon & Schuster's (http://www.simonsays.com)
Rebecca Saletan put it. I developed sympathy for editors who hadn't
thought that my submissions were brilliant. Maybe, just maybe, the
editors were right.
Follow these tips to boost the chances of editors reading your
queries and manuscripts through tears of gratitude (not despair).
Write their way: Is it colour or color, Dr. or Dr, truck or lorry?
Starting with your query and ending with your thank you note to the
editor, use the publication's preferred spellings, punctuation and
vocabulary. Some style preferences are covered in submission
guidelines, but basics that citizen writers are assumed to know
won't be. Find American and British spellings at
http://www.planetware.com/briteqiv.htm. Lingo varies even inside
boundaries. For example, within the USA, regional names for a huge
sandwich include hero, hoagie, grinder and sub (short for submarine,
which the oblong concoction resembles).
Convert consistently: While serving as editor for the anthology, I
received manuscripts marred with inconsistent measurement systems.
Feet mingled with meters (and metres), Fahrenheit kept company with
Celsius, and miles traveled with kilometers. Successful freelancers
use the system the publication uses and are consistent within the
body of one work.
Use a chart for quick conversions. Find currency and measurement
converters on line (http://www.convertit.com/Go/ConvertIt)
or install a converter onto your word processor's desktop. If you
calculate conversions yourself, triple-check the answers. Some
publishers with international readerships include two measurements
in their articles and books, as in "The 20-mile (32-km) trail
follows the southern ridge." (Actually, 20 miles equals 32.18688
kilometers, but who wants to read that?)
Be Worldly: I once read a query promoting an area of India as an
ideal tourist destination …never mind that two so-called religious
factions were killing each other's devotees. Worldly freelancers
demonstrate global awareness and intercultural sensitivity. Being
worldly means not sending pork recipes to a publication with a
Muslim audience, not using nicknames (Yank, Jap, wetback), and it
means deleting stereotypes and clichés. Lazy journalists use phrases
such as "brash Americans", "inscrutable Chinese" and "friendly
natives." Being worldly means banishing dogmas, romanticized images
and prejudices. Read articles about cultural customs at
http://www.executiveplanet.com.
Write the truth: The editor of a travel publication spoke with
hundreds of magazine and newspaper editors about what they look for
in articles. They were unanimous about accuracy. "We are unhappy
with writers who get their facts wrong," the editors concurred.
No writer purposely slips up, but slip-ups happen. Don't assume that
a "fact" in magazines, newspapers and on TV is entirely accurate.
Myths have lives of their own and get repeated. One such myth
purports that The Great Wall of China is visible from outer space.
In fact, Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar
onboard the space shuttle Endeavor acquired images of The Wall.
That's not like peering with your naked eyeballs through the
spaceship porthole and seeing a wall down there, is it? Visit
http://www.urbanlegends.com
for a roundup of fairytales caught masquerading as facts.
Re-verify facts with interviewed subjects, check multiple sources
and unbiased sources, proofread your final draft against your
original notes and references, and ask a sharp-eyed, skeptical,
detail-oriented reader to review your manuscript. Check on-line
reference resources such as
http://www.refdesk.com.
Write the right editor: You live in Germany. You want to sell an
entertaining, informative feature about custom-made shoes to
Gentleman's Quarterly. A query addressed generically to "Dear
Editor" screams "Amateur!" So you flip GQ open and see 28 editors
listed. Six handle fashion. One is the "European Editor." To which
editor should you pitch your idea? Aim for editor-in-chief, and you
risk miffing this VIP who'd delegated portions of his editorial load
for a reason, and you risk snubbing the fashion editor and the
European editor.
Contact the magazine and ask to whom to address your query. Staff
members might have turned over from the time the magazine was
published, so verifying the recipient is wise in any case. It's not
unusual to communicate with one editor and later with another one.
If you send something to the managing editor and an assistant editor
replies, continue communications at that level.
Different editors become involved with an author's work during
different phases of the project. After the lead editor is satisfied
with a piece, a copy editor combs the manuscript for grammar,
punctuation, capitalization, abbreviations and other elements of
house style, but not content. Copy editors consult authors,
especially in longer works with a strong authorial voice. Finally,
the author and a proofreader check galley proofs. Changes are
minimal at this phase. Proofreaders check that the set galley is
exactly like the edited manuscript. Errors in spacing, format,
hyphenation, spelling, grammar and fact are marked. Knowledge of
standard proofreader's symbols and abbreviations found at
http://www.m-w.com/mw/table/proofrea.htm facilitate your role in
this phase.
Editors working under rigid deadlines with mountains of manuscripts
decide: Is this writing "good?" Is publishing it a sound commercial
investment? Writers get 10 seconds or less to provide the answers to
those two crucial questions. May your works get a "yes" and a "yes."
Let some other poor devil's manuscript decompose in the slush pile.
Don't miss our free weekly email newsletter for freelance writers. Subscribe
today and we'll send you a free report of 25 Writing Markets That Pay 20
Cents Per Word.
TESTIMONIAL -"Thank you for making this valuable service available. I
count on organizations like yours to keep my daughter in new
shoes. As a writer and publicist for the past 20 years, I
can honestly say that Worldwide Freelance Writer is a
much-needed resource for the serious freelancer. Thanks for
your integrity and commitment." -
Connie
Werner Reichert
