How to Stand Out and WOW Your Editor

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Hey.

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Hey, and welcome to the Writing Momentum Podcast.

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I'm Christopher Maselli, and I'm here with my wife Gena.

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How's it going, Gena?

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It's going good.

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I'm glad to be here.

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Yeah.

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All right let's go.

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We're gonna talk about how to stand out and wow your editor.

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It can be a challenge to feel like, Hey, how can I make sure that I don't

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lose a regular gig with this editor.

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And the best way to make sure you keep that gig is to really

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make yourself stand out among other writers to really wow them.

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And this is something that I think is a bit of a it's a, it's an art, isn't it?

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I think it is.

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And I think, first of all, I wanna define what kind of editors are we talking about?

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We're really talking about if you have an editor who has hired you to do a marketing

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piece, Or to write some emails, to write.

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What about a magazine article?

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Magazine articles.

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Those are the, any kind of editor that has hired you to do a job for them.

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That's the person that we're talking about.

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So this covers, I wanna clarify that because this covers a lot of

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different types of writing here.

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It sure does.

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It could even cover book writing.

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And, if you're writing for an editor and you have one book that you're

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giving to them, you wanna make that experience as positive as possible,

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because quite often they want to do more than one book with you, right?

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They're looking for writers that are good to work with and by presenting

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yourself as someone who's professional and can really stand out using some

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of the things we're gonna talk about today, you can be that go-to person for

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that editor and that's a key component of making this into a writing career.

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Yes.

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And we are talking, in the capacity that Chris is talking about here that

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is talking about traditional publishing, but even if you've got an editor that

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you have hired you want to, some of what we're talking about today is going to

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help you in that relationship because again, if you find a really good editor,

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you want to be someone that person wants to work with, even if they have hired you

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or that you're, even if you have hired them, you want to make sure that you keep

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that communication open and that it's a positive experience so that they'll wanna

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work with you on your next book as well.

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Yeah and typically like any of us, if we enjoy something, if we

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enjoy working with someone, we'll probably do a better job, right?

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Because we're gonna be more aware of what we're doing, and so that

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definitely means that this matters no matter how you're doing it.

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So yeah.

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So let's jump into this.

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Let's jump in.

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And just talk about how we can stand out.

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What's the first way that you would say above all else, that you

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can stand out and wow an editor?

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The, this is so simple, you guys, but here it is.

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Make your deadlines.

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If you say you are going to have something to an editor, on a

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certain date, you get it there.

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Now we all have things that come up.

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In fact, I'm saying this, and even last week, I missed a deadline by a day,

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and I was very apologetic to my editor to say I didn't get that in on time.

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I'll have it there first thing tomorrow.

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And oh yeah, by the way, here's the next thing that's not due for a couple of days.

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I really try to go the extra mile to make sure and really we say extra mile.

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I'm saying that, but that's not even the truth.

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That's the bare minimum of what you're doing.

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If you make your deadlines, you'll be doing the bare minimum that

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actually will make you stand out because there's a lot of writers

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that never make their deadlines.

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And I too, I am challenged sometimes with making deadlines because I'm very busy,

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but I know after working with editors, which ones have built in extra time for

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my writing, that they, I know they're asking for it a little early, but I

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still go back to them and I'll say, Hey, can I have a few more days with this?

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And then I know that when they receive it, it's gonna be extremely clean.

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It's gonna be just what they're looking for.

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Because I've worked with those editors before.

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I would probably hardly ever write to an editor that I'd not worked with before

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and just ask for extra time, right?

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Because that's starting off on the wrong foot.

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Usually it's gonna be someone that I have a relationship with that I might

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say, Hey, can I have a little extra time?

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And they don't care at that point because they know that what they receive

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from me is gonna be good, that it's gonna be what they're looking for.

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So there is a definite dance there.

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Yes, and I would also say that as you've built up that equity with that editor

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from past experience, they're more forgiving because they know that's not

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the way you just normally do business.

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That's right.

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They know that they can count on you, and that this is an exception.

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The other thing I would say on that is if you need an extension, make

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sure you give your editor as much time as possible if you know you're not

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gonna make your deadline on Friday.

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And you know that on Monday or Tuesday, then go ahead and let them know because

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you know it's that expectation thing.

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If your editor is sitting there on Friday morning, or Friday at five o'clock and

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they're looking for your piece to be there and it doesn't show up and instead they

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get an email that's says, or a text says.

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Can I have more time?

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Says, oh yeah, I need more time.

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That's not gonna land as softly as it would have if they had received

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that request on Monday or Tuesday.

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If you said, you know what, I'm running a little bit late.

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Can I have the weekend?

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I'll have it to you first thing Monday morning.

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In fact, when you log in, it's gonna be there and then you do it.

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And here's just a little pro tip for those of you who are keeping score.

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When you are setting your deadlines up with an editor, if they ask for a piece

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to be turned in on Friday by 5:00 PM at that point, ask them if you can have

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it in on Monday at 8:00 AM instead.

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Because here's the thing, to them, it's the same.

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They're going home on Friday at 5:00 PM and they're not going to look at their

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computer again till Monday at 8:00 AM.

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So it's the same deadline essentially for them, but it builds

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in an extra couple days for you.

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So I always try to make sure that I have my deadline is 8:00 AM the next morning

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instead of 5:00 PM in an evening, because that just builds in a little extra time if

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you need it, and it softens it a little.

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All right.

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The next thing you want to do, and this goes along a little bit with that last one

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we just talked about, is you want to learn the style guide and formatting preferences

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of any place that you're writing for.

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You want to know how they write their articles, how they format their

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articles, what they're looking for in a piece that comes in, because if you

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can turn in something that it looks exactly like what they're looking for,

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where they don't have to clean up even just the formatting of the manuscript.

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Because you know that, oh, at the bottom of the manuscript, they want

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three quotes pulled out, for instance.

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That will set you apart.

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You are saving that editor time and they are going to love you for it, aren't they?

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They are.

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And I would even go a step further with that.

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On that note, let me just say first we have editors, I have editors that I've

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worked with who really don't care about say the type of font that I submit.

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In fact, when I receive things from one editor, it could be Helvetica,

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it could be Arial, it could be Calibri, it could be whatever.

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So that tells me that editor doesn't really care.

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We have other editors that are old school.

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And they want it Times New Roman 12 point font.

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They want it

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one inch margins.

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One inch margins.

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They want it double spaced.

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They don't, they, you don't play around with it.

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They want it.

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So that is such a simple way to communicate that you are a professional.

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By turning it in the way that they expect it.

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That's just one of those subconscious things that will communicate

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your professionalism to them.

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That you're someone who can be trusted.

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Yeah, and you can ask them for that.

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You can ask them if they have a style guide, ask them if they can

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send you a previous article that they might have in a Word document.

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And when you do that, you'll see how they ended up formatting it cuz they'll

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send you one through that's been through what's called final copy, right?

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It's been through that final stage before it goes to be laid out and for print.

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And when you have that, you're then able to start your document where

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they ended with their last final copy.

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And that really, really helps.

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I love doing that.

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Yeah.

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And if you, if the, if you don't have that, then better to default

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to those old school preferences.

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And more than anything, make sure that every time you turn a

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document in, it looks the same.

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Don't one article use Times New Roman and the next one, use Arial.

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Make them always look the same.

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Gena and I for Writing Momentum, we have certain layouts and even colors.

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Sometimes like the headings, sometimes we'll put in a slightly different

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color, like a dark blue instead of a black, because that's just

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something we've established over time.

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We've found that it makes editors, that makes it easier for them to read it.

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And they know when they get a document from us, it's going to look like that.

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And so automatically, without even knowing who it's from, they can

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look at a document and know, Hey, that came from writing momentum.

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That came from Chris and Gena.

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And by establishing yourself like that, it really, it sets you apart.

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I would also - talk about articles.

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I had a situation one time where I had written an article, I'd been hired

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to write an article for a magazine.

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And I wrote the article.

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One way.

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I wrote it more like a feature.

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And when I sent it in, the editor responded to me and said, we really like

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to have points that people can follow.

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Steps that people can take.

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And so that was a clue to me that they wanted a how-to article.

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They wanted something that was like, step one, do this, step

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two, do this, step three, do this.

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And so I was able to change that article from a feature into that how-to format.

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But it also clued me in that every time I write for that magazine, I

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need to write it in how-to format.

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Also looking at the way that you format your how you construct your

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articles or your blogs or whatever.

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You need to look at what they do in the past and that's when it is so

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helpful to go ahead and get their magazine and or look at their website

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or whatever, and really look at how are they writing their pieces?

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And sometimes that depends on the editor.

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Sometimes you get an editor and you may work with a couple different

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editors at a company and one editor really wants it one style and another

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one is a little more flexible.

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So you, that's a bit of that dance where you have to figure that out.

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But just be mindful of that.

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Take a look at what they've done in the past and so that you can make sure

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that you're constructing your piece.

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To work for their organization.

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And when you look at what they've done in the past, you can do.

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What is our next point, which is over-deliver.

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When you look and see, for instance, if you're looking through their magazine

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and that almost every article has poll quotes, you know what you can do as

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the author of an article, you can pull out three or four poll quotes for them.

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Put them at the bottom of the article.

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Now someone in house usually does that.

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But you are now saving them time.

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You are over-delivering.

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There's a lot of times for children's material I will over-deliver

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by adding a little activity.

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If it's a short story, I might, or let's say I do some solve it yourself mysteries.

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Often if I do a solve it yourself mystery, many times I'll do a little activity

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that's like a breaking a code kind of thing, when you do that, it over-delivers.

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They didn't expect to get an activity and they may not use

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it, but they might use it.

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And they'll usually actually pay you extra for it too.

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But even if they don't, they like having that extra thing.

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They like having the poll quotes, they like having artist direction.

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If you've got that, anything that you can put in there that

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helps them is a good thing.

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And again, if they don't use it, no harm, no foul.

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They still like having that extra material.

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Yes, and I'll even if I am writing an article and they want, maybe

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they just assign me the article.

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A lot of times if I find something really good in there, I'll include a sidebar.

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If they ask me for one sidebar, I might over-deliver by giving two or

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three so that they've got options.

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This really helps your editor because also what they can do is they can keep

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those sidebars in their storehouse.

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Yes.

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So that if they have something that doesn't come through and they've got a

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half a page that they've gotta fill, they can look through their storehouse and all

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of a sudden they've got this extra sidebar that maybe they can use somewhere else.

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Or maybe they can add.

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And an artist may also really appreciate that because the artist is saying,

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oh I know I need to do this article plus a sidebar, but the one, this

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one's too long, but you know what?

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This one will really work.

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So you're giving them options, which makes everybody's job easier.

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Yeah.

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Over-deliver, what's the next one, Gena?

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Welcome feedback.

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And I will say this as, leave the diva at the door.

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Here you go.

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When you are writing for someplace you are helping them produce their

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magazine, their website, their whatever.

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You have to be willing to accept feedback.

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For instance, when I told you about that one article that I wrote

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for that company and they came back and they said, we really.

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I really want this to be a step by step.

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I had to go back in and rewrite that article as a how-to article

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was steps toward a particular goal.

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I welcomed the chance to do that.

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It really wasn't that hard.

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It was something that I could go in within an hour or two and rework the

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article cuz it was really already there.

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But it just helped them and it let them know that I was easy to work with.

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That I was willing to work with that.

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With them and what their needs were.

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Yeah.

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That really, it sets you apart because so many times it's easy as someone

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who writes something to feel offended when they wanna make a big change.

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Or even little changes that you think are silly.

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It's easy to wanna push back a bit.

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It's easy to just feel like, eh I don't wanna work with them anymore.

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And they recognize that.

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They see that they have writers who won't work with them, who won't make

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those changes, who aren't happy about it, who make their life more uncomfortable.

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And sometimes it's not even the editor's call, right?

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Sometimes it's someone else in that big publishing system that's making

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that call, and they just, they're the ones who have to deliver the bad news.

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So the best thing you can do is go with the flow.

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Just say, Hey.

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That's part of the business.

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Like when I write an article, I know full well it may need

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to be changed and that's okay.

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And I have some clients that sometimes I'll write things for and

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they'll change quite a bit of it.

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I don't get offended.

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I just figured, hey, they paid me for the first draft, right?

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They paid me for that first little bit.

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And if I can help change it into exactly what they're looking for, that's fine.

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I'm happy to do it.

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And they recognize that and because that, You'll keep getting more jobs

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because they're not looking for people.

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They've got enough troubles in their day-to-day interactions that they

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don't want to have to be fighting with a freelance writer, right?

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They want to have someone that they can just trust who's willing to go with

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the flow, and that doesn't mean that.

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If you have agreed to a certain payment for something that you need

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to put in five times the amount of work for that item for nothing, right?

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If they didn't communicate well what they wanted, you can have that conversation.

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But I'll tell you, Gena and I often work into our rates at least one revision

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because we have had it over the years.

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We've done this enough to know that, you know what?

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Things will come back all the time.

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Sometimes it's because they change their mind.

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Sometimes it's because you just had an off day.

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Whatever it is, things will come back.

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So we work in a revision with almost everything we do now, if they

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want multiple revisions, because suddenly after seeing the article

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they realize, oh, wouldn't it be cool if we did something different?

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That's a little bit different because now they're asking for a different article.

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And you can work that into the conversation.

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And generally you can come to a meeting of the minds on that, but overall,

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yeah, leave the diva at the door, go with the flow and you'll have a more

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successful career pleasing your editors.

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And yes, I would also say to that, make sure you recognize that you

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are in this for the long haul.

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This is not just a one and done piece that you are hopefully writing for.

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Whoever it is you're writing for.

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But this is a relationship that you can nurture for the long

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haul and that there are more jobs that are coming down the line.

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So keep that in mind as well.

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Now, there are going to be times when you're in this business long

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enough that you may work with somebody that you're like not

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gonna work with that person again.

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We've definitely had those times too.

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That will happen.

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You finish the job.

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But you finish the job to the best of your ability, and then you walk away

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with a clear conscience and with a professional with your professionalism

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and your professional reputation intact.

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As best you can.

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Yeah.

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And here's a couple things to keep in mind.

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First of all, word gets around, editors work together.

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And so if you have a bad experience with one editor, it's possible another

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editor's gonna find out about that.

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But say the reverse is also true.

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You, if you're a good writer that works with an editor,

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that news is gonna get out too.

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Plus, a lot of times editors change positions and if they go to a new

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magazine, they'll bring you along with them as one of their resources,

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which is our next point, isn't it?

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Yes.

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And that is, you are a resource.

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Recognize yourself that way.

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You are a resource for whatever organization or company

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that you're working for.

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So even if you're an author in a traditional situation

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you are a resource for them.

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You are producing a product that they believe represents their brand.

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And so you wanna make sure that you are recognizing that about yourself, that

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you are there to help them be successful.

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They're helping you, you're helping them.

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It's that give and take relationship in that.

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So recognize that and be thinking about that when you are interacting with them.

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We said in the last point, leave the diva at the door.

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I hate to say you're a tool, but you're a resource for them

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to help them be successful.

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So you just want to be mindful of that.

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And then finally, just a little bonus here, send gifts to your

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editors around Christmas time when it's the holidays send a gift.

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It can be hard sometimes to think, goodness, aren't

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they paying me to do this?

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Why should I send them something to spend money on that?

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It's just about nurturing the relationship.

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If you set yourself apart by sending a box of cookies around Christmas

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time, that will be remembered.

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It just will it, it helps forge that relationship.

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And here's the truth, if you get paid hundreds of dollars for an

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article and it costs you $50 to send cookies, isn't that a good exchange?

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It absolutely is.

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And it will probably in the long run, get you more jobs with that client.

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And I've known people that have sent those gifts around Thanksgiving too.

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Just to show thankfulness.

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So I think it just shows gratitude.

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And really, that's not just a writing tip, that's just a professional tip, just

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to be thankful and show gratitude toward your editors, your clients, your whoever.

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Show that gratitude and just let them know that you are thankful for them.

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We hope that you are now standing out, wowing your editors.

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Put these things into practice.

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Think of a way, is there one of those things that you can

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do that maybe you haven't done?

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Have you not received a style guide from an editor?

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Have you not over-delivered or have you not sent gifts?

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What can you do as a result of this?

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We just challenge you to think about that.

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And then please go ahead rate, review, subscribe and share.

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Let other people know about this podcast if it's helped you, and

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let other writers know, because that's how we get the word out.

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And just really helps.

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And definitely let us know as you've listened to this podcast, let us know if

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you have something to add to the list.

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Something that you do to wow your editors.

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Let us know what that is.

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Or if you're an editor, let us know how your writers have wowed you in the past.

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Oh, we'd love to have, we'd love to hear that.

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And we will share that with everyone to let them know too.

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Remember, we're not in this alone, right?

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We need editors.

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We need to work with one another.

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And that's what this is all about.

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And we also, as writers, we need one another because why Gena?

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Together we have writing momentum.