Zestful Blog Post #106
One of my favorite things to do is write articles for Writer’s Digest magazine. At a Q & A
recently, someone asked whether the magazine assigns me topics, or I have to
come up with them myself. And what’s a ‘contributing editor’, anyway?
The answer to the second Q will answer the first as well. In
general, a contributing editor is a freelance writer who has contributed
frequently to the publication, who is thought to have something of a fan base,
and who has demonstrated reliability, both in generating new ideas and executing
them. The term ‘editor’ in this case is usually an honorific, and I've begun
seeing the term ‘contributing writer’ on magazine mastheads instead of ‘contributing
editor’.
[Now that's what I call a masthead. Photo by ES]
In the case of Writer’s
Digest, in exchange for the credential, I agreed not to write for other
magazines that might be considered directly competing with WD, such as The Writer and Poets & Writers. Besides getting your name on the masthead, as
a contributing editor your ideas get special consideration by the editorial
staff. The top editor at WD, Jessica Strawser, and I have become friends over
the years, which is a very nice side benefit.
But yeah, I’m expected to come up with ideas for articles I’d
like to write, and pitch them in some cogent form. I send Jessica two
or more at a time, a practice that worked to get me my first assignment at that
magazine 10 years and several editors ago, and to which I cling
superstitiously. If the editor likes a particular idea, there might be some
back-and-forth as the editor gives input. You work together to refine or shift
the focus or whatever, and then you agree on length and payment.
Once I was asked to write an FOB (front-of-book, meaning the magazine) column on a particular
subject on short notice when some other writer had to bow out for some reason.
That was fun, and I felt honored to be trusted to execute the piece fast and
well. But that was an exception.
Needless to say, when you agree to a deadline, you must meet
it. Given the long lead time of most monthlies, you usually get weeks,
sometimes even months, to deliver. Having started my career at a small
newspaper, deadlines have never bothered me. I've never missed one, whether for
the magazine, or contributing a story to an anthology (which by the way see
below), or turning in a book-length manuscript. [Sound of vigorous knocking on
wood.] And I’m always shocked when I hear of some writer missing a deadline. I’m
like, what? You have this great
opportunity, multiple other people are counting on you, and you fail to get the
job done? Being busy is not an excuse. I guess somebody dying might be an excuse,
especially if it’s you.
I want to write more about coming up with ideas for
magazines, but will save that for a future post. Meanwhile, I’d like to plug a
new anthology I'm honored to have a story in (along with a buncha cool women):
These tales of
murder, mayhem, and suspense by some of today’s finest crime writers will keep
you up way past your bedtime!
The lesbians on the
loose in this collection are an entertaining mix of protagonists: cops, amateur
sleuths, a PI, a judge, a bounty hunter, and one very insightful dog. There’s
even an intrepid high schooler and a mystery writer.
Despite greed and
grief, rage and revenge, secrets and lies, many of the stories feature humor
from a variety of characters trying to find their way in a difficult world—cops
who’ve seen too much, revenge seekers, and women who want justice for
themselves and others.
You won’t regret
going on the lam with these terrific writers!
Stories by: Elizabeth
Sims, Carsen Taite, SY Thompson, Andi Marquette, Linda M. Vogt, VK Powell, Kate
McLachlan, Lori L. Lake, Lynn Ames, Sandra de Helen, Jen Wright, Sue Hardesty,
Jessie Chandler, J.M. Redmann, and Katherine V. Forrest
Available here:
Bella – http://www.bellabooks.com
Amazon – http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00X08X9A2
Kobo – http://tinyurl.com/k9nfrtj
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