A Panel Discussion about the Seattle Editing Marketplace

A panel of four representatives from the Seattle editing marketplace spoke to an overflowing room of Guild members on Monday night, September 10, 2007. The Guild invited people from local industries that regularly hire freelance editors to discuss how they work and what they look for in a freelance editor. The panel consisted of the following representatives:

The following are the questions asked and answers received from each panelist concerning the use of editors in their fields. The questions were asked by members of the Guild Steering Committee, followed by a question-and-answer period open to all attendees.

Panel Discussion

Question: How do you use editors in your industry?

Gates Foundation (GF): Editors do substantive editing, helping translate scientific/technical information into clear verbiage understandable to the layperson.

University Editors are pre-approved by the university and usually have specialties. They need to fill out an application and provide samples. We serve a big community and have a wide variety of jobs; we try to match up the editor’s interests with the appropriate jobs/clients.

Worktank (WT): We do a massive amount of copyediting and proofreading that is handled both in-house and by freelance editors.

Tiger Oak (TO): Most of the editing (managing, substantive) for Seattle Magazine is done in-house. The other magazines hire contract managing editors who take on a whole package of tasks, working mainly out of their homes, and planning all aspects of the issue, including assigning articles to writers and developmental/substantive editing when the articles are submitted. Copyediting is treated as a separate job—this is handled by a couple of contract editors. We look for editors with an expertise and interest in particular areas.

Question: What qualities do you look for in an editor?

GF: Expertise and skill in editing; ability to hit the ground running. Editors need to be able to work independently, problem-solve, understand timelines and budgets, and have a lot of flexibility. They need to work with subject matter experts to pull the piece together and draw out the most important aspects of what needs to be communicated.

UW: Editors need to be communicative and straightforward regarding their preferences. We never know who's going to come in (from the University community) or what they want.

WT: Editors need to know their expertise and be able to provide a fast turn-around. They need to be honest about their expectations. If editors deliver what they say, they will be called back.

TO: Editors need to be able to meet deadlines. They also need to be able to represent the company well to both the client and the public.

Question: How often do you hire freelance editors?

GF: Now it is several times a year. Since the foundation is growing tremendously, soon we will start hiring several times a month.

UW: One month it could be only twice; in other months it could be ten times. Various departments/clients within UW are starting to realize the value/need for editors, so this may mean more requests for editors that CCN would fill.

WT: We send out work daily. Ongoing relationships are important.

TO: We have several contract editors on an ongoing basis and add extra editors for special projects.

Question: What are the scheduling expectations for editors (e.g., on-call, set own schedule, work a set shift, minimum hours paid, etc.)?

GF: We have a broad variety of needs on a project-by-project basis. These include newsletters (work from home) and larger projects, such as the website (work onsite).

UW: Editors work on a project-to-project basis. I usually send out an email to freelancers with a rough outline of the project to ask if they are interested.

WT: Work is on a project-to-project basis. The work can be done off-site and we expect a lot of flexibility from our editors. Compressed schedules are the norm in advertising.

TO: We have fairly long lead times and can provide some flexibility as long as deadlines are met.

Question: Who makes the hiring decisions?

GF: This is currently decentralized, but it is usually the person running the project or sometimes the Senior Editor.

UW: Editors are pre-approved for the CCN network. The editor meets with a client and it is up to both if they think they can work together well.

WT: The senior copywriter or the project manager. The editor needs to have worked for us three or four times before being allowed to meet with a client.

TO: Most editors are hired by the editorial director and sometimes the local publisher. Copyeditors are hired by each publication.

Question: How are freelance editors paid?

GF: Editors are paid a flat rate per project and an hourly rate on larger projects.

UW: Each editor has his/her own rate and can bill with flexibility according to personal needs.

WT: Editors are paid a flat rate per project.

TO: Editors are paid on a project basis; copyeditors are paid on an hourly basis.

Question: What special challenges might an editor face in your industry?

GF: Nonprofits don’t pay the same as the corporate world. There are lots of review cycles. They need to turn the subject matter into plain English and understand how Web writing is different.

UW: Using freelance writers and editors is still new for us. We have many varied time schedules that can be totally different.

WT: We have compressed timelines and work collaboratively with clients. We may need to wait for clients who miss deadlines. It can be a pattern of “hurry up and wait.”

TO: Editors need to understand the point and audience of the publication. They need to be able to work with the art director. The smaller payment often surprises them.

Question: What are the rewarding and unique aspects?

GF: It is exciting to do work that makes a difference in the world and help organizations you believe in.

UW: To hear professors give good feedback on the writers/editors they have worked with.

WT: To create things with singular impact and power.

TO: To have a very tangible product at the end. There is a lot of room for creativity.

Question: How could an editor break into the industry?

GF: Follow your passion, do your homework, get marketable skills; may need to do some pro bono work. Look for folks with similar backgrounds and get engaged in policy issues.

UW: Follow your interests. Be honest with yourself and others. If the work is good, others can give referrals. Your skill set can change and evolve.

WT: Get out there and network. Market areas you want to work in and bring in appropriate samples. Get work done quickly as this is a short-paced business. The Internet is set up for this field.

TO: Most come up as writers first and then work into editing.

Question and Answer Period

Question: How to get work from them/break in?

GF: Send resume/clips. Tailor your resume and cover letter to match the foundation’s mission and values. We often hire through agencies like Filter Talent.

UW: As a state agency, we have a more formalized process. We look at the applicant’s background/samples and do an evaluation.

WT: We use “word of mouth” and network connections. We hire more writers than editors. If you have been published, you need to present clips to prove it; we want to see your byline. Keep sending out your material. Maintaining ongoing relationships is also important.

TO: Although we also hire through network connections, we also pay attention to résumés. Writing is a first entry point. A letter of recommendation with a résumé can be helpful, as well as writing a good query letter.

Question: What types of projects do you assign to freelancers?

GF: We hire for Web writing, developmental, technical and copyediting.

UW: We do everything from speech writing to last minute proofreading. If you do a good job, the word spreads and vice versa.

WT: We hire freelance proofreaders (because everything produced is proofread), and also use freelance writers and editors.

TO: We hire freelance substantive editors with strong project management skills for some of our publications.

Question: What are good groups to join?

GF: Women in Digital Journalism; pro-bono work in the nonprofit sector is also a good way of making contacts and getting experience.

WT: Agencies like the Creative Group, Filter Talent, Big Fish, Volt, AIGA, and online websites like Freelancers.net and craigslist.

Additional Notes from the Meeting Organizers

In the course of securing panelists for the meeting, we learned some additional information about local industries that we wanted to share:

Nonprofit: We contacted a number of people in the attempt to secure a speaker to represent the nonprofit sector (both Guild members and people at nonprofits to whom we were referred). Our overall impression is that nonprofits may use freelance writers more than freelance editors (if they use freelancers at all). We contacted a handful of people before we were able to find a nonprofit representative who regularly hired freelance editors. Since many nonprofits are of small-to-medium size and have small budgets, they may utilize their staff or volunteers to meet any editing needs. Even several large nonprofits, such as the American Red Cross and the United Way of King County responded that they do not work with freelance editors. However, we did speak to a few people who either hired an editor once a year for the nonprofit’s annual report, or who did work with one or two editors. So, our impression is that some freelance editing work exists in this sector—it would just take some dedication, research, and inquiries to find out which organizations hire editors and how one would get on their rosters.

Government: We contacted Guild member Ellen Chu, who is Senior Communications Analyst for the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO). Since she does not hire freelance editors, it didn’t work out for her to speak on our panel, but she did have some general information to impart about freelancing for the government sector. According to Chu, freelancing for the federal government is not as straightforward as freelancing for smaller public or private entities. A good deal of federal work is carried out under contract, and freelancers would obtain assignments through a contractor to the feds, or even through a subcontractor to the contractor to the feds. A number of local consulting firms do federal work, but freelancing would occur through those consulting firms. For example, she said that when she was freelancing more regularly, she made a list of all the environmental consulting firms in the area to contact. She guesses other topic areas of quasi-federal freelancing would work similarly. Perhaps the best sources of government work might be firms around the D.C. area, some of which do contract with out-of-area freelancers. One would need to network heavily to ascertain the “who’s who” in these firms and how to get a foot in the door as one of their contractors. King County and the various Puget Sound area cities are other potential sources of public-sector work.

Michele Whitehead and Susan Hodges, Steering Committee

--Notes compiled by Dorene Carrel