on writing (for lip)

At some point in my quest to be a “writer”, I became certain that editors hated me.

Looking back, there is little grounding for this, except having heard hoards of stories about cruel rejection letters and cliquey types who would only publish the work of those within a/the literary canon and/or their friends (which are probably one and the same anyway). In retrospect, I am certain that these claims came from bitter writers, but at the time, any evidence to the contrary, such as assertions by actual editors that this was all rather exaggerated, was quickly dismissed by yours truly.

Obviously, I’m still no expert on writing/editing/whatever, but I do feel informed enough to at least tell you a little bit about writing for lip, although I’m sure much of this can be extrapolated to other publications.

I would say that the one of the greatest, and most common, fallacies is that editors hate writers. This is simply not true, and editors are actually remarkably easy to please. As far as I can tell, the only two fundamental things that an editor wants in a writer are a) someone who can write, and b) someone who can meet deadlines. Of course, a smattering of good ideas and a willingness to take on assignments that aren’t super glamorous doesn’t hurt, but those things are secondary to writing well and to deadline.

With this in mind, here are a few tips to keep in mind if you want to contribute to lip/probably any magazine.

1. Read the contributors’ guidelines
   I know, I know, I promised you insider info, and this is just the same boring old dross that everyone tells you. But here’s the thing: those involved in media/magazines typically have a lot of stuff to do. There are not a lot of things they are willing to undertake simply for the hell of it, and writing contributors’ guidelines is no exception (plus, it’s incredibly boring). Whoever has written them for a given publication probably hasn’t done so out of some perverse need to make your life difficult, it’s a way to make everyone’s job simpler (and if you think editing and formatting your own work is annoying and time-consuming, imagine if you had to do it for other people).
2. Read the publication
   I know, I know, you’ve heard this too. And if I thought everyone who had ever pitched to me had read lip (or at least glanced over the website for longer than it took to just find my email address), I wouldn’t mention it. But here’s the thing: an editor can tell if you’ve read their publication or not. Your work might not be accepted for one of a myriad of reasons, but by far the most common is that it’s simply not suitable for the publication. You’ve been told that you should pitch to as many magazines as possible, but if you haven’t actually read the publications you’re pitching to, the editor will know, and they won’t be impressed.
3. Be willing to re-draft
   It doesn’t matter how great a writer you are, pretty much no one writes a perfect first draft. And even if you submit a fifth or sixth draft, it still might not quite fit the publication. Reading other people’s work takes time, and providing feedback to them takes even more time, and is usually only done if it has potential for publication. At lip, we try to give detailed feedback when someone has written an article that we think would be of interest to our readers, but just needs a little work. But I can count the number of times I’ve heard back from someone after detailing what kinds of changes need to be made to make an article more appropriate for lip … once.
4. Follow up
   Unless you killed their dog, chances are that an editor doesn’t hate you and isn’t ignoring your email. You know when you’re selecting facebook friends to send a group message to, or to invite to an event, and their names just start blurring together as you scan the page and you invariably forget someone? That’s kind of what it’s like to look at a full inbox sometimes. Usually things will get attended to eventually, but there are so many things that need to be done on a daily basis when you are involved in a given publication that it can be hard to find time to do things like respond to potential new contributors’ emails. This isn’t to say that it’s not an important task, or one that’s at the bottom of an editor’s priorities, but rather that things need to keep ticking along in order for there to be a publication for you to write for at all! So feel free to drop them another email after a week or two if you haven’t heard back, unless the contributors’ guidelines explicitly tell you not to do so.
5. Conversely, don’t ignore their emails
   A conservative estimate of how often I check my emails would be every hour. This is because I am a chronic “checker”, but I don’t expect anybody else to have that kind of turnaround/problem. Still, it shouldn’t take you more than a few days to respond to an email. If an editor chases you up about something, it’s because they like your work and want you to be involved (or otherwise, a deadline is approaching and they’re starting to panic). But if you don’t respond, it’s going to incite doubts as to how reliable you are, even if you are the reincarnate of Virginia Woolf. That “tortured artist” thing isn’t romantic to those who are relying on you to deliver something by a certain date; it’s actually really annoying. Having said that, editors are not ogres! If something is going on that is making it difficult for you to get something done, just tell them. If you don’t think you’re going to make a deadline or you’re running late, tell them. Depending on what it is, it is entirely possible that they will be pissed, but it’s much easier to fix such a situation when you have a bit of advance warning.
6. Repeat after me: Cover. Letter.
   Not all publications want cover letters, but they’re a nice touch to remind editors that they’re dealing with humans, and not machines just churning out articles. Just a simple hi, saying who you are and your interests, and anywhere you’ve been published before should suffice! And not that stroking an editor’s ego is a necessity, but if it’s the context of the publication and what you like about it, that’s an easy way to show that you’ve actually read it (see number two).

Also keep in mind that editors are reliant on writers, and no publication can exist without them. And just about the hardest thing about worming your way into an editor’s heart is simply proving that you are a) someone who can write, and b) someone who can meet deadlines.

(Image credit: 1.)