Jan 14

Freelance Writing Q and A

Advice, Blogs, Career, Uncategorized, Writers Add Comment (1)

QUESTION
In a recent post on her blog travelingtastebuds.blogspot.com (“Growing Pains“) Devon Brown (Tokyo-to, 2002-04) describes a situation where she submitted a travel writing piece to an editor (her first hit with a national publication) only to see a published version that looked rather different than what she submitted, in rhythm and voice.

She wonders:  Is this normal or typical?  Or is this just what she should expect?

JetWit.com put the question to JET alumni in the Writers Interpreters Translators (WIT) Group.

Click “Read More” to read their responses.

ANSWERS
**************
I’ve taken some freelance writing seminars with top-notch freelancers who are making 6-figures– and they all said you kind of have to sell yourself when you begin to write for the big glossy magazines– they all have their own distinct style.

*************
In my experience, unfortunately, it is very common to have an article heavily edited, completely change, and/or utterly destroyed. I’ve even heard of articles being pitched and then the idea handed off to a friend of the editor. I’d say that if the writer got the piece published, got a byline, and got paid, then she did better than she can expect in most situations. Freelancing is a tough racket. That said, I know some writers who have had much better experiences than I have, and a few who’ve had worse.
************
I think it is normal to have your pieces edited unless you have a clause in your contract. I would suggest that she asks the publisher for a final check before publishing, or if the final version was not the kind of tone/writing style she wishes to convey, then don’t work with that publisher again. Normally, you should get a chance to look over your work once everything has been laid out. At that time, you should voice your concerns about change in tone/text.

(Sorry, I should have written this in proper order, but I’m writing from my crackberry!)
***********
Responding to the question if Devon should be shocked that her “voice” was changed for the national publication — no. Especially national, glossy magazines, they have their own voice and rhythm. Even for small local newspapers, editors can devour articles– yet the difference is, usually at a small paper, the editor will take the time to go over the article with the writer… but for the big magazines — think Vogue, Glamour… They all have a specific voice and style of writing that every article must follow (especially if they’re paying you a $1/word). I’m not sure which magazine you wrote for, but that’s my take on it. I was a freelance writer in Tokyo for a couple years. In Japan, the editors are a bit nicer– while they may change something, they almost always send me a copy of it before it appears in print. Too bad all editors aren’t that nice…   Good luck! And congrats on getting published in a national magazine. That’s a huge deal…
***********
Hey, I have to say, in some cases this is common.  It’s only happened to me once, with something I wrote a while ago, and the editor totally changed the “feel” of the article.  Granted the same information got through, but it was totally different.  My second cousin is an author, and she told me of the experience with her first book where her editor would have her rewrite and totally change whole pages.  She called it “getting her babies killed.”  A disturbing way of putting it, but when one thinks of your ideas as precious, then it makes sense.  She said that eventually she realized the editor wasn’t exactly disliking her work, he was just thinking more along the lines of the end product, and the audience to receive it, and then in the end she learned to “kill her own babies.”  I try to keep that in mind when someone edits my work in a way I don’t like either.
*************
I haven’t done too much freelance writing as I mostly translate, but I did have this happen once with a piece I wrote for local magazine.
Granted I wrote in Japanese and needed to be edited, so it is slightly different.

But as a translator I have learned not to get miffed at editing.

Perhaps not very helpful.