By Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen
When I finish writing a magazine article, I usually can’t wait to send it to the editor. “Look what I did! Aren’t I bright and creative?!” But, hard cold experience has taught me that it’s better to put my articles through the paces before I file them as a “fait accompli.”
Here are five things to do before submitting magazine articles to editors…
1. Organize your transcripts or source list. Some editors require transcripts of all phone calls or email correspondence; others want nothing unless they ask for it. Either way, it’s a good idea to have your transcripts or source list finalized before you submit an article. Even if the editor doesn’t require it now, he or she may ask for it later – and there’s nothing worse than scrambling for your source list two or three months after you’ve written an article.
2. Double check your source’s credentials, names, and organizations. Misspelling a source’s name, getting the credentials wrong, or placing them with the wrong organization not only makes you look sloppy, it annoys the source and the magazine’s readers – which aggravates the editor.Make double (or triple) sure that you’re referring to your sources and experts accurately.
3. Browse the magazine or website. Yesterday I submitted an article to an editor I’ve never worked with before. But before I sent the article – and when I was halfway through writing it – I spent half an hour reading the articles on the publication’s website. This gave me a feel for the content and style of the writing. The more I “fit in” to what already exists, the easier the editor’s job is…and the more likely she’ll hire me again.
4. Edit with different hats on. Do a full edit with your “grammar teacher’s” hat on. Then, do an edit with your “copywriter’s” hat on. Don’t forget to edit with your “assigning editor’s” hat on (I often compare my assignment sheet with my article, to make sure I’ve met his or her criteria). For more editing tips, read Editing Help – it’s my most recent article about editing, based on an amazing new resource for writing that I just found.
5. Sleep on it. After I sent Susan my last guest post – 5 Commonly Misused Words and Phrases – I had to make two or three changes after she published it. This created extra work for her and made me feel foolish. I didn’t sleep on that post, fellow scribes. Stephen King recommends letting your writing sit for six weeks, but most magazine writers don’t have the luxury of that much time! Before you submit an article, let it “gel” for at least one night…preferably three or four.
If you have any questions or thoughts on what to do before submitting an article, please comment below!
Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen is a full-time writer and blogger who created and maintains a series of Quips and Tips blogs: Quips and Tips for Successful Writers, Quips and Tips for Achieving Your Goals, and Quips and Tips for Couples Coping With Infertility. She’s also the Feature Writer for Psychology Suite101.
Laurie:
And Read it Aloud–you'll hear mistakes that you don't see.
Thanks for these reminders. Sometimes in my excitement, I send things out right away, only to notice – horrors! – a typo or something larger.
This is a great, informative post–thanks! I second Vera Marie: Always read aloud. It gets tiresome with longer pieces, but I find inadvertent repetitions of words & sentence structure almost every time.
Yes, reading the piece out loud is another great suggestion. I tend to think faster than I can type, so it's especially important for me so I can find missing words before my editor does!
I totally agree with all of this advice. Especially to wait and sleep on it — the next day you find SO MANY small things (and sometimes larger ones) that really need to be changed.
Totally agree with the waiting before you send it — even with blog posts. If I don't wait, I end up making small updates and republishing several more times on my blog, wasting time and energy.
Thanks for the tips!
Melissa
You know, I hear that advice about reading your writing out loud to catch errors, but I never do it. I understand the theory behind it, but have never tried it myself…maybe I will someday!
Thanks for your comments
Laurie
Excellent suggestions, all around. It's so easy to get caught up in deadlines and forget this. And I'm with Vera – read it aloud!
These are really great tips, and a lot of people make mistakes without even knowing it.
Great reminders. Just this week when reading over an article before submitting it, I ran across something I thought I should double-check with a title. I'm glad I did! I think the more you write and revise, the more efficient you become at it.
These are great ideas. I'd add that if your editor makes any changes and sends the article back to you for review, repeat all of the above. I've had a few minor mistakes edited into an article after the fact.
These are all excellent suggestions. I particularly like number one–I tend to be a bit messy with my source material and it is SUCH a drag to have to reconstruct things after the fact.
It's always best to take a deep breath and read your piece (aloud, I agree, though I rarely get through the whole article) before submitting it!
Thanks!
This is excellent advice! It's so easy to skip these steps when you're in a hurry, but you'll most likely regret it later.
I love all these tips, but ideally, the article should be sent to an inexpensive editor with quick turnaround times.
Writers simply can't catch certain errors, and submitting to an editor will give them the assurance that their piece is error-free and that they won't be judged for mistakes they missed.