Notes from a Hired Pen: What do I do about my disorganizated editor?

Before I get into the normal newsletter: we’re about to face a worsening hunger crisis in the U.S., as SNAP benefits will not be paid next month. If you want to help, the best way to do so is to give CASH MONEY to food banks. They’re able to stretch a dollar, and buy exactly what they know folks need, better than we can. To find a local food bank to donate to, or if you need help, go to Feeding America.

And if you want to fight me about if the government should be helping feed people, this is a great time to leave. I’m not going to argue about whether or not it’s bad to let CHILDREN starve. Get the fuck out of here with that nonsense. 

On with the show.

Readers!

Time to open the mail bag! If you have a question you want to ask, drop it here.

I have been writing for an editor for a few months. I like the work, but he’s incredibly disorganized. He says he’ll get something back to me by a specific time, but he never does. Instead, he’ll email me on nights and weekends, and it’s always urgent. More than once, I’ve stayed up late doing a revision that came in at the last minute so he could run a piece the next morning. I haven’t been freelancing for that long, so I don’t know if this is normal? I don’t want to lose the work, but I don’t know if I’d even put up with this from a boss if I worked at a full time job. I’m frustrated!

Is he really disorganized? Or does he act this way because you let him?

No one wants to work with someone like this, and while it’s possible he’s this way with his colleagues, it’s also possible that he’s not. To those coworkers, he may appear dutiful and timely because he always meets their deadlines, but he can only do so because he’s taking advantage of his freelancers’ time.

If you’re always willing to answer emails outside of general work hours, and/or stay up late doing a last minute revision requests that come in those emails, what incentive does he have to stop? If you keep heeding the call  — even if it means you put other clients’ work on the back burner — why would he think “hey maybe I’ll mark up this draft and get it back with enough time so they’re not rushed next time?” He won’t.

Does this happen every once and a while with good editors? Sure. But you say it’s been going on for months. Here are a few things you can try:

1. Set boundaries. That means not checking your email after 5 p.m. — or if you do, do not open work-related emails, especially from this person. And don’t open it and close that email either. Too many people track if emails are opened (which is gross and I hate it).
2. If they ask why you didn’t respond, don’t explain or give an excuse, and don’t apologize. “I wasn’t available” is enough. Remember, you’re an independent contractor, not an employee. They don’t own your time.
3. If you choose to work with this person again, reaffirm boundaries when you turn in a draft. “Just an FYI, for any revision requests, I will not be available on X through Y.” Again, you don’t need to tell them where you’ll be or why you won’t be around (you don’t need a reason — remember, they’re not your employer!) If they can’t stick to it? That’s on them, not you. I had an editor like this. I told him well in advance I’d be away and to please let me know of any changes he needed before I go, or he’d have to wait. He didn’t listen, and resorted to DMing me on Twitter to try to get me to work “because I know you’re away,” he wrote. Line crossed. I never wrote for him again.
4. Try to write for someone else. I know that’s not always possible, but when I had a problem with one editor at a big publication, I asked other people here who I trusted if I could pitch another editor. It worked. I found out later that this editor treated everyone this way, including fellow staffers, so I knew it wasn’t me.

Of course, doing these things aren’t always effective, especially with editors who think we should be grateful that they gave us an assignment and see us as beneath them instead of as equals. If that’s case, it’s probably time to move on, or at least spend time marketing to find new clients so you can eventually give him the boot.

Also remember when I said in a previous newsletter that I will not join a publication’s instant messaging platform? This kind of stuff is why. No thanks!

 

Recent Bylines

“The sci-fi films that physicsts love to watch — from Interstellar to Spider-Man,” Nature (this was their lead story over the weekend!!!!)

“Tackling familiar cyber threats with smarter tools,” Independent Banker (and their October print issue cover story!!!!)

 

What I’m Reading

• The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman. I’m glad that the Coopers Chase senior citizen quad of murder solvers are back, though does it feel a bit…off after the first book was turned into a Netflix movie? Maybe it’s just me. Still, a fun ride as the gang tries to figure out a cryptocurrency-based mystery. As always: greed is bad. One line I liked, about Ron’s grandson: “How much longer before life makes him an adult? Until his shoes have laces and his heart has scars? Until his shame deepens alongside his voice and he no longer wants to lie on the floor and color in the planets?” My nephews are getting older. I felt this one.

 

What I’m Watching

• The Great Muppet Caper Given all the Louvre news, this one’s also been in the news, and Brian Grubbs’ write up had me putting in on. I…don’t think I ever saw this? If I did, I don’t remember it. It hasn’t been burned onto my brain like the other Muppets’ works we had on VHS. I liked it! Charles Grodin does magnificent work with Steve Martin-level physical comedy. I’m glad I finally caught up.
• I Married a Witch This is a very silly 1942 screwball comedy where Veronica Lake plays Jennifer, a witch who was burned at the stake, but takes on a body to wreak havoc on the descendant of one of the people who burned her. Great fun, and a reminder that the name Jennifer excited before everyone named their daughter that in 1980.
• The Manchurian Candidate The original. If you follow me on Instagram, you know I’m almost done with a very long reading project related to Frank Sinatra, so I checked this one out of the library on DVD. I knew the twist, but it was still a tense watch, about the step-son of a U.S. Senator who is brainwashed while taken prisoner during the Korean War. They also filmed at the old Madison Square Garden before it was torn down. Nice to have that on film. Sinatra is not the lead, but he gave a damn good performance as a Major with PTSD trying to figure out what the hell happened. Good stuff.

 

Nail Polish of the Week

Wren by Zoya. This is a vibrant violet with flecks of color in yellow/orange range make it shimmer in a fun, Halloween-y way.

 

Until next time,

Jen A. Miller (she/her)

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