A Matter of Style
When I worked on staff and I suddenly found myself to be the only staff member left, I enlisted the aid of the sister publication’s editorial staff. It was a lesson in just how different our styles can be. One editor was a hard-core grammar stickler. Another was a line editor who looked deep for the meaning of each sentence. Yet another liked to reword nearly everything with no real improvement in the copy.
So when I was let go recently by a client who’d found someone else to edit his work, I was only slightly surprised by it. Not all editors can fit all needs, and it was becoming clear that we were missing that critical element in a client/editor relationship – total trust.
You’re going to face it sometime, if you’ve not already. Your particular editorial style, while it’s probably fine, is not going to be what your client needs or looks for. In fact, if you hand the same document to five different editors, you’ll get five totally different versions returned to you.
There’s no real way to avoid losing a client over an editorial style difference. And I don’t really think you should avoid it – you are not going to be all things to all people. All you can do is let your client know how you operate – give him or her your typical work process.
Perhaps these clients will be over-the-moon when they see your style:
Freelance Radio Copywriter
NY magazine Freelancer
Automotive magazine Freelancer
Freelance Fashion Writer
Freelance Writer
NY Travel Guide Writer
Beauty Writer
HI Lori, I found your blog from your posting at freelancewrite.about.com. I’m the new guide over there. So far I haven’t had to deal with any issues with editors in any of my positions, or with writers, since I do some editing too…But, this post has some great info! Thanks!
Interesting that you should post about this today. Last week I had a question in comments about how an editor works with a writer to get a book ready for publication. I wrote two blog posts in response – the first on how to choose the right editor. There will always be those cases where things don’t work out as expected, but the odds are better the relationship will succeed if the writer (or other client) and editor have a good understanding of what the writer expects and what the editor does.
Congrats on the new gig, Allena! And welcome to my blog. I hope you make it a habit.
Lillie, isn’t it weird how we writers often experience the same things in the same time span? I wonder if clients are ruled by the moon… ;))