-
The Art of the Short Turnaround
I was approached on Friday to rewrite an article from another writer that an editor didn’t like. It was on the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for Latino Leaders magazine, to which I am a semi-regular contributor. The catch was that this magazine’s June edition is printing today, meaning I had to have it complete and in my editor’s mailbox by opening hours today (Monday).
Did I accept the assignment? Well, I knew my weekend included a 5K run (my first), a possible date to walk with a girlfriend, and, oh yeah, my husband is in the middle of installing new wood floors throughout the main floor of our house.
But I still said Yes.
And, I succeeded, despite the massive disarray that my house, home and family life is in right now. 🙂
Freelancers need to be available to editors, and they need to meet solid deadlines.
I recently outsourced a huge project from the publisher Thompson Gale, hiring over 10 writers. Now, that might not seem like a lot, but keep in mind that I’m an itty bitty one-person operation writing from my home office, often with 2 kids, 3 cats and 1 dog underfoot. Managing 10 writers has been … fun, but it’s also reinforced the need for writers to meet deadlines. We’re so far, so good on this project, and I will be delighted when I meet Thompson Gale’s deadline.
