Editor's Procrastination Shouldn't Be Your Problem

March 21, 2007

Editor's Procrastination Shouldn't Be Your Problem
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Hi Angela,

What do you do with difficult editors? I just ran into two situations with two different editors that have set my teeth on edge. It's one of these situations where their procrastination becomes my problem. Essentially, I messed up by agreeing to do an article with a very short deadline, but I did let the editor know that I was concerned about my interviewees not cooperating with me in such a short time period. Then, the sources, which the editor provided me, either felt that they couldn't help me or they never returned my phone calls or emails. Meanwhile, I asked the editor a question about an email interview (out of five people that I needed to contact for this article), when she informed me that she wanted me to hold phone interviews. She didn't want any email interviews. What a laugh! My deadline was a week away with these deadbeat sources, which the editor assured me wanted to be interviewed. Now, she wanted me to hold phone interviewsÖall of these people were on the West Coast, and I'm on the East Coast. And, by the way, did I mention that I do this part-time?

My second editor from Hades contacted me out of the blue two months ago and asked me to interview a local business for a 500-word article. Granted I didn't write the article to her specifications, which was my screw up. But, she sat on the completed article for over three weeks (I sent the article in a week before deadline), and I asked her if she needed me to fix anything with the article. After I reminded her a second time, she finally sent it back and gave me five working days to rewrite the whole thing, which included more detailed and technical interview questions than what I originally asked my interviewees. Not a problem, except the key interviewee emailed me to let me know succinctly that she was leaving on vacation to Montana and would deal with this when she got back. Could we hold the article for a later date? I let the editor know. And her response was that I needed to call the interviewee again to see if the person would email me my answers while in route to her vacation or guide me to someone else. I left a voice mail with my source because I didn't want to annoy this woman who made it clear in her email that she was busy that day getting ready for her vacation. Oh, by the way, did I let you know that I got on this article right away after getting my editor's email?

Basically, I knew that I wasn't going to get the needed interview, and the other person that I could've interviewed was a difficult person to interview, as well as to get a hold of. Plus, I wasn't sure if my source wanted me to interview the other person again, and if he knew the answers to the detailed questions that I was asking the owner of this business.

The editor offered to kill the article if I couldn't get the interview. And, I counter-offered with her to have the article written for a later date in the year or into 2008, per the interviewee's request. I don't like to make my interviewees mad because I depend on them for a good interview. But I also sent in an invoice for a kill fee. Boy, did I get the lecture from this editor that this was the only time this happened to her, yada, yada, yada, and that she was ending our working relationship since she had to kill this article. She is following through with the kill fee.

Was this all of my fault? Or is there a prevalent problem with editors not giving their writers enough time? Am I expected, as a freelance journalist, to annoy my sources for the sake of an article? This really rubs against my ethical grain. If I'm totally wrong, please let me know.

I don't want to be blacklisted, but I don't like to work with editors who obviously procrastinate, then make me the fall guy when I can't control my interviewees responses and schedules! Please help!

When these types of tight deadlines come up, you should either turn down the assignment, or discuss with the editor problems that might arise due to the tight deadline. Sometimes editors think that things will happen just because they want them to happen. When you're working with multiple sources for an article, nothing ever goes as planned.

You should also ensure in writing, before agreeing to do the work, that there are no penalties against you, the writer, if things go awry through no fault of your own. If an editor assigns an article too late, they should be the one responsible if the article can't come together in time. If anything, there should be bonuses involved when a writer has to jump through hoops to cover an editor's procrastination.

Another thing to keep in mind is this. Sometimes, editors get a good idea and want it done yesterday, for no other reason than to satisfy their own personal need to have the task over and done. Never be afraid to attempt to negotiate a better deadline. Simply telling the editor that you have have another assignment due before the new one might be enough to get them to bend a bit.

And, some scammers stress urgency when assigning "work" because they don't want you to think you can get any percentage of the payment up front ("There's no time!") or they may not want you to take the time to research them online, where you may very well find complaints posted about them.