[Nfb-editors] Editor's How-to?

[Bridgit Pollpeter]

Darian,

As editor for Slate & Style and former editor for The Nebraska
Independent, I did, and do, about 98% of the editing. I read
submissions, select what submissions will go into the publication and do
the actual editing. I technically have three assistant editors, but only
two are reliable, and really only one turns in work I completely trust
without having to meticulously double-check it.

When editing the Nebraska newsletter, I had no assistant for editing,
and zero interest in the position. I was constantly send out submission
requisitions with little to no feedback. I had three people who
consistently contributed to the newsletter. And getting chapter and
affiliate board members to turn in requested articles was like pulling
teeth.

Slate & Style doesn't have a huge amount of submissions coming in, but
between what submissions we do receive and the annual Writers' Division
writing contest, I usually have enough to put together four issues a
year. S & S is a literary-based publication, so I don't request
literature submissions, fiction, poetry and memoir/personal essays, but
I am constantly making requests for book reviews and articles discussing
various topics about writing, creative, nonfiction, academic, PR, etc.
My assistants are pretty good about turning in articles for the magazine
too.

I don't publish all submissions though. They do have to meet a certain
standard. If I have to edit something to the point that it's more my own
work than the original author, it definitely does not go in. If a
submission just isn't good writing, that doesn't go in either. I'm
especially picky about the literature pieces. As writer and editor is my
chosen field, I won't put my name on something I'm not proud of, and I
don't want to publish a NFB publication that isn't good quality either.

I do have a design and lay-out editor who formats each issue for me. We
offer the magazine in Braille and email, via MS Word. I initially
converted each issue into an accessible PDF, but some readers did not
like this, so we have gone back to just a regular Word file. My lay-out
editor has done a few things though so it's a little more visually
pleasing along with creating editors contact info and the table of
contents as links. I also don't just throw selections randomly in. My
lay-out editor and I choose an order, and some pieces, like the
presidential letter, editor's note and info about the mag and division,
always go in the same order.

All-in-all, once I begin editing an issue, depending on what's happening
in my life, it takes a total of two to three weeks to completely edit
and format a magazine. This includes selecting pieces, actual editing
and coordinating with my assistants, formatting into magazine and
combing through with a fine-toothed comb, which means my assistants and
our president for the division are proof- reading through it as well.

Even after my assistants edit a piece, I double check it. And I read
submissions as they come in and tend to select from these submissions in
advance. I try to pull together issues, knowing what will publish in a
given issue, as far in advance as possible. For example, since October,
I've had our holiday, winter and spring issue planned out. This doesn't
mean I won't put something else in to fill things out, but I like to
have a good chunk of an issue planned in advance. Some publications may
not receive enough material though to plan this far in advance though.

One of the reasons I no longer edit the Nebraska newsletter is the lack
of interest in help and submissions. Everyone wanted a newsletter, but
no one wanted to do any work for it. And I'm a firm believer in not
regurgitating info and articles we get in a million other ways like
Newsline, and the various, constant emails sent out by the Federation.
If a newsletter is only re-publishing this info, I say, what's the point
of the newsletter? Instead, I tried to have contributors write actual
articles discussing various topics from different angles and
perspectives. Like when all the Braille initiatives were happening a few
years ago, rather than re-publish some of the info and stories emailed
by national, I had people write articles on the topic discussing
specifics or personal experiences. This not only informs but brings a
human-interest side to the story, making the topic more personal and not
just providing facts.

I think an affiliate newsletter should have a team. It can be small, but
at least three people who do the physical work, meaning seeking
submissions, editing material, discussing goals and intent for each
issue, updating and maintaining distribution lists, etc. The state board
should be involved. Affiliate and chapter presidents should contribute
material along with encouraging members to do likewise. Some affiliates
are able to accomplish this, some are not. It will all depend on what
you want, and what you're willing to do.

Some have always disagreed with me on how a newsletter should look, but
I have a degree in writing with a background in public relations
writing, and newsletters are a PR form of writing, an effective tool if
done correctly. Not only have I studied this stuff, but I've done
internships where one of my duties was writing for newsletters, and I
have actually been hired as an independent contractor-of sorts for
writing for magazines and newsletters. So I do know what I'm talking
about. And you can make your newsletter as interesting or as boring
depending on the amount of work you put in along with being creative and
inovative. As a Federation newsletter, I personally think they should
all look the same, be formatted the same way, which would probably mean
they would be modeled after the Braille Monitor because for branding
purposes, an organizations websites and publications should look the
same, this is PR 101, but again, some do not agree. But the type of
content you publish and what the goal of individual issues should be,
should be up to an editor and the affiliate board.

If you have questions, feel free to contact me here on the list or at
bpollpeter at hotmail.com

Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter, editor, Slate & Style


Message: 4
Date: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 18:51:36 -0800
From: Darian Smith <dsmithnfb at gmail.com>
To: Correspondence Committee Mailing List <nfb-editors at nfbnet.org>
Subject: [Nfb-editors] How to?
Message-ID: <B2249F4B-1455-4173-83B8-A85F75F19CAF at gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252

Hello  All,

 As affiliate newsletter editors, how much of the work that you do is
done only by you?   Are there situations where you call upon others to
help you put together the newsletter? do you have committees?  that help
you do the work? how do you end  up  Collecting the submissions you get?
how much chasing do you do to make sure you get articles for   folks?
 I?m  giving a go at putting together my affiliate?s newsletter and
these pointers are very helpful.
   Thanks,
  Darian