You like me! You really like me!

Writers always have something to gripe about. Their story got bumped; it was edited badly; someone put a typo in it; it was killed (and for a crappy kill fee); the headline was stupid; the editor insisted on more unnecessary research; the editor stuck her own byline next to theirs after adding four paragraphs, and some of the new copy was simply wrong (not that that’s ever happened to me, ahem) … and so on.

Today is the rare day when all editors and subjects went out of their way to be nice. All in one day! This has never happened before.

This weekend I turned in the article about school principals. I was wary of what the editor would think – I’d balked at the four-page (!) contract – but here’s what she wrote:

“Thank you! The article is exactly what I was anticipating. It is engaging and easy to read as well as informative.”

Yay!

But wait, there’s more. Back in December I interviewed three Washingtonians about their collections. I’d complained about that contract, too (it insisted that writers promise the unpromisable), to the point where they changed it – but only for me. The article is now out. I haven’t seen it, but the editor forwarded emails from all three people interviewed for it:

“My daughter sent me a copy of the Fashion Issue and I was thrilled with the extraordinary care you took in making my story and the photographs turn out so perfectly.”

“I’ve finally spied a copy of the new Capitol File and I love the piece! Thanks again for thinking of me and doing such a knockout job all the way around!”

“I just saw the digital version of the new issue and it looks stunning! I’m so happy with my article, so well written and photographed. Congratulations!”

As the editor wrote when forwarding the last comment, “Trifecta!”

So let me have my Sally Field moment. It’s fleeting. Tomorrow we gripe anew. But tonight – woohoo!

Copyright 2012 Ellen M. Ryan. All rights reserved.

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Tags: byline, contract, edited badly, editor, kill fee, Sally Field, typo, writers

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