Monday, February 28, 2011
6 Value-Added Skills For Every Editor
Being an editor these days is no longer just about editing and writing print copy. Now you have to blog, make presentations and appear in videos, among other "additional duties as required." In order to rocket to the top of the industry and stay ahead of your class, honing your skills in these areas will help make you stand out.
1. SOCIAL MEDIA, CMS, HTML, CSS & ALL THINGS DIGITAL
As an editor, you are responsible for the content for your brand, not just the ink-on-paper version of it. You will be asked to blog, tweet and write for the web. If you don't know how (or if you do it badly), you will get left behind. Bonus: advanced knowledge in the digital arena makes you a candidate for web editing jobs – practically the only area of magazines that is growing right now.
2. PHOTOGRAPHY
That blog you're writing? If you can do the photography for it, you're worth more. More photos make for better blogs, especially when there's variety other than just product shots supplied by PR people and the quality is better than a basic snapshot. (Yes, I acknowledge the fact that I rarely post photos on this blog.)
3. GRAPHIC DESIGN
Know photoshop? Now you can resize and edit those photos for your blog without bugging the art department. Understanding the basics of design will also help you better communicate with the art department (just remember: they still know more than you – respect their expertise). Plus, being able to think visually and explain it will help you develop and execute editorial packaging concepts, which depend on a successful marriage of text and images/layout.
4. COMPUTERS & ELECTRONICS
If you can troubleshoot email problems and get the AV equipment running at a meeting, you portray an overall air of capability. Plus, you don't have to bug IT as often. (But again, respect their expertise.)
5. PUBLIC SPEAKING
Editors are brand ambassadors and one of the more powerful tools in a magazine's marketing arsenal. Excel at making presentations (at a consumer show, for example) or doing demonstrations (for that web video, say) and you may find yourself one of the public faces for your magazine.
6. SPECIALIZATION
You do risk pigeonholing yourself, but being an expert in a particular area, for example beauty or environment, will make you a top candidate for positions requiring knowledge of that subject.
Any other skills you would add to this list?
1. SOCIAL MEDIA, CMS, HTML, CSS & ALL THINGS DIGITAL
As an editor, you are responsible for the content for your brand, not just the ink-on-paper version of it. You will be asked to blog, tweet and write for the web. If you don't know how (or if you do it badly), you will get left behind. Bonus: advanced knowledge in the digital arena makes you a candidate for web editing jobs – practically the only area of magazines that is growing right now.
2. PHOTOGRAPHY
That blog you're writing? If you can do the photography for it, you're worth more. More photos make for better blogs, especially when there's variety other than just product shots supplied by PR people and the quality is better than a basic snapshot. (Yes, I acknowledge the fact that I rarely post photos on this blog.)
3. GRAPHIC DESIGN
Know photoshop? Now you can resize and edit those photos for your blog without bugging the art department. Understanding the basics of design will also help you better communicate with the art department (just remember: they still know more than you – respect their expertise). Plus, being able to think visually and explain it will help you develop and execute editorial packaging concepts, which depend on a successful marriage of text and images/layout.
4. COMPUTERS & ELECTRONICS
If you can troubleshoot email problems and get the AV equipment running at a meeting, you portray an overall air of capability. Plus, you don't have to bug IT as often. (But again, respect their expertise.)
5. PUBLIC SPEAKING
Editors are brand ambassadors and one of the more powerful tools in a magazine's marketing arsenal. Excel at making presentations (at a consumer show, for example) or doing demonstrations (for that web video, say) and you may find yourself one of the public faces for your magazine.
6. SPECIALIZATION
You do risk pigeonholing yourself, but being an expert in a particular area, for example beauty or environment, will make you a top candidate for positions requiring knowledge of that subject.
Any other skills you would add to this list?
- Corinna vanGerwen
About Me
Corinna vanGerwen
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Corinna vanGerwen is a freelance editor and writer. She has worked as senior editor at Style at Home, senior design editor at Cottage Life and is the former Canadian Director of Ed2010. She has also held the position of operations manager at a boutique PR agency, where she handled strategic planning and daily operations.
Most Recent Blog Comment
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| Corinna says: | |
Thank you, Alicia!... |
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I'd call keeping up with the new editions of the Chicago Manual of Style, MLA handbook, Editing for Canadian English, CP Style Guide and various new editions of dictionaries a relevant continuation of learning. But I personally disagree about the graphic design and IT aspect. But that is just my opinion.
No one is opposed to learning new skills. It's the practice of those skills that undermines job security and workloads for everyone involved in magazines. And the so-called "stories delivered to readers" are changing into factoids, quick-hit sidebars, and other assorted fluff pieces that tell readers absolutely NOTHING.
Finally, this blog is called "Dream Job." Well, the jobs in magazines are an endangered species. Good editors are becoming extinct.
Maybe you should rename the blog to "Model Employee"? There's nothing wrong with projecting the things you'd like in worker bees out there. Just call a spade a spade.
Both staff and freelancers benefit from having value-added skills. Knowing more and being able to do more makes you a more valuable employee and a more desirable job applicant. Even if editors don't actively put this know-how to use on a daily basis, having this knowledge makes you a more well-rounded person.
While editors don't need a degree in photography, or need to know how to put together a layout, a basic understanding of the processes and tools of these trades means you understand magazines better. Any editor who has an understanding of other aspects of putting together a magazine will be a better editor. Understanding what your teammates have to do to get their jobs done will help you not only get what you want, but also help you get the best out of the people you work with.
In two of my examples – IT and graphic design – I specifically made a point to remind readers that those jobs are being performed by other departments and it's important to respect that. I don't advocate any editor taking over the art or IT departments. I consider myself to be very well versed in graphic design, but I would never assume I knew more than the people who actively design every day and have four-plus years of training under their belts.
I'd also like to add, that as much as I love editing, I also enjoy creating web content, working on videos and writing blogs. I like the variety. And that holds true for many, many young editors. These skills are tools that will help you perform your duties as an editor, as our jobs become less about words on paper, and more about stories delivered to readers. In fact, hasn't it always been about stories delivered to readers? The way we do that is just changing.