This morning I attended an "editors' roundtable" sponsored by the
Minnesota Magazine & Publications Association. Today's topic was Time & Money. We spent the first half of the meeting discussing how we spend our time as editors: What do we waste our time on? What do we wish we had more time for? What strategies do we employ to use our time wisely? Most people agreed that the biggest time-wasters are e-mail and other online time vacuums, chatty coworkers (for those who work in offic

e settings), clutter, and unproductive phone calls. Everyone seems to have their own methods for staying focused and organized. First of all, it's important to know when you do your best work each day (early morning? mid-afternoon? late at night?), so you can do your most challenging work then. One person suggested not answering the phone all day and then returning calls late in the afternoon. Other people use websites or social networking sites as a reward:
As soon as I finish this article, I get to spend 15 minutes browsing my favorite site. Some people make prioritized to-do lists every day, while others dive into work first thing in the morning when they're most productive and save their e-mails for later. It was interesting to get so many different time-management tips--many of which were very helpful! During the second half of the meeting, the magazine editors talked about their 2009 budgets. Many are staying the same, but a few are going down. The cost of paper, ink, and postage are all increasing, so many magazines are moving toward more online--and less print--content. However, it sounds like most local publications are still going strong!
Maybe you've written an article you'd like to submit to a magazine, but you'd like to have an editor look it over first. I would be happy to! Please check my website for
rate and
contact information.
Home Page - Julie Coleman, Freelance Editor