By Jill Pyle
Last week, I wrote about evaluating editorial calendar opportunities. This week, I’d like to share some tips related to inquiring about editorial calendar opportunities. If you’re unfamiliar with what an editorial calendar is, you can read Linda’s editorial calendar primer.
Once you’ve evaluated the list of available editorial calendar opportunities and created a short list of those that appear to have the highest value, the next step is to investigate. The investigation process requires careful attention to timing and is necessary to develop a clear understanding of the resources you would need to gather to fulfill any one of the opportunities you’ve identified.
Before contacting any editor directly, it’s important be aware of the publications’ typical lead time. It can be very helpful to have a sense of the publication’s timeline for developing, editing and approving content, and to know how far in advance content must be finalized before being printed, or published online. For example, trade magazines tend to have lead times of as much as three months and glossy magazines may require six months or more, while daily newspapers and blogs usually have very short lead times.
In some cases, individual editorial calendar opportunities may have deadlines attached to them. In others, a standard lead time of three months, for example, may be applied. That being said, because editorial calendars are usually prepared by advertising departments far in advance of being issued at the beginning of each calendar year, deadlines may change without notice.
With an understanding of the lead time associated with each of the opportunities you’ve identified, you can reach out to editors at the right time. The last thing you want to do is annoy them with questions about an article they aren’t planning to write for six months. When you connect with an editor, you want to determine if the opportunity still exists and if there are any fees involved, and gain a sense of their vision for the piece. If they don’t have a vision but do know the topic, you want to help them shape the story by painting a picture of who your client is and how you can offer something of value to readers. In order to position your client in a way that makes sense for the editor, you really have to know your client, its technology and its customers inside out. You also have to know why the idea you’re pitching should be of interest to the editor or publication.
When speaking with or emailing editors, you can ask if there is any interest in featuring case studies, bylined articles, company profiles or quotes from industry experts. By making relevant suggestions, you can help simplify the decision-making process for editors. If you learn their plans include incorporating one of these or other elements, you can then make an informed decision as to whether or not it makes sense to pursue the opportunity based on available resources.
