by: Sir Khalid Rahman
Once the basics of a magazine have been agreed upon and decided, the regular work of an editor begins. An editor has to plan the magazine, decide who to assign the contents, articles as well as pictures and visual. Once the contents start coming in, the editor has to start editing and thinking about the magazine layout.
The idea for an article may germinate in the mind of an editor, a corporate sponsor or a writer, like a painting which may be created by an artist or assigned to him by someone else. In either case, it is the writer, or the artist, whose efforts make the work happen. With an editor, it is different: he has to make the article more interesting and readable by using his professional skills.
The bulk of magazine writing is done on assignment. What sort of an article needs to be assigned? A how-to article? A personal experience? A first person narration? A happening? An observation? An analysis? Social issue? Art? Showbiz? Politics? Civil rights? Cookery? Anything or anyone under the sun can be the topic of an article; however it must fit in with the magazine profile. The editor has to assign the articles to the most suitable writers.
Almost every magazine has guidelines for their contributors. These guidelines should be understood well and strictly followed. A writer has to be careful not to annoy the editor with frequent and no-so-important queries. If a writer continues to be careless or insensitive, their name will be included in the list of people with whom the editor will not work. Instead, they should try to be included in the list of writer who are regularly called with ideas and assignments—those on the list of regular contributors.
What is most important is the editor is the captain of the ship that is your magazine. An editor has the last say and his word must be taken very seriously. On the other hand, selecting the content of the magazine is the acid test the editor has to pass. It is an editor's hardest test.
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