Advice for newbie managing editor of website

adogil

I have been a freelance copywriter/business writer for about 9 years. I know good writing when I see it, and I'm a great editor. However, I'm not familiar with the standard experience of freelance (feature) writers--which is why I need your help.

I've just been hired as the managing editor of a start-up website company. They've tasked me with filling one of their many websites with very high quality content. They'd like me to recruit writers who are experts in a specific field. Of course, they are glad to give these writers a byline because this will add legitimacy to the site.

Are there any editors in this forum who have performed such a job? Can you tell me how you recruited writers? Were they freelance or staff? Also, we have developed a list of articles topics. Should we create a "template" for these articles? Is there a formula for putting together a site?

Any advice and/or suggestions would be very appreciated.

Thanks.
 

Deleted member 42

You need to start creating pages for writers and prospective writers, including a style sheet--how should articles be submitted? Length? Formatting? Editorial policies? Who has what rights?
 

Simran

What kind of a website is it? I originally started writing for a website who advertised right on the home page that they needed writers. When I sent in for more info. I was given several different writing assignments to see if my style fit what they were looking for. It did and I was hired to write for them. That was over two years ago. When their copy-editor quit last November, I was offered the job. I still write for them but now I do the editing from all the writers now too. :)
 
mkcbunny

mkcbunny

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I also wonder what the focus of the site is. I was the managing editor for a film-related Web site for several years, and we found most of our writers through existing staff members -- generally connection-and-industry based. And, due to the popularity of the topic we happened to be covering, we received many pleas from freelancers interested in working for us. In the latter case, we asked for resumes and samples, and if an individual had the right style and voice for our site, we'd generally give them a test assignment and see how it went.

But if your site is something less "sexy" than movies, or something that requires advanced levels of education, your pool may be smaller and qualified applicants more difficult to find. Everyone wants to write about movies. We had no trouble with the quantity of applicants, only quality.

My initial recommendation would be to create job and assigment descriptions, as suggested above, and use the Internet to advertise rather than paper publications. It's usually free, and your preferred freelancers are Web-savvy and online a lot. Definitely post a "Jobs" link on the site, but make it part of the regular baseline navigation. Don't put up a big banner saying "We need writers." My feeling there is that such an ad might turn readers off, making them think that you don't have enough qualified voices on staff. People interested in writing for you will find the link at the bottom of the page and on the site map. You can also post on craigslist.

If it's a highly specialized field, I'd make some additional suggestions.
 
mkcbunny

mkcbunny

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Oh, and we had both staff and freelancers. We did work out of a large office with a full-time editorial team, so for those positions, we did advertise locally. But we also had an ever-changing group of freelancers to fill in on certain kinds of pieces. I was referring to the latter above, since it sounds like you will have a small crew and perhaps be using freelancers to start. Certainly, if you expect writers to be on site full-time, then you should advertise on craigslist for your area and target whichever local publications you think are read by the appropriate demographic.

Would it be too obvious to say that you should list here on AW, in the appropriate forum?

Also, if your site topic is of the "hush hush" type, perhaps you can at least give us the general field: tech, food, entertainment, leisure ...
 
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