An Interview with Jonathan Telfer

A Way With Words

An Interview with Jonathan Telfer

When I first started to wade into this murky world of writing and publishing, one thing soon became very apparent to me.

I didn't know a damn thing about the industry.

This came as something of a shock to the system. I mean, for almost every career out there you have a hazy, if undefined, understanding of the steps you have to go through to build a career. Specific educational background? Check. Registration with official body? Check. Unpaid work experience? Check. Entry level position? Check. But when you tell people that you want to be a writer, the consensus amongst the clueless is that you whittle off 100,000 words over a fortnight, post the resulting manuscript to a major publishing house and hey presto! You're bigger than Dan Brown, JK Rowling and James Patterson combined. Much the same attitude seems to exist towards anyone working in journalism or magazines, and always from people who don't know much about the industry – oh, you just write a couple of sentences then spend the rest of the time in the pub. I mean, writing for a living isn't exactly hard, is it?

Now the librarian in me gets rightly miffed off when I don't know the answer to things, so off I went to try and find as much up to date information and advice as I could find about the craft of writing, the path to publication and an assessment of the markets open to newbie writers like myself. (aside: as much as I would like to pretend that I was incredibly organised and did this with military precision, in truth it was more a case of stumbling across relevant information on an ad hoc basis. I'm still learning.)

One of the best resources I came across – shoved into my sceptical hands by a far more intelligent friend – was a copy of Writing Magazine, with a copy of Writer's News attached. What can I say? I was impressed. Information, advice, interviews and market analysis updated on a monthly basis, and perfect to read with a cup of tea and a biscuit when my son is taking a nap. I've learnt a lot from these magazines, and more than that, I enjoy them.

Jonathan Telfer, editor of both Writing Magazine and Writers News, very kindly agreed to answer some questions for The Project about his own career in magazines, and also to share some general advice for all us newbie writers.

Hello and welcome to the Literary Project! Can you talk us through your literary career to date, including how you came to be editor at Warners Group?

I was fortunate enough to be one of the journalists let in through the backdoor, before it was sealed shut. I graduated in Russian from Nottingham University and never did my NCTJ, but did manage to get a job at the Yorkshire Evening Post as a copytaker. All it really required was decent grammar, some basic IT skills and, most importantly, fast typing. I answered the ad thinking I'd be in a room of people taking in classified listings and ad copy, but in fact went straight into the newsroom, where I would input all sorts of obscure sports reports, rework press releases and – the exciting bit – breaking news from reporters who couldn't get back to the office in time for deadline. In those days (the late 1990s), evening newspapers still had three deadlines a day, and there wasn't yet the technology to transmit their copy wirelessly, so I'd be glued to the phone, working up stories while the reporters went through their notes. The more traditional copytakers – there were only three of us by then, but my old guard colleagues remembered a time when there would have been tens of copytakers for each paper – would just type what the reporter said, warts and all, but I had an eye for detail and structure and couldn't resist suggesting changes. It made the subs' lives easier, but one reporter even said he hated giving copy to me, as it was like going through it with the news editor.

Eventually, I got a few nice freelance jobs offered - writing some opinion pieces and advertorials, album reviews for the Yorkshire Post, and quite a range of things for Absolute Leeds, interviews, events, reviews, listings, etc.

At the time, Writers' News and Writing Magazine were published by the same company, so when a vacancy came up as editorial assistant, I jumped at the chance to be more involved with the editorial process, but I wasn't really prepared for quite how involved I would be. I think I only had a cursory preparation before jumping straight into writing news stories and features for the magazines, which only had a small team. It's all been smooth progress from there though, through staff writer, news editor, editor of Writers' News and, now, editor of Writing Magazine too.

What does a magazine editor actually do?

Well, I can't speak for other magazines, but for my part, just about everything. We're not a big team with clearly demarcated roles. The overriding aspect – and the one that most people seem to think is all I do – is what I call 'steering the ship': deciding what features and articles we need, and planning for what's coming up next month, six months, next year... But at an earthier level, I do everything from answering correspondence or fixing the office computers to subbing and proofing copy. Much to my designers' dismay, I tinker with pages too. And now there's the website to factor in, too...

What are your favourite parts of the job? Which bits could you live without?

I love feeling that we're helping writers - whether that be by answering quick questions by email, letting them know about opportunities to sell their work in Writers' News, or improve their writing in general through Writing Magazine - so it's great to hear from readers who've got a deal by following our advice, or chasing up a contact. Sometimes that helps us to feel like we're making a difference, which is really encouraging. On a personal level, I just love words, so playing with copy and finding the best way to say something always gives me great pleasure.

I could live without some of the paperwork, budgets and sales figures, for obvious reasons!

Do you write yourself?

Although I don't write as much as I'd like to – having been in front of a computer all day, it's hard to justify going home and doing the same thing, particularly to my family – I do like to write, usually very wordy things that don't really go anywhere. I've had a few script ideas drifting round my head for a number of years, and recently had what I hope is the basis for a great novel pop into my head fully formed so I'm itching to get on with that. I'm afraid I'd rather not go into detail though... it's very easy for writers to get carried away telling people about the great novel they're going to write and not actually doing it!

What is your ultimate goal in the literary sector?

That novel! Plus film deal! Please! Anyone?

Tell us about Writing Magazine & Writers News please! What are the benefits to subscribing to these types of publications for writers, both published and aspiring?

Writing Magazine and Writers' News have been running for the last twenty years. WM, which goes to newsstands, was originally launched as a sweetener for WN, which is by subscription only, but that position's virtually reversed now.

Writing Magazine focuses quite strongly on the craft of writing, in all genres, so we have experts advising how to handle different techniques of narrative or styles, specialising in certain types of fiction or suggesting new angles for articles. We try to get a good spread in each issue, so there'll be something to encourage the beginner, and something more technical or a new avenue to pursue for those who are already published but perhaps want to improve their style. We also have a few interviews and profiles, which we try to keep as practical and advisory as possible, and usually a grass-roots author sharing his or her experience of a particular aspect of the publishing process.

Writers' News is still subscription only, and is a lot more practical than WM, with details of how to submit to book publishers and their requirements, magazine publishers looking for articles, small press zines looking for stories, lots of competitions, and anything else of interest to working writers. There's lots of opportunities for writers these days, so we help them find out what they are!

What are you looking for in submissions?

I'm always happy to consider articles for publication, particularly practical advice, analysis or how-to features. Ideally, the writer should have some track record and a voice of authority.

What are the most common mistakes you see in submissions from new writers?

I get an awful lot of submissions that the writer obviously wanted to write but which don't have any awareness of the reader, or what the reader will get out of it. Opinion pieces about "Why I want to be a writer" don't get very far, I'm afraid, and nor do "My book is out, would you like to do a feature?" Frustratingly, there's nearly always an angle in there somewhere, if the writer thinks about it differently. We're a writing magazine, a great many of our writers have got a book out, so think about what makes your story different from everyone else's. Surprise us!

What are the key skills that are required to be an editor?

It seems almost tautological to say it, but strong editorial standards – which run from fundamentals of grammar and spelling, to identifying with your readers and considering what makes them tick. You also need to be fastidious, organised and very thick-skinned - although those are fairly universal whatever your job, I expect.

Working for magazines, whether freelance or staff, is a hard area to break into. What advice would you give to someone wanting to make a career for themselves in this sector?

I've been very lucky to get where I am, the way I have. It was a very pleasant way to get into the industry, and one I wish I could still suggest. But opportunities don't seem to present themselves like that anymore. Get work experience. Get as much as you can. It adds to your portfolio when you're applying for a job, and could even become a job in its own right if you perform well. Freelance work will also bolster your CV... which brings us to part two!

Getting freelance work can be a slog, but if you keep trying, and keep considering why your work was rejected, rather than just turning it round and sending it somewhere else, you'll stand a much better chance. As I said before, there's an article in anything if you find the right angle.

And finally, could you sum up a key piece of advice for aspiring writers in one sentence?

One sentence?! There's only one option... Never give up.

Many, many thanks to Jonathan for sharing his experience and advice with us, and I hope he manages to find the time to write that novel! If you can't get yourself down to your newsagents right this second to go buy a copy of Writing Magazine, then you can learn more about both magazines over here.