For Employers

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What have you done as an editor?

I have been a full-time editor for newspapers, magazines, and websites. I have also been a freelance editor for the websites of several businesses, and I have been a freelance writer who has had feature articles appear in more than a dozen magazines. I have an engaging, conversational writing voice and an ability to adapt that voice to a variety of writing styles, from narrative feature writing to marketing content. I’m also known for my meticulous attention to detail and my ability to help writers learn to craft stories that show instead of tell. 

I have extensive experience with editorial planning. I created a calendar of roughly 12 articles each week as an editor for a newspaper. When I was the associate editor at Offshore, I was the editor for the front-of-the-magazine section, which was like its own miniature magazine. I planned seven to nine articles for this department each month, in addition to managing several other departments. I was also involved in planning feature articles, and I was the editor for two features each month. I worked closely with writers, photographers, and the rest of the editorial staff.

When I was freelancing, I created editorial calendars for roughly a dozen different businesses. The calendars were most often for weekly blogs and covered a variety of subjects, including boating, fishing, travel, hunting, and hiking.

The material I currently edit is written by emergency physicians for an audience of emergency physicians. It is filled with challenging terminology and is meticulously detailed, so a sharp editorial eye is mandatory. 

When planning editorial calendars, I enjoy putting myself in the mindset of the target audience. I like the challenge of researching the audience and understanding what they’re thinking and what they’ll find exciting and interesting. I enjoy coming up with content ideas, especially fun, unconventional ideas. Some ideas I have come up with are articles about dating sites for boaters, boating with dogs, and rumors of a legendary creature in northern New Hampshire.

What’s up with that weird career break?

Let’s not ignore the elephant in the room: My resume looks unconventional, to put it politely. To put it bluntly, it looks pretty sketchy. I get it. There’s that long period after Offshore and before Emergency Medicine News when I was “freelancing.” What’s up with that?

I understand why that would be a concern. If I’m an employer with only a resume to go on, it raises some questions. Why is there such a long gap in full-time employment? Did he not do a job for all those years? Was he fired? Was he unemployable? Does he not like to work? Does he not get along with people?

I left Offshore on great terms. I left because my wife and I were expecting our first child. My wife has a good job and, given the cost of daycare and what we wanted for our children, we decided it would be best if I stayed home to raise the children while also working as a freelancer. When I left Offshore, my editor asked me to stay on as a freelance editor, which I initially did for about nine months. However, the realities of being an inexperienced new parent were more than I bargained for, and I told my editor I would have to stop. (Who knew parenting a baby would be so hard? Oh yeah, almost every mom I knew who said “You don’t know what you’re getting into.”) I continued to write articles for the magazine until it shut down in 2009.

After the magazine shut down, the publication’s creative director and sales director each started their own independent businesses, and both sought me out to do freelance editorial work for them. That work included a large amount of content marketing and web content, which meant I spent years creating and managing editorial calendars for a variety of websites while I was freelancing. 

While freelancing gave me plenty of freedom, I missed many aspects of full-time employment. Most of all, I missed working with a team of co-workers, brainstorming ideas, getting advice and feedback, and working toward shared goals.

What kind of employee are you?

A resume only tells a small part of the story. Sure, it outlines skills and experience. But what helps someone excel as an employee is who they are as a person—their character, work ethic, and personality. 

I’ve always been self-motivated. I’m intrinsically driven to maximize my potential and be the best I can be. I’m my toughest critic and most demanding boss. 

One of my strongest skills, and something I’d say I’m better at than most people, is accepting criticism. Not just accepting it, but seeking it out. Many people tend to be reflexively defensive and view criticism as an attack (and often shape it as unfair or unjustified). That’s not me. The reason I am the writer and editor that I am today is because several talented editors that I worked with along the way thankfully took the time to explain to me what I could do to improve. Criticism is not a negative, and it is not an attack. It is a valuable tool, and it is essential for growth.

I also have a long history of having great relationships with co-workers. Luckily, I’ve worked with exceptional people throughout my career, people who were both talented and were wonderful to be around. When I’ve encountered the occasional challenging personality, I’ve learned the value of being patient, putting aside my ego, and giving people the space to allow their true character to come out. Often, when someone has come off as maybe gruff or off-putting, I’ve found that with time it becomes clear that they mean well and are good people, but maybe they have something personal going on or they have certain personality quirks. Be patient and give people time and space, and you’ll find most of the time they’re good people. 

Just how versatile are you?

If you’ve seen my resume and portfolio, you know I’ve been an editor for a boating magazine, have done marketing work for several boat companies, and freelanced as a “boating expert” for several regional magazines.

Here’s the thing: I don’t boat. Never have. Heck, I get seasick about five minutes after leaving the dock.

As little experience as I have as a boater, it’s safe to say I have even less personal experience with emergency medicine. But editing articles about emergency medicine is what I do.

I’ve spent most of my career writing about things I have no personal experience with: zoning bylaws, fishing, tax reimbursement formulas, furniture making. 

I can work on any subject because being a good writer (and editor) means being humble, asking questions, doing research, and being able to put yourself in other people’s shoes. These are things I do as well as anyone. (But don’t ask me to drive a boat or perform an emergency operation.)

How are you at working with writers?

One of my favorite roles as an editor is working with and mentoring writers. I did that at both the newspaper and magazine. The key to building strong relationships with writers is to be empathetic and have clear communication. 

I think it’s important to take the time to give feedback whenever you can. First, let the writer know what you like about the article. (And there’s ALWAYS something nice you can say, no matter what.) Then explain what you’re changing or what you’d like to see them change and why. Being detailed here might be time-consuming up front, but it will usually help them improve as writers, save you time with future articles, and it builds trust. One of my proudest moments was when I was leaving Offshore and several writers reached out to me to say they were sad to see me go, that they trusted me with their articles, and they felt I made them better writers.

Also, I was the editor who was sought out to repair relationships when other editors had conflicts with writers. On more than one occasion, and with more than one editor who was senior to me, the lead editor took articles away from them, gave them to me, and asked me to edit the articles and repair the relationships. While I took no joy in there being conflict, I appreciated the trust she had in me.

Ultrarunning seems weird. What does it have to do with you as an employee?

I get asked a lot why in the world I would want to do races that are 100 miles long and 24 hours or more when I often get rained on, sometimes get hypothermic, and get nothing of any real value at the end. 

Honestly, I usually ask myself that a few times every event. 

But ultrarunning is one of the greatest teachers I’ve ever known. It’s a lot like life: It usually doesn’t go as planned, it throws unexpected obstacles at you, it wears you down, and sometimes you just want to quit. To succeed, you must learn how to keep perspective in difficult situations. You learn to emotionally regulate, to become unflappable, and to find a way.

When you’re 60 miles into a 100-mile trail race and you find yourself puking on the side of a trail in the middle of the night with 40 miles left to go (I’m VERY sorry about that visual), you can either quit or find a way to keep going. 

Ultrarunning teaches you how to be a problem-solver when situations seem bleak. And I’ve found those skills come in handy for most other areas in life.