what are editors at vogue looking for?
college + career q&a
Happy November everyone.
I am working on the final touches for a Halloween party tonight—taping little paper bats along the bay window frame, making white chocolate icing for mummy rice krispies, carving a fresh pumpkin for the centerpiece. I love this kind of stuff!
Originally I was going to record this q+a as an audio post but alas I cannot find my microphone. In this case, published is better than perfect. Thank you to everyone, especially the college students, for sharing your questions. At that age, I remember being very anxious about my future career prospects and appreciating all the advice and reassurance I could get.
Lately there has been a lot of discussion about “good writing” on Substack.
In an increasingly saturated newsletter space, an entire genre of posts about Substack recommendations has popped up (e.g. which newsletters XYZ person pays for). I find this all fascinating as a freelance writer with no journalism degree and no formal work experience at a magazine. My work doesn’t fix neatly into a box: I write for The Molehill, but I also write for publications like Coveteur, Vogue and The Strategist. And then there’s the other side projects. Sometimes I ghostwrite copy for brands, sometimes I do style coaching with clients, sometimes I make videos about female vampire fashion throughout cinematic history (this is not sponsored, but I do have a 30 day free link for MUBI so you can finally watch The Substance in the comfort of your home tonight).
But pretty much all of the time, I work alone.
Sure, I have collaborators and freelancer friends and a great community of fellow Substack fashion writers. We talk and exchange ideas. But it’s not the same as having an editor whose job (theoretically…ideally…) is to mentor you and support your professional development goals.
The “good writing” discourse that has stuck with me is the idea offered by some that being trained by editors at a magazine or news publication makes you a better writer.
While not every writer on Substack is trying to write in a “magazine standard” style, I would say that I do—to an extent. Not for every single post on here, but I am happiest when I’m working on at least one meaty essay with intellectual rigor to exercise my brain. Because I work solo, my strategy for learning and improving as a writer is to pitch stories to publications and get them commissioned so I can work with a good editor.
Why not work a formal position at a magazine? A good job in media is hard to come by. Staff writer salaries are notoriously low, which is one contributing factor to why they leave to try going independent on Substack. What people don’t openly talk about is that you often have to be rich enough (or work multiple jobs) to afford working the entry-level or part-time (no health insurance!) writer roles in media. Standing from the creator economy side, I do recognize the benefits of the traditional media—I just wish there was a financially sustainable way to reap them.
That is going to be the puzzle to crack for any aspiring writer.
For this college and career q+a, the most common question readers submitted was some variation of:
How do you write for big publications? What are editors looking for?
I’ll answer this by offering the best writing feedback I’ve received from a Vogue editor: