Q: I came across a great opportunity with a regional magazine that’s looking for an associate editor. They’re asking for just one clip (“the piece of writing you’re most proud of”), but I have a problem with the age of what I want to submit. The rule I remember was to only send material published in the last year — perhaps 18 months if it was gangbusters stuff. Unfortunately, my freelance clips were grind-’em-out stories for small suburban papers, and the stuff I write now is completely the wrong tone for this magazine. (Everything we write is very short, aimed at a niche audience, and written very tightly — no chance to show off my writing chops.) Throw in a few years as an editor, and I have to go back to when I was a reporter, which means clips published before November 2005. That feels positively paleolithic to me.
I don’t know if I have a better option, though. My first instinct would be to call and explain this, but the ad says “no phone calls.” The only other option I see is to send more than they ask for. I can explain, briefly, in my cover letter why I’m doing that. And then I can send my best writing clip from my last year as a reporter, a writing clip that shows I know (the prospective city), and throw in an editing clip, to show the kind of work I handled. (I have some decent choices, although I would probably push back to November 2008 for what clearly was the best work I had a hand in editing.
A: I would send the single clip, as instructed. It seems odd to me, but I am not the one hiring. I would use that six-year-old gem and explain in the cover letter that your recent work pretty much has been editing and on-line quick hits.
Keep in mind that the cover letter will serve as a sample of your writing, too, so it has to be very good, though a different kind of good than a clip is. The cover letter should explain — no apologies — what you have been doing in recent years and how your experiences have made you a better candidate for associate editor. I would not even allude to the date on the clip because that might call attention to the age or sound defensive.
Lead with all positives, including the good experience you have had editing. Let’s hope they figure things out.
