Magazine editors can seem so unapproachable. Am I right? You send them a query, and nothing.
But there’s one place where many editors seem to be easier to connect with: Twitter. As someone who once got $6,000 of assignments from a tweet, I’ve always been a fan of trying editors on this platform.
If you call an editor, you know it’s going straight to voicemail, every time. Right?
On the other hand, asking a quick question on Twitter can be a useful workaround. Some magazine editors love Twitter, and turn out to be fairly approachable on there.
Interested to learn more? Let me give you my favorite question to tweet to an editor. I’ve also got a list of interesting magazine editors (online and traditional print) you might want to follow on Twitter:
Tweet this to magazine editors
There’s one query that I find many magazine editors are willing to respond to on Twitter. And it’s a question freelance writers commonly have — around which editor on a big masthead they should target for their query.
It goes like this:
Hi, I noticed you’re the [articles, health, managing, etc.] editor for X magazine. Would you be the right editor to pitch an idea about [Y topic]?
As you can see, this is a fairly innocuous question. It doesn’t require a lot of their time.
Their answer is either:
- “Yes, I’m the one,” or
- “No, that would be joe@joemagazine.com.”
Either answer helps you. If it’s them, you can respond to that editor and let them know you’re sending a pitch. When it lands in their inbox, hopefully your name rings a bell now.
If it’s Joe, now you have instant credibility. You can now start your query with, “Cindy indicated you’re the editor to send this pitch to.”
And BOOM! — you seem like you got referred over from the other editor. Nice!
- What you don’t want to do to magazine editors on Twitter is pop up and try to put your whole query into a series of tweets. #justno
- Or ask a long, complicated question that would take a lot of thought on the editor’s part. Keep it simple!
Now that you know what to say to magazine editors on Twitter, let me give you a starter-pack of editors to check out on there. Some of these were recommended to me, some are editors I know and follow, and others I turned up just to help you out.
20 Magazine editors to follow
There are two good reasons to follow magazine editors on Twitter:
- They are a source of useful info for writers
- You are stalking them because you want to pitch them
In the list below, I’ve only included editors who would be good for both cases. If they’re not very active on Twitter, then following or even tweeting to them is a waste of time. You can only win by targeting a tweet to an editor if that editor checks their Twitter!
Also want to point out, I scared these up with just a couple hours of research. (See my tip near the bottom on how I do it.)
Big tip: If it’s anything higher than managing editor, they’re probably not the right person to pitch — look lower down the masthead. I’ve included a few editors-in-chief here because I think their feeds are useful. And you could always ask them who’s the right person for your particular query topic.
OK — ready? Here’s an editor list to whet your appetite (listed alphabetically by publication name):
1.Cosmopolitan: Editor Farrah Storr shares everything from job leads and mentoring opportunities to thoughts on race and culture, to podcasts from their Sunday Salon.
2. The Cut: Get fashion and pop-culture trends from president and editor-in-chief Stella Bugbee.
3. The Daily Beast: For hard-hitting news, try national editor Justin Miller (@justinjm1), who shares my nose for scandal.
4. Entrepreneur: Because I earned more on the digital side here than I did for the magazine, I’m steering you to digital editor Dan Bova (@danbova1). Also, he’s funny.
5. ESPN the Magazine: Loving deputy editor Chris Sprow as his interests are ‘Just about everything.’ Bonus points: He’s also a podcaster.
6. Game Informer: If you’re not familiar with this top-10 consumer mag, you’re not a gamer. Editor Andrew Reiner (@Andrew_Reiner) shares design, gaming, and culture news.
7. Harper’s Bazaar: Get style and fresh conversations on race from senior fashion editor Chrissy Rutherford (@chrissyford), who was recently featured in a ‘women who tweet’ influencers roundup by The Newsette.
8. The Hot Sheet: Co-founder and editor Jane Friedman (@JaneFriedman) is someone every freelance writer should know. As she says, “I know far too much about the publishing industry.”
9. Inc. I had the pleasure of working with Laura Lorber (@lauralorber) back at Entrepreneur — catch her here now, as executive editor.
10. Parents: Editor in chief Liz Vaccariello (@LizVacc) brings a wealth of knowledge, as she’s also been an editor at Reader’s Digest and Prevention.
11. The Penny Hoarder: New editor Dana Sitar is a fellow writer’s coach — so her feed is full of useful tips. This is also a great break-in market for newbies.
12. Prevention: Sometimes, you hit an editor who wears many hats. My big score is Alyssa Jung (@AlyssaAJung) — she’s also a senior editor at Good Housekeeping, Redbook, and Woman’s Day! Cha-ching.
13. Self: One of the most prominent consumer mags to go all-digital last year, Self lives on — and editor in chief Carolyn Kylstra (@CarolynKylstra) shares everything from job leads to
14. Social Media Examiner: Who better to follow on Twitter than someone whose beat is social media? Lisa Jenkins (@LisaDJenkins) is the managing editor of this highly popular site.
15. Sports Illustrated: If you want to learn how to amass a large Twitter following, check out executive editor Jon Wertheim (@jon_wertheim) — he’s got 42K+.
16. Traveling Mom: Cindy Richards (@CindyTravelsOn) serves as editor in chief of this multi-author travel platform.
17. US Weekly: Get your culture fix with reactions and exclusive tweets from associate editor Nicholas Hautman (@nickhautman).
18. Vogue: Enjoy fun takes on the state of things from culture editor Alessandra Codinha (@ATCodinha).
19. Wired: Executive editor Maria Streshinsky (@Mstreshinsky) is another one posting job leads, as well as sharing posts on tech and politics.
20. YES! Magazine: For upbeat and progressive thoughts, there’s Chris Winters (@TheChrisWinters), YES! senior editor.
Here’s how to easily find more editors
Boggled on how to locate editors on Twitter? I know, some people don’t use their actual name as their handle. Or they’ve got a middle name or initial in there, or just something random. So it CAN be baffling.
But…there is hope.
You can search on the publication’s Twitter handle…and then select ‘People.’ You’ll see a list of people who include the publication’s Twitter handle in their Twitter description…including folks who’re on the publication masthead. As you see here, with a search I did for PopSugar ‘people’:
Find and follow magazine editors
Hopefully, this list gives you a taste of how much info you might glean from following magazine editors on Twitter.
That’s not the only place to check them out, though. Recently, I conducted an interesting experiment in looking for LinkedIn influencers: I searched for the word ‘Editor’ in my contacts.
I turned up over 60 people. And that was just first-degree connections!
Some editors were at a different publication than I remembered. Some had been promoted. And that was without exploring what editors I might have as second-degree connections on there!
I think a bunch of new connection invites are in the offing.
You can do the same on Twitter — look through an editor’s followers to find more editors.
Happy tweeting!
Need help finding magazine editors? Leave a comment below, and let’s discuss.
