Spread Some Joy
The last thing you want to do is spend money on your editors — after all, it’s their job to give you money…right?
Maybe, but I like to surprise my editors every once in a while with a little treat. One year I did my taxes and discovered that Family Circle had accounted for a large portion of my income the previous year. I sent my three editors there $10 Starbucks gift cards (enough for a pound of coffee or a couple of java drinks) to celebrate, and they were thrilled! When another of my editors was promoted, I sent her a cool desk toy. And this year was the tenth anniversary of my first magazine publication. I still write for that magazine group, so I send the editorial department a box of Fairytale Brownies.
Gift cards are always appreciated (how about a gas gift card for the editor with a commute?), as are food gifts like coffee or nice chocolates.
Don’t be schmoozy, don’t send a gift “just because” (how creepy!), and don’t drop a bundle (some magazines have guidelines for the value of gifts their employees can receive)…really, it is the thought that counts.
Have you ever sent your editor a gift? Please share in the Comments section! [lf]
Sounds nice, but…maybe I don’t have enough of a relationship with my editors? The idea of sending a gift to any of them seems way off base.
But I sure wish I was one of *your* editors…specifically, one who would get brownies
No, I can’t say I’ve ever sent an editor a gift though I have received a few; food and such always goes down well. The best has got to be a pay-rise though!
Piper, if the idea of sending any of your editors a gift seems off-base, that’s definitely a sign that it wouldn’t be appropriate! The editors I’ve sent gifts to I’d developed a close writer-editor relationship with (one would almost say a friendship). I have lots of editors I would never send a gift to because it would just seem too weird.
I’ve been mulling this over for a while. I think a Starbucks gift certificate is the perfect solution for the one editor that I am inclined to send a gift to.