Specialized Professional Organizations: Writers/Editors

There are literally hundreds, maybe thousands of different writing specialties to cater to every niche under the sun. Accordingly there are professional organizations to fill the career needs of these niche writers, below is just a sampling of the different groups to join and excepts from their websites explaining their offerings.

The North American Association of Travel & Lifestyle Writers

"Membership in TravelJourno is open to working professional travel, wine and food journalists, photographers, and broadcasters. Our membership also extends to publishers and editors of consumer and trade publication, book authors and freelancers. Affiliate membership is open to public relations personnel who represent clients in the wine, food, hotel, resort, cruise and airline industries."

New York Financial Writers' Association

"The New York Financial Writers Association is the nation's oldest organization devoted to business and financial journalism. Since its founding in 1938, hundreds of journalists from news organizations in every facet of media, newspapers, magazines, television, radio, wire services, online website services, and other new media have enjoyed the benefits and camaraderie of membership."

New York State Sports Writers Association

"Founded in 1967, the New York State Sportswriters Association has long been regarded as an authoritative voice and the leading source of information about scholastic athletics. Begun by sportswriters Larry Serrell of the Schenectady Gazette and Chuck Korbar of the Buffalo Evening News, NYSSWA membership grew from a mere 12 in 1967 to 246 in 1971. Larry died in 1983 and Chuck passed away in 1998, but they built the foundation of an organization that includes more than 300 reporters, coaches, administrators and assorted fanatics who receive 50 annual issues of the newsletter. Our membership includes prep writers and editors from virtually every newspaper in New York -- many of whom contribute countless hours compiling rankings information and statistics -- as well as a number of other media outlets and college coaches from across the country."

National Sportscasters & Sports Writers Association and Hall of Fame

"The National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association and Hall of Fame is the only organization dedicated to the crafts of sportscasting and sportswriting in the United States. Our more than 700 members are the most accomplished and talented sports media in the industry covering professional, collegiate and amateur sports both in the U.S. and abroad."

Association of Food Journalists

"The Association of Food Journalists, Inc., is a networking system especially created for journalists who devote most of their working time to planning and writing food copy for news media worldwide. AFJ's primary goal is to encourage communication among food journalists. In addition, AFJ tries to increase members' knowledge of food and to sharpen their writing, design and broadcast skills. The group also strives to foster professional standards among its members and other members of the media."

American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors

"The American Association of Sunday and Feature Editors is an organization of editors from the United States and Canada dedicated to the quality of features in newspapers and the craft of feature writing. AASFE supports its membership with an annual conference, a writing contest, an annual magazine and a Web site."

Editorial Rate Guidelines For Freelancers

The Editorial Freelancers Association's website summed up beautifully the fair market editorial rates for freelancers, which is just a set of basic pricing guidelines for which freelancers may charge clients or employers may pay freelancers. Of course rate may vary but its a good frame work to build reasonable rates. Below is their take on rates.

"Common editorial rates —regardless of whether a project is flat rate or hourly— tend to fall within the ranges indicated below. These should be used only as a rough guideline; rates vary considerably depending on the nature of the work, the time frame of the assignment, the degree of special expertise required, and other factors. The industry standard for a manuscript page, however, is a firm 250 words."
Type of Work
Estimated Pace
Range of Fees
Copy Editing, basic
5–10 ms pgs/hr
$25–40/hr
Copy Editing, heavy
2–5 ms pgs/hr
$35–50/hr
Substantive Line editing
1–6 ms pgs/hr
$40–65/hr
Developmental Editing
1–5 pgs/hr
$50–80/hr
Layout Newsletters
1–4 pgs/hr
$40–70/prn pg
Layout Books
6–10 pgs/hr
$45–85/hr
Indexing
8–20 prn pgs/hr
$35–65/hour$3.50–12/indexable prn pg
Project Management
NA
$9.00–20.00/prn pg $40–70/hr
Proofreading
5–10 ms pgs/hr
$25–35/hr
Researching
NA
$25-50/hr
Translating
300–500 wds/hr
20-50¢/wd
Writing
1–3 ms pgs/hr
$50–100/hr $1–$2/wd
Transcribing
variable
$3–$5/pg
NOTE: ms = manuscript, prn = printed, pg = page, hr = hour, wd = word
Updated: September 2008

Writer's Resources

Writers need all the help they can get to perfect their craft in order for them to stay competitive. Here are five resources that will expertly help writers take their skills to the next level.

New York Writer's Workshop
"New York Writers Workshop is an alliance of experienced, professional writers of poetry, fiction, non-fiction, plays and screenplays who live and teach in New York City. Our mission is to serve a growing community of aspiring writers with workshops that teach craft, foster creativity, and enable writers, no matter their background or experience, to achieve their full writing potential," their website said.

NY Writer's Coalition
Their website says, "NY Writers Coalition Inc. (NYWC) provides free and low-cost creative writing workshops throughout New York City for people from groups that have been historically deprived of voice in our society."

NYC Pitch & Shop Conference
According to their website, "This writer conference event promotes aspiring authors writing in the genres of commercial and literary fiction, serious and light women's fiction, historical fiction, mystery/thriller and detective, high-concept young adult, as well as memoir and narrative nonfiction.

Gotham Writers' Workshop
The summary on the website explains, "Gotham Writers' Workshop is the leading private creative writing school in New York City and online. Professional writers present workshops in more than a dozen forms of writing. The school’s interactive online classes, selected as “Best of the Web” by Forbes, have attracted thousands of aspiring writers from across the United States and more than one hundred countries."

The Village Quill: A New York Writer's Loft
"A writer's loft and art galley in the heart of Tribeca, The Village Quill has been a haven for creativity for almost four years, providing workspace for both emerging and established writers and a showcase for artists. Located in one of Manhattan's most coveted neighborhoods, The Village Quill seeks to foster the literary success of its members while offering a creative forum for professionals of all genres," according to their website.