4 Booby Traps I Observed & Stepped Away from as a Volunteer Editor on the Side

Why are you making the jump?

Ever been a volunteer editor?

Considering being one?

Yes, I do encourage you to. This is that side of online writing we miss.

We are used to writing, submitting, getting published, and complaining about our views. Or cursing these bunch of buffoon editors when our pieces get bonzai’ed or rejected.

That is us. We sit on one side of the fence.

That said, how is life on the other side?

Editing is a Thankless Job

It is.

Firstly, volunteer editors do not get a cut of your earnings. I know I do not. This piece of work has no monetary returns, so to speak.

Next, you have whiners to deal with. Maybe you are courteous. You would write why you reject this piece in a private note thread. You explain where they fall short. You tell them to re-read the submission guidelines.

Guess what?

The same writer would resubmit the same unpolished, unchanged article into your queue one day later.

And guess what?

Of all the volunteer editors in the publication, you, among all people, get to edit this beautiful once-rejected piece… again.

You roll your eyes. You slap your face. You sigh.

And you wonder what to do.

And so you consult the editor-in-chief.

To your dismay, the publication owner says publish.

You disagree with the judgment. You wanted to fight back. In seconds, you calmed down. You do because you know this publication is not yours.

And you know that you have 10 more articles to screen and publish. Or reject. Or pretend to miss.

So, you close your eyes and hit the Big ‘P’ button.

You shut your laptop, happy that the day is over.

You move on to your own writing.

Then you realize the following.

• You are mentally tired.
• You stare into space.
• You concuss in bed.

And only to have the exact same routine repeat itself tomorrow. And tomorrow. And tomorrow.

1* The Trap of Writing Improvement

Why do you want to be a volunteer editor?

This is my first guess.

You want to improve your writing.

Of course, this is positive thinking. We should. In fact, I would recommend reading more for this reason.

But using editorial work to improve our writing? Hmm.

This is a maybe. Yes, you get exposure. You will see,

• Drafts not checked by Grammarly,
• Articles [obviously] written by A.I. content generator,
• Submissions that will not be published in the publication you serve.

And you will be wondering if you should help edit or [simply] reject and have your life threatened.

There is good stuff also. You get to edit work sent in by Top Writers.

Then again, I doubt you will [actually] edit anything. You will find it weird to do so. And honestly, top dogs have a way of writing they maintain and would not want their styles to be incoherent out of nowhere.

So, you don’t get to do anything. Really.

And that brings me to my point.

If you are [just] starting out, avoid using free editorial services as an avenue to improve your writing. It takes up far too much time. This is precious time that could be better spent writing.

It does, however, improve your editorial skills in your own writing.

That is it.

2* The Trap of Shoring Up Engagement

Want to use free editorial services to drive up engagement on your articles?

Haha. Well, Gotcha.

Let me say this. You have to publish many, many, many articles for many, many, many online writers for a long, long, long time… for this strategy to work its magic.

It will not happen in a day. Or a week.

• If you have the patience to execute this strategy — Go ahead.
• If you are not a fan of helping others to polish their work — Stop where you are.

You get a far better readership from improving your writing [as a newbie writer] than from juicing engagement.

3* The Trap of Editing [Per Se]

This is about me.

I used to think I could edit. Then, I was a junior year sophomore year online writer. I thought I knew enough.

I was wrong. Dead wrong.

I was trapped in the time-consuming quicksand of expertise. Or the lack thereof.

There are many, many pieces about Bitcoin. And I don’t know enough about it to judge a piece of writing. Hence, I spent more time researching the topic than editing that piece of work.

Yes, I absolutely did. I needed to know that this writer’s work was not paddling me sh!t, right?

Forget about Bitcoin. There are many topics I am ignorant of.

• E-commerce.
• Digital nomading.
• Gardening, travel, music.

What is your plan when a well-researched, brilliantly articulated piece falls on your lap and lies outside of your domain of expertise?

I encourage you to have an answer before taking the plunge.

4* The Trap of Building a Community

So, firstly.

I have nothing against building a community. It is a good idea to surround yourself with like-minded people. Writing communities keep us accountable when our fingers are on strike.

But.

If you are running a publication, providing free editorial support to your community because you want,

• High engagement from your writing,
• To funnel them to your website,
• To sell them something,
• So on and so forth,

You are going to be disappointed.

Let me explain why.

Many online writers do not care about their editors. They [simply] see it as a natural stage in their value chain. Oh, first I write. Next, I submit it for review. Then, they edit. Then, they publish.

Game understood.

Expecting them to reciprocate because you provide free editorial services will backfire. This is like a typical sales funnel. If you are lucky, only 10% converts.

You will be disgruntled in time to come.

So, if you are doing it with a profit motive — Forget it.

Really. Forget it.

It won’t work.

You are better off writing more.

The Close

I applaud all editors who devote precious time and energy to help polish our work.

They are brilliant.

Editing is a tough job. Dealing with whiners? Wow. That’s beyond me. That is why I do what I can… as time permits.

I expect nothing in return.

And if you are at a point where volunteering as an editor interests you — Go for it, man.

That said, do not fall into the 4 traps I mentioned in this article.

They are,

• The trap of improvement.
• The trap of engagement.
• The trap of editing [per se].
• The trap of building a community.

Volunteer your services because you want to and not for extrinsic purposes. Do it for the fun. Expect nothing in return.

Because if you do…

You will be disgruntled, disappointed, and dinged.

So don’t.

Like this story? Hit Subscribe!

Oh, oh, you can buy me a cup of black too! Thank you!