Q&A

Q&A with Ellen Ryan, Managing Editor of Washingtonian

By Amy A. Welch, WIW Member

Ellen Ryan is the Managing Editor of Washingtonian, a well-respected publication in our nation’s capital. In addition to professional editing, she writes freelance articles and has published a book called, Innkeeping Unlimited: Practical, Low-Cost Ways to Improve Your B&B and Win Repeat Business. As a child of a librarian, she had a perfect launching pad into the world of written communication and is very knowledgeable about research and information literacy. Ms. Ryan is also very generous about sharing her experiences with aspiring writers and currently teaches classes at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, MD, Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA), and Montgomery College.

Where are you originally from? When did you come to Washington, DC, and why?

I grew up in rural New York where there are more cows and apple trees than people. It was a wonderful place to be a kid. I majored in government at the University of Virginia, which has a direct pipeline to Capitol Hill. I took the pipeline but realized after one summer that I would rather write about politics than get an ulcer participating in it.

Your title is “Managing Editor” of Washingtonian. To a layperson, what does that mean? It sounds like you are the “workhorse.” What do you do? How long have you been there?

Titles mean different things at different publications. An outsider would have no idea how to parse them; heck, even an insider can get cross-eyed.

I have been with Washingtonian for 11 years. While this magazine is going to press, roughly one-third of each month, my job is more like air-traffic control. I keep the editors, writers, designers, and production staff all speaking to each other. At my desk I feel like one of those Hindu deities with the multiple arms. I answer the phone, jot down notes, talk to a writer, look something up, take in proofreading, and give out assignments.

How have the two functions of writing and editing worked together for you professionally? They are related, yet potentially separate job functions. As an editor, do you strictly edit?

When I was 22 and on an informational interview, a trade-association editor insisted that I would have to choose between writing and editing. I thought, “No way.”

Not everyone is good at both writing and editing. But if you can do both or more, why not? It is tough to find a staff job as a writer alone, but writing may be your best path to an editing job; it is easier to demonstrate your credentials. Many editors also write. They all do if you count rewriting, revising, and coaching writers toward their best work. To me, there is not so clear of a distinction: I write and edit at work, and I write and edit as a freelancer.

Freelancing is a great way to expand your portfolio and contacts, hone new skills, and explore subjects you don’t cover at work. At my previous job, the higher-ups insisted that I not write about our specialty outside the office. No problem! In 1990, I was offered a travel assignment, and I have done travel writing ever since. You can do both the research and the writing outside of business hours, so it works well.

What is the average reader of Washingtonian like? Upper-middle class, educated?

Market research shows that 84 percent of subscribers finished college, almost half have finished postgraduate work, and most have managerial or professional positions. The mean household income is $185,800, and 87 percent own a home. Subscribers dine out an average of 9.3 times a month, which helps explain the popularity of our two restaurant covers each year.

How do you think libraries can benefit writers? Is the Internet replacing libraries?

I am old-fashioned about libraries; my mother is a librarian, and I know how valuable they are. There is a lot on the Internet, but so much is pointless or of questionable veracity. Besides, libraries disseminate books, magazines, newsletters, and newspapers. That is what we write, so let’s encourage that! I am still mourning the loss of card catalogs, so I certainly hope the Internet does not become our only library.

Do you have a preference for paper or electronic reference materials? Which is more authoritative?

Electronic is potentially more updated, though anything that relies on human input is fallible. I use the Internet all day for quick reference – being careful of the source, of course. But for Writer’s Market, for example, I would rather have the book than the CD. At 2 am, I would much rather flip to the right page and see what is around that entry than boot up the computer and search for that one item alone.

Do you think personal reference assistance has lost value with the Internet? How does the staff of your magazine do the bulk of their research and fact checking?

Oh, no; personal assistance is all the more valuable now. Educated judgment so outweighs the mere tonnage of information. How can you navigate all that? Reference librarians know how; that’s most of their job. Taxpayer funded, too.

I think Washingtonian’s writers rely mainly on interviews and personal observation, backed up or sparked by articles and books. Our fact checkers are all college students or recent graduates, and unfortunately the vast majority of them don’t seem to know any research method besides the Internet. We have a wall of Who’s Who and quotation books and maps, but if it’s not online, it doesn’t exist. When a fact checker says, “Their site doesn’t have the information,” I reply, “What did they say when you called them?” Too often the answer is, “Call them?” What happened to picking up the phone to talk to a real person?

You are currently teaching a class at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda called, “Getting Your Nonfiction Articles into Print.” How long have you been teaching classes? Do you only teach on this particular topic, or have you have taught on other topics?

I started teaching a similar class at Montgomery College in Rockville in 1995. A spinoff, focused on travel writing, came later. When I interviewed the dean of continuing education at Georgetown University for an article, she invited me to teach the same classes there, which I did until 2006. This year, I signed on with NOVA to teach travel writing in addition to the Writer’s Center, which has been terrific.

What motivates you to teach?

A mix of selfish and unselfish motives. The unselfish: passing on knowledge and developing others’ skills are part of what we should do as a human society. What are we if we can’t give one another a helping hand? The selfish: teaching does not pay fantastically (news alert!), but it does pay, and few writers would say no. Also, I get to use a different part of my brain, enjoy the company of creative people, and indulge my inner thespian. Plus, marking up so many assigned query letters and articles teaches me and makes me a better writer and editor.

What advice do you offer to rising writers who want to get some bylines?

Read. Read good material. Read Shakespeare, classic novels, poetry, and nonfiction. Read to be informed but also to pick up cadence, vocabulary, nuance, and structure. There is no better basis for writing.

Meanwhile, read the publication(s) you want to get into and the types of writing you want to do. What do you need to know? What do the experts know? What is being published on the subject? What does your target market emphasize and ignore?

When pitching, start small and strategically. I did hear of a Virginia woman whose first byline was in Life magazine, but unless you have the skin of a rhinoceros, I would suggest pitching minor pieces to local or more focused publications. You can develop relationships with editors while building a portfolio, and then work your way up.

If someone dreams of being an editor for a magazine, what does the typical career path look like? Is there a typical career path?

If there is a typical career path, I don’t know of it. Magazines and newspapers trade employees. You can go from journalism to public relations, but the other direction is not as likely. In a time of cutbacks and buyouts, many periodicals are hiring from within. They shift people around and promote from the intern ranks. Half of Washingtonian’s editorial staffers have written at least one book and some have left to do that full-time. Your book can support your article writing, and your articles can boost book sales. Or, you can work at the customs office, as Nathaniel Hawthorne did, and write only in your off-hours.