On Online Editing

The Bygone Bureau has an interesting little piece about what goes on behind the scenes of some well-known websites, editing-wise. McSweeney's, The Morning News and The Awl are discussed.

From the piece...

Not every venerable web publication needs a dozen editors. McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, the online presence of the San Francisco-based publisher, is a two-man operation. Christopher Monks has been editing the bulk of McSweeney’s web content since 2007, and along with his predecessor John Warner, who works part-time handling the 15 recurring columnists, they are the only two on McSweeney’s staff that don’t reside in the Bay Area. (Monks is a stay-at-home dad in Boston, MA; Warner resides in Clemson, SC.)

“I upload to the site every morning right here from the MacBook on my dining room table. Usually my two bleary-eyed sons are there watching me, munching on their Golden Grahams, trying to figure out what exactly it is I do for work,” Monks said.

Monks receives roughly 200 submissions a week, which gives him quite a bit to read. But the upside is that he can be picky — almost all of the site’s content comes from unsolicited submissions — and generally, most of the accepted humor pieces don’t need much editing. Monks usually makes a few tweaks to run by the writer before the article is ready for publication. But there are exceptions.

“From time to time a piece will come in with a brilliant conceit, but not great execution, and if I think it’s worth a major overhaul I’ll work with the writer to make it fit for the site,” Monks said.

Monks communicates with writers, and his co-editor, solely by email. Warner uses Google Calendar to schedule recurring columns; Monks organizes humor content about a week in advance. His biggest technological hurdle is the software he uses to run the site, which is so antiquated that he needs to hand-code all the content, upload everything manually, and he can’t even schedule content to run on a future date — all features that are standard in modern platforms.

“The software we use to upload content is very old, like cart-and-buggy-and-men-with-hats-and-funny-mustaches old,” Monks joked.

The platform has gone largely unchanged since McSweeney’s Internet Tendency went live in 1998. (For reference, that was the year Google was launched.) Luckily, the team is in the process of creating an entirely new engine for the site, a project led by McSweeney’s digital media director Russell Quinn, who also designed the gorgeous and eccentric McSweeney’s iPhone app. When I asked if the site’s classic, Times-New-Roman-on-white look would be getting an overhaul as well, Monks said he wanted to keep it a surprise.

“The site’s new engine will probably be the biggest makeover, he said. “The site will be more user friendly, though.”