Editorial Calendar - The Editorial Process

The Editorial Process

Editorial calendars are used to define and control the process of creating content, from idea through writing and publication. An individual or small business might have this publishing process:

1. Brainstorm content ideas to publish, where to publish, and when to publish
2. Write each piece of content based on the publication schedule
3. Edit each piece of content
4. Publish each piece of content

A larger group might have this publishing process:

1. Brainstorm content ideas to publish, where to publish, and when to publish; include backup content items for each piece of content; include dates to determine whether to delay or kill each content item (for example, if a writer becomes ill or an interview subject is unavailable)
2. Assign each piece of content based on the publication schedule
3. Write each piece of content
4. Review the first draft of each piece of content
5. Give go or no go decision based on first draft edit and other criteria (then adjust the publishing schedule as needed)
6. If go, finish writing each piece of content and submit draft content to layout team so they can plan their work
7. Perform final edit, copy edit, fact checking, and rewrites as needed
8. Submit piece of content for review by legal team
9. Make changes if/as needed based on legal input
10. Submit piece of content formally to layout team for their creation of artwork to be included with the published content
11. Post content on a development/test server and make final changes if needed
12. Publish content on the production server or other media

Whether the publishing process is simple or complex, the movement is forward and iterative. Publishers encounter and cross a number of hurdles before a piece of content appears in print, on a website or blog, or in a social media outlet like Twitter or Facebook.

The details included and tracked in an editorial calendar depend upon the steps involved in publishing content for a publication, as well as what is useful to track. Too little or too much data make editorial calendars difficult to maintain and use. Some amount of tweaking of editorial calendar elements, while using the calendar to publish content, is required before they can be truly useful.