Editor Sue Bartucca talks about her website The Risk Collective
Sue Bartucca
Sue Bartucca has been working in magazines since she left school, and has worked on publications as diverse as New Woman and Homes Wordwide. She now runs a thriving design and editorial business with her graphic designer husband. Her latest venture is editing a women’s community website, The Risk Collective.
What was your first job in publishing?
My first ever job was in advertising sales in a small Asian publishing company in London. I was dreadful at the job and hated it ¬– I only lasted a few months in that department, but when I mentioned my A levels in Art and English, I ended up as head of the Studio instead, pasting up pages with a waxing machine and scalpel to hand!
Lines between columns were hand-drawn with Rotring pens… I also wrote the record reviews and proofread copy as it was a tiny magazine with the bare minimum of staff – and the work was very labour-intensive – we didn’t have computers and design packages in those days!
How did you progress from there to becoming the editor of the Risk Collective?
I have worked for more magazines than I care to remember, including Me, a woman’s weekly with a paper pattern in the middle that has long since closed. I was New Woman’s first ever production editor, but after ten years in London I wanted a complete change. I moved to Bath and started working at Future Publishing on a games magazine called SuperPlay, for the SNES console. I worked my way through loads of different magazines there, moving through the ranks to become an editor.
I then went freelance to have my first son and became editor of Homes Worldwide, which sadly closed due to the downturn in the overseas property market.
Then I set up my own company, Bar2ka Design & Editorial Services with my husband who is a graphic designer, and I now divide my time between that and The Risk Collective.
How would you describe The Risk Collective?
It is a community site and the aim is to be inspirational, fun and supportive, with lots of interesting and relevant features, interviews, reviews and competitions and plenty of interaction from all the community members.
It is aimed at women aged between 35 and 65 (though not exclusively) who want to change their lives in however small or large a way.
They may just want advice on how to cope with relationships and work, or need to know what to expect from the menopause, or they may be looking for inspiration to open their own business, or to do something completely different that will test them to the limit – we aim to be there for them with ideas, support and humour.
How can people get involved?
Simply log on to www.riskcollective.com and join the community. You can then start commenting on the features or start a topic of discussion, offer advice and support to fellow Risk Collective members, enter the competitions, and tell me what else you would like to see on the site…
What do you enjoy most about your job?
I love writing about anything and everything – it is in my blood – and the great thing about the Risk Collective is the opportunity to write about a huge variety of different topics and all of them close to my heart!
I enjoy talking to like-minded women who feel like me about the issues associated with being a woman today and I am learning new things every day, which I find very exciting.
Contacting lots of different people for interviews, book reviews, stories and so on is fun too – it is a very sociable site.
What are the biggest challenges?
Making sure that the features I put up are interesting and relevant and getting people to read them and join up.
What do you think the online market has to offer writers?
The internet is a fantastic medium for writers – your words are published in a matter of minutes instead of weeks as with a magazine.
New websites are being created every day, so there are lots of opportunities to find work – it is a great place to showcase your writing and is instantly accessible to millions of people worldwide. It is a booming market.
What inspires you?
The honesty and black and white views of my two boys, other women’s life stories, women who have set up their own successful businesses, women who have overcome the odds to do what they have always wanted to do… the fact that Barrack Obama has been elected the new US president, the creativity of writers, comics and filmmakers in the UK - the list goes on.
Colleagues in the industry inspire me – I am lucky enough to know a large circle of creative people who all look out for each other.
What has been the highlight of your writing career so far?
I have to say writing for The Risk Collective. I can get a lot of what I have always wanted to say off my quite considerable chest… And it is a real challenge too. I relish a challenge…
What advice would you offer an aspiring writer?
Read as much as you can and write all your ideas down on paper, or get one of those Dictaphone pen things so you can catch your ideas whenever you have them.
The best way to get into magazines, newspapers, or websites is by hard work – offer your services for work experience and make yourself indispensable to them. Come up with ideas for them as well – editors are always appreciative of new ideas…
And keep talking to as many experts in your chosen field as you can – networking works. Above all, never give up trying.
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