The Renegade Writer Blog

Denene Brox always dreamed of being a professional writer — and now she is one. Read on to learn how she broke into the business and how she lands assignments sans query.

Can you give us a little background on your writing career?

I’ve been writing all my life and was always praised in school for my writing. I had dreamed about starting a freelance writing career for years, but every time I tried to write a query letter, I always felt like I was doing it wrong. I still have query letters in my file from a few years ago that I never sent!

Then in the spring of 2005 I went on a trip to Florence, Italy to take an intensive Italian course and decided that my experience would make a great article for Transitions Abroad magazine — a publication that focuses on immersion travel. So when I came home I wrote a few articles and in October got word that my article had been selected. I was ecstatic! I ended up having four articles accepted by Transitions Abroad.

Getting that acceptance gave me a lot of confidence and I started submitting more travel ideas and got a few more assignments. After about a year I decided that I wanted to focus on other areas such as career, general features and trades. I also decided that I wanted to make more money so now I only query publications that pay higher fees to their writers. This year I’ve had acceptances by Monster.com, Writing-World.com and Business Xpansion Journal (my articles are slated to publish later this year). I’m currently writing a feature article for a banking trade publication.

How did you land the high-paying trade magazine assignment?

I didn’t do anything special really to get the bank trade gig. I’d made contact with the editor last year through an introduction letter (which I modeled after the letter in your book, “The Renegade Writer”) and decided to follow up with her with an idea I had for a banking article. She referred me to her replacement editor and she loved the idea.

One thing that did kind of set me apart is the fact that I have experience in the banking industry and I played up on that. So if you have experience in an industry, look for trades that cater to that field. But with the other trade I wrote for last month, I just sent the introduction letter and got an assignment from that.

It can sometimes be hard to find magazines that you’re interested in writing for and that pay well. How did you find the trade magazine?

I found the banking trade in my Writer’s Market book. Since I have banking experience, I looked under the trade journal - Finance section.

I also find trades by searching on-line. There’s a website that I use a lot, TradePub.com, that lists dozens of trades. I searched by areas that I thought I would be good at writing.

What did you include in your intro letter?

For the banking introduction letter I gave a brief round-up of my writing experience. I also played up my banking experience and presented my idea. I also followed your advice to ask if I could send some clips.

Did you break any rules in getting this or any other assignment?

Yes. When I read “The Renegade Writer” I was totally surprised that you can get writing assignments from sending a simple introduction letter and not have to write queries. I don’t really like writing queries. I hate having to get sources and quotes when I don’t have a firm assignment. In fact, I feel like it is too time consuming. My biggest jobs so far have come from simple letters of introduction and a referral.

Is there any product or piece of equipment that you couldn’t imagine working without?

I could not be a freelance writer without the Internet…I can’t imagine how writers ever worked without it.

What’s your wildest writing dream?

To publish a book AND make a full-time living as a writer (I still have a “day job”).

If you could start all over again, is there anything you’d do differently?

I would have started sending out queries a long, long time ago. But as I look back on the success that I’ve had in just one year, I know that the timing of my trip and inspiration that came from that was all in order. That first sale definitely gave me a huge confidence boost.

Is there any other advice you’d like to give aspiring freelance writers?

Yes, take your time. I tend to get really impatient and overwhelmed by how much information and advice there is out there. I sometimes feel that I have to act fast or I’ll miss an opportunity. But jobs show up when you take consistent action (sending out introduction letters, queries, following up, even journaling). Also, don’t be afraid to try. The worst an editor can say is no (or nothing at all). You have to learn to handle rejection. Oh, and don’t fall into the trap of comparing yourself to other writers. You are your only competition — strive to top yourself!

One last piece of advice: ALWAYS follow up with an editor if you haven’t received a response. I’ve gotten assignments that I wouldn’t have landed had I not followed up. I have an editor who is going to toss my idea around at a editorial meeting because I called him to check on the status of my query. Had I not called, my query would be lost in cyberspace! [LF]

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