The Renegade Writer Blog

If you’ve been writing professionally for a while, you’ve probably noticed that pay rates at most magazines have remained the same. A dollar a word is still the magic number — as it was in the eighties and even earlier. Add in inflation and the fact that assignments are getting shorter but still requiring the [...]

I’ve added a subscription page where you can get The Renegade Writer Blog as an RSS feed or subscribe via e-mail. I’m still figuring out the finer points of WordPress. My goal is to get a subscription icon on every page. Till then, you can find this page and more about us under the “Pages [...]

Tomorrow’s the last day to get yourself in the running for one of three fabulous Renegade Writer Makeovers. If you’ve been putting it off, put it off no longer because once 11:59 p.m. strikes on Saturday, the mailbox at makeover [at] therenegadewriter [dot] com closes for good.
We have some exciting makeover experts lined up. I’d [...]

As I was wandering the aisles of Staples early Thursday a.m., I started thinking about how many office tools I own (a lot) and how many of them have revolutionized my work (very few). In no particular order, the essential writing tools I can’t do without:

The hands-free headset. If I could only keep one tool [...]

Karen Lynch freelanced for newspapers in the 1990s, and she recently landed her first magazine assignment using a letter of intro instead of a query. (She also learned the importance of asking for the assignment.)
Why did you decide to send an introductory letter to this particular magazine instead of a formal query?
I was tired of [...]

I found out about this cool new service on Lifehacker today. It’s called GrandCentral. In a nutshell, you get assigned a GC phone number to which you can assign other phone numbers in your life. Instead of handing out your home, business, and cell numbers willy-nilly, you just give people your GC number.
With GC’s web-based [...]

My next e-course on Getting Published in Magazines will begin on January 8, 2007. This eight-week course includes eight lessons, eight assignments, and (guess how many?) eight weeks of e-mail support related to the course. (There’s also a half-price option that does not include e-mail support.) Previous students have landed assignments in Woman’s Day, E: [...]

Last Friday, my mailman delivered a magazine that included one of my articles. It had been a hellish story to write: I’m an incorrigible over-researcher, and with only 1500 words at my disposal — well, let’s just say it wasn’t fun-time in the Burrell household that week.
Anyway, I read it over this morning, and it [...]

The window of opportunity is closing this week for the Renegade Writer Makeover. If you’re still agonizing over your tale of woe, finish it up and get it in. We’re not judging your writing here: we simply want to find three freelancers who really need a career overhaul. Keep it simple: let us know what [...]

From our publisher, Marion Street Press:
CHICAGO, Sept. 15 — Sick of those ever-present buzzwords that seem to obscure rather than clarify what’s being said? Starting September 15, readers can vent their frustration with the constant stream of pretentious talking heads by submitting the words that drive them crazy to a contest to find the most [...]