The Renegade Writer Blog

Michelle Goodman is the author of The Anti 9-to-5 Guide: Practical Career Advice for Women Who Think Outside the Cube (Seal Press, 2006). We talked with her about how to escape the cube and find success as a freelancer. [lf]
In your book, you focused on women who want to pursue their dream careers. Why did […]

by Jennifer Applin 
Toddlers have really bizarre eating habits (second only to college students). I first realized this a few years ago with my daughter and my boys have followed suit. Regardless of the variety of food I put in front of them, they’d only eat what they wanted (usually just one type of food for an entire […]

Jessica writes: “At my last full time job I had enough time and energy to do a lot of freelancing on the side, which I loved. I started a new editorial position in October, and haven’t had time to pitch anything to the editors I usually work with because my hours have increased dramatically. I […]

Tiffani asks: “Tomorrow I’m interviewing someone I am a big fan of, and I want to make sure I keep it together and don’t look totally unprofessional or silly. Any tips on handling the nervousness and getting a good interview?”
I know how you feel: tomorrow I’ll be interviewing two big-name authors — in person — […]

Kim writes: “I’m drafting a query for a monthly magazine that runs a feature on a particular subject three times a year. I’ve reviewed what’s been published in this section since 2005. The first six articles are very similar, informative in tone and slanted toward a particular segment of the magazine’s readership. The most recent […]

Diana and I often get contract questions from writers. Sometimes we can answer them, but most of the time we send the writers to the Contracts Committee at the American Society of Journalists and Authors. The experts there can answer questions about contracts and rights — and even better, this is a free service and […]

My husband was walking down 39th Street in New York City this past Sunday on his way to Toy Fair, when he happened to glance down — and guess what he saw on the sidewalk?

I’m so famous you can see my name on the sidewalks of NYC! (And I’ll ignore the fact that someone trashed […]

Susan asks, “I have some articles that I wrote early in my freelance career before I was concerned with First North American rights and contracts and all. The editor and I had an informal agreement and never signed a contract (he sent me a check without my even having to remind him or send an […]

Since the top dogs on this site are on vacation (lucky ducks), I figured I might as well write an update and maybe sneak in a renegade tip that’s worked for me.
Makeover topic #1: Books. I’m doing okay on this front, though going back to some of those ‘dream markets’ has resulted in curt one-line […]

I’m leaving for a well-earned vacation this week to sunny Florida (that is, if our flight gets out of here before the snowstorm!) and will be returning late next week. While I’m taking my laptop, I vowed to my husband and son that I’ll keep my computer time to the bare minimum so that we […]