The Renegade Writer Blog

Okay, I just set up my first free monthly teleclass! Here are the details:
Date: Tuesday, October 13 at 8:30-9:30 pm ET.
Topic: Querying with Confidence. Do you have trouble coming up with a pitch that a magazine editor will love — or do you have the know-how, but you’re afraid of rejection? In this teleclass, we’ll [...]

Nancy asked:
I’ve been scouring the internet for someone who can answer a basic freelancing question for me. Are all these writers who quote “experts” for their stories actually quoting their own interviews with the experts/authors or are they quoting the experts’ books, which are always named. I see so many stories where three different experts [...]

I got this question in the Comments section but thought it would be good to answer it on the blog.
Sarah wrote:
Hi Linda, I have a question and didn’t know who else to ask. I am an accomplished magazine freelancer who has been approached by a semi-public figure to co write a book. However, he doesn’t [...]

According to the post How to Do The Hard Thing: Part 5 of 5 on the Play It Forward blog, “shoulds” weigh one to two tons more than “want-tos.” The author goes on to explain how to lighten up those shoulds (I should make that difficult call to my editor, I should prepare for that [...]

I’m now offering free teleclasses for writers on topics ranging from how to write a killer query to how to organize your assignment workflow, all based on my 12 years as a successful freelancer. The teleclasses will take place in the evening during the business week, and will last from 45 minutes to one hour. [...]

Saying No is something I have trouble with; if someone approaches me with an assignment, I’m (1) flattered, even though after 12 years of freelancing this is not a rare occurrence, and (2) excited at the prospect of moolah. So even if an assignment is not ideal, in the past I’ve typically said Yes. But [...]

…it’s the day four of our e-course sessions are starting! We have:
Travel Writing Workshop with Alison Stein Wellner
Writing for Trade Magazines with Pat Curry
Magazine Writing Basics with Elaine Grant
Get Unstuck! for Freelancers with Linda Formichelli
If you’re looking to boost your freelance career to the next level, this courses will help; they’re taught by freelancers who [...]

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest to win free entry into the Basic versions of my e-course Get Unstuck! for Freelancers and Elaine Grant’s e-course Magazine Writing Basics. The lucky winners are:
Magazine Writing Basics: Jan Adamson
Get Unstuck! for Freelancers: Denise Reynolds
Congratulations, Jan and Denise!
If you didn’t win, please do check out our e-course page [...]

In my post Extreme Productivity in early August, I talked about how I had my husband change my password to a time-suck writer’s forum and I downloaded a free Firefox extension called BlockSite to block other distracting sites. For a couple of days my fingers itched to type in those web addresses, but then the [...]

The contests for free entry into the Basic versions of my Get Unstuck! for Freelancers course and Elaine Grant’s Magazine Writing Basics course ends at 12 am on Tuesday, September 8. Details on how to enter are here. Read about the e-courses we’re giving away. Good luck! [lf]