The Renegade Writer Blog

If you dream of being a writer — or are already a professional and want to boost your income — the Renegade Writer e-courses are for you. We’ve hired instructors who are highly-qualified freelance writers, editors, and teachers, and they worked hard to construct courses that will help you reach your writing goals. These successful freelancers are ready to share their success secrets with you!

How the courses work: Each Monday, your instructor will e-mail you a link and password to that week’s lesson and assignment. You can do the assignments on weekends, at night, or during your break at work — whenever YOU have the time. If you signed up for a version of the course with e-mail or phone support, your instructor will give you personalized help with your questions and assignments. In other words, you’re not crammed into a group course on some e-mail discussion list. The best part is, you can use the lessons you learn in these courses over and over again.

Please choose a course:

• Travel Writing Workshop with Alison Stein Wellner (NEW!)
• Introduction to Food Writing with Monica Bhide
• Make Money Writing for Trade Magazines with Pat Curry
• Magazine Writing Basics with Elaine Grant
• Get Published in Magazines with Linda Formichelli

TRAVEL WRITING WORKSHOP, taught by Alison Stein Wellner
START DATE: Monday, May 19, 2008
DURATION: 6 weeks
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Travel writing can require the research skills of a historian, the interviewing skills of a journalist, the keen sensory observations of a poet, and the narrative techniques of a novelist (while hewing to the strictest standards of accuracy!). In this six-week workshop, we will cover essential research skills and habits to use on the road, how to develop ideas for travel stories, including service pieces, narratives and essays. We’ll look at trip planning and design, managing relationships with public relations professionals, and the specific issues involved with pitching travel stories. This is a workshop-style class, with a selection of weekly assignments to build your research, writing and traveling muscles. The silver version of this course includes a password-protected online forum where the instructor will take questions and where you can learn from your fellow students, and the gold version that includes both the forum and private email support from the instructor.

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: In the past year, Alison Stein Wellner tackled assignments that took her to Germany, China, Argentina, New Zealand, Poland, Scotland, Honduras, South Africa, and to a number of places in the North America as well. (Yup, that’s every continent but Antarctica.) She writes a twice-monthly column about travel for The Street, and blogs about travel and culture for the Huffington Post. She’s written for Boston Magazine, Business Traveler, BusinessWeek, The Chicago Tribune, The Christian Science Monitor, Continental, Fast Company, Glamour, Ladies’ Home Journal, Men’s Journal, Money, Mother Jones, New York Magazine, Psychology Today, Reason, Robb Report, Sierra Magazine, USA Weekend, The Washington Post, Working Mother, Yankee, Yoga Journal, among other places. She’s been a contributing editor at Inc. magazine and former editor-at-large at American Demographics magazine; a New York Times Professional Fellow and a National Press Foundation Fellow, and her articles have won awards from the American Society of Journalists and Authors and the American Society of Business Press Editors.

Download Alison’s E-course FAQ (PDF format)

COST: $300 for the Gold version, which includes access to private online forum and e-mail support.
$250 for the Silver version with access to private online forum.
$125 for the Basic version with no forum privileges or e-mail support.

BUY NOW: Travel Writing Gold:

BUY NOW: Travel Writing Silver:

BUY NOW: Travel Writing Basic:

INTRODUCTION TO FOOD WRITING, taught by Monica Bhide
START DATE: NEW SESSION! Monday, May 5, 2008
DURATION: 6 weeks
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This comprehensive six-week course will enable you to combine your love of food and your passion for writing into a marketable skill. You’ll learn about the different kinds of food writing: service articles, recipe development, cookbook writing, blogging, memoirs, essays, restaurant reviews and more. I will teach you how to find hidden markets for your ideas, how to track down the correct editors at publications, and how to make your food writing really shine. This course, presented along with skill-building assignments, will give you an in-depth understanding of the food writing profession. Whether you wish to develop recipes, write a family cookbook, break into a national food magazine, or write food essays, this course will provide you with a solid foundation from which to build on. Included in the course materials will be interviews with the food editor of the Chicago Tribune, the travel editor of Food & Wine, the restaurant critic for the Washington Post, and more.

“Monica Bhide’s foodwriting course is pure joy. Her love for the subject and enthusiasm comes across in her meticulous course materials and generous feedback. Many internet courses skim the surface of the subject matter, but Bhide dives in straight and deep. Not only do her lessons cover the pros and cons of different food writing aspects, she includes targeted Q&As with food writing professionals and carefully crafted samples that drive the information home. While Bhide’s exercises require serious commits of time and thought, they aren’t just “busy work”. The assignments mirror real life scenarios or build practical skills you can put to immediate use. The highlight of the course is Bhide’s feedback. She gives unrestrained praise where earned and constructive, helpful suggestions to fill the gaps. I highly recommend taking this food writing course. My only complaint is it ended too soon.”
—Charmian Christie

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: Monica Bhide has: discussed truffles with the grand-old Chef extraordinaire Imtiaz Querishi in Mumbai; sampled hamur on dhows in Dubai; sipped camel’s milk in Bahrain; followed a superstar food critic around Mumbai and an anonymous one in DC; presented Spices and Rices at the French Embassy in DC and gotten lost on the backstreets of Delhi searching for the perfect paratha; tapaoed in DC with Chef Jose Andres and sampled the amazing cuisine of Chef Ananda Solomon; taught cooking on-line (yes it can be done) and in her cooking school; sampled flights of honey and hosted colorful henna parties each spring.

Monica has written on food for such publications as The New York Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, Bon Appetit, Town and Country Travel, Food and Wine, Cooking Light, Coastal Living, Health, and Better Nutrition. Her highly praised first cookbook, The Spice Is Right: Easy Indian Cooking for Today (Callawind Publications, 2001) is a collection of mouth-watering menus tempered with her up-to-date touches on classic Indian recipes. Monica’s newest cookbook, The Everything Indian Cookbook: 300 Tantalizing Recipes–From Sizzling Tandoori Chicken to Fiery Lamb Vindaloo (Everything Series) was released in May 2004. Monica was also the recipient of the Susan B. Langhorne Scholarship for Food Writers at the Symposium for Professional Food Writers in 2004 and the runner up for the 2005 award.

Download Monica’s E-course FAQ (PDF format)
COST: $500 for the Gold version, which includes six weeks of phone support (1/2 hour per week, by appointment) and e-mail support.
$250 for the Premium version with e-mail support only.
$125 for the Basic version with no phone or e-mail support.

BUY NOW: Food Writing Gold:

BUY NOW: Food Writing Premium:

BUY NOW: Food Writing Basic:

BUILDING A HIGH-PAYING CAREER WITH TRADE MAGAZINES taught by Pat Curry
START DATE: Monday, April 28, 2008
DURATION: 8 weeks
COURSE DESCRIPTION: Many budding freelance writers think that writing for trade magazines is at best a stepping stone, something to fill in the gaps while they’re trying to achieve the ultimate goal of writing for national consumer magazines. At worst, they think trade magazines pay badly, are deadly dull, and are written by hacks who can’t land an assignment anywhere else.They’re wrong — on all counts. Trade magazines often pay just as much as national consumer magazines, tackle tough issues, and require the same level of reporting and writing as any news magazine. Plus, editors at trade magazines aren’t swamped with hundreds of queries a week. They appreciate writers who understand the voice and mission of their magazines and regularly reward them with steady work.

In this course, you’ll learn how to build a high-paying career writing for trade magazines. Sessions will cover: An overview of the three types of trade magazines, how to find trade magazines (they’re not on the newsstands!), the critical differences of writing for trades and consumer magazines, specialization, story ideas for trade magazines, letters of introduction, story pitches that give trade magazine editors what they really need, and reslanting and reselling trade magazine articles to consumer publications.

“I want to thank you for holding the class. It’s really been eye-opening and you gave us some very helpful instruction.”
—Heather Larson

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: Pat Curry is a senior editor at BUILDER, the official magazine of the National Association of Home Builders. BUILDER is the largest monthly-circulation trade magazine in the country and the American Society of Business Publication Editors’ 2007 Magazine of the Year in the 80,000-and-up circulation category (other finalists for the honor included BusinessWeek, CIO, PC World and The Scientist). A 1980 graduate of the University of Florida’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications, Pat spent six years working for daily newspapers before going freelance in 1987.

Her freelance career has included writing for newspapers, governmental agencies, universities, non-profit organizations, Web sites, and regional, national, and international magazines. For the past 10 years, her award-winning work has focused almost exclusively on trade magazines.

COST: $240 for the Premium version with e-mail support
$120 for the Basic version with no email support.

BUY NOW: Trade Writing Premium:

BUY NOW Trade Writing Basic:

MAGAZINE WRITING BASICS, taught by Elaine Grant
START DATE: Monday, April 28, 2008
DURATION: 8 weeks
COURSE DESCRIPTION: If you’ve always wanted to write national magazine features but haven’t known how to get started – or if you’ve tried your hand at it and want to learn more – this course is for you. In Elaine’s course, you’ll learn about:

• The various kinds of stories, from front-of-the book items and service pieces to profiles and trend stories. For the truly adventurous, Elaine will offer an introduction to narrative features.
• The reporting process: where to dig up the best stats, studies, and information, how to tell the difference between reliable and unreliable data, how to find expert sources, how to tell good sources from bad sources, how to develop interview questions that get the best quotes, how to deal with difficult interviewees, the all-important fact-checking process, and more.
• Basic writing and editorial issues like ledes, description, dialogue, conflict, endings, and “entry points.”
• How to navigate the magazine publishing world — working with editors, handling deadlines and revisions, overcoming writers block, learning how to write fast, and finding your passion.
• Students who opt for the premium course will write one complete article (can be one that has already been assigned by a magazine editor). Elaine will answer research, source, and interview questions relevant to that story and will provide a critique of a draft if desired.

I loved the Magazine Writing Basics course. I learned a lot even though I took a Writing & Editing course through a university a couple years ago and a few of my magazine articles have been published. I needed reminding about some of the basics, but much of the information, tips and resources provided in the Magazine Writing Basics course were new to me and very helpful. My favorite part of the course was receiving Eliane’s personal assessment and advice. When I started the class, I was in the midst of writing an article that had no heart. Elaine helped me see where the trouble lay and her suggestions for improvement helped turn my article into something I’ll be proud to submit to the editor. Thank you, Elaine!
—Karen Giles-Smith

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: Elaine Appleton Grant has been a journalist for 20 years. She is a monthly columnist for Inc. Magazine and a former senior editor for this national business “bible for entrepreneurs.” Her work has appeared in The Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor, Business Week, Audubon, New Age Journal, Natural Health, U.S. News and World Report and more than 50 other trade and consumer magazines. Elaine has also been a producer for a National Public Radio talk show, where she learned how to write very quickly on topics ranging from the war in Iraq to John Williams’ movie scores.

Download Elaine’s E-Course FAQ

COST: $250 for the Premium version with e-mail support only. (E-mail support is highly recommended by Elaine.)
$125 for the Basic version with no e-mail support.

BUY NOW: Magazine Writing Basics Premium:

BUY NOW: Magazine Writing Basics Basic:

GET PUBLISHED IN MAGAZINES, taught by Linda Formichelli
START DATE: Monday, April 28, 2008 (Note: This course will be 9 weeks as Linda will be away for one week.)
DURATION: 8 weeks
COURSE DESCRIPTION: If you want to write for magazines but don’t know how to get started — or if you need some motivation to get you going — this course is for you. In eight weekly lessons, Linda will walk you through:

• Coming up with a salable idea
• Finding markets that would be interested in your idea
• Finding the right editors to send your idea to
• Interviewing people for the query letter (the proposal that sells the editor on your idea and yourself as a writer)
• Writing a winning query letter
• Getting your query out the door!

So far, students of this course (which launched in June 2005) have landed assignments from Writer’s Digest, Woman’s Day, Rhode Island Home, Living & Design, For Me, Body & Brain, Michigan Out-Of-Doors, MyBusiness, Pizza Today, E: The Environmental Magazine, Black Health, Cottage Living, and other magazines.

At the very end of 2006, I decided to take one of your courses with hopes of starting a freelance career. In January 2007, I bought Query Letters That Rocked. I completely changed the way I did things…the first story I sold this year was to USA Today!

Since then, I have sold stories to The New York Times, American Cheerleader, Wondertime, American Baby, Discover, Yoga Journal, Spirituality & Health, Web MD, Mother Jones, Fit Pregnancy, Delicious Living and Plenty. I’m now having people come to me– have signed on to do some niche blogging and just accepted a trade article today.
—Rachel Mosteller

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: Linda has written for more than 120 magazines since she started freelancing in 1997, including such top-notch publications as USA Weekend, Family Circle, Fitness, Health, Psychology Today, Parenting, Wired, Business Start-Ups, Men’s Fitness, and Woman’s Day. Linda is the co-author of The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success and The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock.
QUESTIONS? E-mail Linda.
COST: $240 for the Premium version with eight weeks of e-mail support.
$120 for the Basic version with no e-mail support.
Download Linda’s E-course FAQ (PDF format)
BUY NOW: Get Published in Magazines Premium:

BUY NOW: Get Published in Magazines Basic:

Share This