This article originally appeared in Writer’s Digest. Enjoy!

Watchwords for Writers
By Linda Formichelli

You’ve probably seen articles that tell you which words and phrases to avoid at restaurants if you want to stay healthy — words like “crispy,” “golden fried,” “creamy,” and “closed by the Board of Health.” Well, we writers also have words we should steer clear of when we’re presented with assignments and contracts.

Exposure

“We don’t pay,” the editor says. “But think of all the exposure you’ll get!” As a smart friend of mine says, people die of exposure. Ask yourself: Will having your byline in this magazine bring fame, riches, and paying assignments from other publications? Now I’ll answer your question with another question: Do you happen to know the names of the writers who wrote the cover stories this month in Vogue, Reader’s Digest, or pretty much any other newsstand magazine? If not, then you probably can’t expect that an article in a non-paying magazine will lead to your being noticed either. Say “no thanks” to the editor who asks you to write for exposure, and use the time you saved to pitch paying markets.

Great Clip

This is a corollary to the “exposure” gambit: “We don’t pay, but your article in our magazine will make a great clip!” Do you know how many clips you need to snag a paying assignment? Zero. I started out in 1997 with a copy of Writer’s Market, a 1,200-baud modem, no clips (unless you count a review of a dialectology tome in the academic journal Language), and no clue. My first assignment, from EEO Bimonthly magazine, paid $500. It never occurred to me to work for free, and no one asked me to. And now I had rent money and a clip that helped me move up to newsstand magazines.

All Rights

If a contract says that an assignment is “all rights” or “work for hire,” that means the magazine owns your article. You’re not allowed to resell it, post it on your website without permission, or read it out loud to yourself in the privacy of your own home without the use of protective goggles.

I admit it: I’m sometimes a slacker when it comes to fighting for article rights because I don’t often bother to find reprint markets for my work. But recently, an editor at a magazine I wrote for several years ago e-mailed to ask for my address because they reprinted one of my articles and owed me half the original fee: $750. I earned $750 just because I didn’t sell all rights to the piece! I learned my lesson and you should, too: Ask the editor if you can change the contract to First North American Serial Rights, meaning that the magazine has the right to be the first to print the article in the U.S. If they insist on work for hire, all rights, or other rights, ask for more money.

Start-Up

It can be exciting to discover a magazine start-up. “A new magazine!” you say. “I’d better warm up my keyboard and churn out some queries before the hordes of other hopefuls clue in to this golden opportunity!”

Hold up: According to Samir Husni, Ph.D., chair of the journalism department at the University of Mississippi and owner of MrMagazine.com, 62 percent of the magazines that started last year have already failed. And I’ve heard too many stories of writers who work for start-up magazines only to end up minus a check when the magazine suddenly folds. It almost happened to me: I got scared when I noticed this new magazine

I’ve been doing a lot of work to make the Renegade Writer blog more user-friendly and to reflect what I’m all about; for example, I revamped the About Us page and created a new tagline.

Also, I finally decided to suck it up and get a professional redesign. My fabulous designer Reese Spykerman will be doing the honors in mid to late February. The site will have a clean, new look, and we’ll be making it easier for you to get to the free stuff as well as to share posts via Twitter, Facebook, and so on.

In the meantime, lately I’ve gotten several requests from readers to be able to sign up for the blog feed via e-mail. We used to have that capability, and I’m not sure where it’s gone. So I created a new e-mail feed, and you can now sign up for Renegade goodness by clicking on Subscribe to the Renegade Writer By Email in the right-hand column (under the archives). Please do sign up to get Renegade posts right in your inbox!

If you have any suggestions for what to include (and what not to include) in the new blog design, I’m all ears! Of course my budget is not infinite, but I’ll do what I can to make the new design as user-friendly as possible. [lf]

I’ve been a full-time freelancer since 1997, and in the last 13 years I’ve come up with tons of little tips and tricks for getting more assignments, writing faster, and generally making the freelancing life easier. Here are my top 13.

1. Stop a Rambler

At the end of almost every interview I ask, “Is there anything else you’d like readers to know, or anything you thought I would ask but didn’t?” But if I get a source who rambles, I don’t ask the question for fear of having to listen to another half-hour monologue. Learn to read your sources and know when you have what you need so you don’t waste your (and your source’s) time. (Thanks to my Facebook friend Dianne for reminding me of this tip!)

2. Build Your Top 10

Instead of trying to get your byline in as many magazines as possible, develop a core 10 or so markets that love you and pay you well. You know how the marketing gurus always say it costs less to keep a client than to get one? Garnering new magazine clients is a time-intensive process — you have to pitch them, sometimes multiple times, and when you get an assignment there’s a learning curve. Once you make your way into an editor’s stable of freelance writers, you won’t have to pitch as often because they’ll come to you with assignments — and as a bonus, you’ll know what they want from you and be used to their editing process. Pick 10 clients that you already have or that you’d like to have, and start building relationships with them.

3. Write in Your Head

One of the reasons I can write so quickly (I’ve written 800-word articles in 45 minutes) is that I write much of the article in my head before I even sit down at the computer. When I’m drinking tea, taking a shower, or driving, I always find my thoughts drifting to my assignments, and I often come up with leads, kickers, and article organization in my head.

4. Find Markets Everywhere

To the writers who don’t know where to pitch: Markets are everywhere! You can find magazines you never heard of at your doctor’s office, the library, and the airport. Once I saw a local health insurance company’s magazine at the house of a friend in Rhode Island who was a customer. I called the editor and ended up writing several articles for them before they sadly stopped publishing. Also, if I find a trade magazine that seems like a good market, I backtrack to their publisher’s website to see what other titles they publish.

5. Take Control

You’ve probably heard me whining about how I have six assignments due on the same day. (A high class problem, I know.) You know why that happened? Because I let it happen. Now, I try to space out deadlines. Editors generally don’t mind if, when they give you the assignment, you ask for an additional three to five days on your deadline.

6. Don’t Over-Research

If you write in your head (as in the tip above), you’ll have an idea of what you need in terms of research so you won’t run the risk of spending hours generating notes you won’t use. Do just the research and interviews you need, and start early — so if you do end up needing more, you can always get it.

7. Have a System

When I get an assignment, I go through the same process every time: I create a folder with the same name format, label my interviews the same way and store them in the same place, invoice right after sending in the assignment, and even use the same subject line format when I send the interview file to my transcriptionist

The Renegade Writer Blog was voted one of the Top 10 Writing Blogs by Write to Done. I love sharing the tips and advice I’ve gleaned over 13 years of full-time freelancing, so it’s nice to be recognized this way. Thanks to everyone who nominated me.

For those of you who are here for the first time, here’s a little about me: I’ve written for over 130 print and online magazines, from Pizza Today and Inc. to Health and USA Weekend. I’m also the co-author of The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success, which, even if I do say so myself, is a bit of a cult classic; it’s been selling steadily for 8 years now and I still get fan mail every week. Like what you see? Please add The Renegade Writer Blog to your RSS feed!

Please look around! There are several years’ worth of posts here; my favorite and most popular posts are listed in the right-hand column. Also, be sure to check out the links at the top of the page: I also offer e-courses, mentoring, a free packet of 10 query letters, and free teleclasses for writers.

Happy holidays and happy writing to all!

~Linda

This is an excerpt from The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock. It includes a fabulous query for Smithsonian as well as comments from the writer and the assigning editor. Enjoy!

The Query

Dear Carey,

I’m merrily going on my way, writing the Peking story, sticking my nose into the boudoirs and the war chambers of this Emperor and that Emperor. It will be ready next week.

In the meantime, I wonder if I could pitch you some time-dependent story ideas I’ve been working on over the past week for your return. The Afghanistan story was on the list of stories you showed interest in when I pitched that collection of ideas in December. I’ve been waiting for the opium harvest as the best time to do the story.

Should you choose one, I’d plan to leave at the end of the month and need to do some planning beforehand. I hope you don’t think I’m greedy. Three months will have past since I left for the cannibals. It’s terrifying how fast time goes when you’re enjoying yourself. In the tradition of Kafka, I should go work on some newspaper that publishes only shipping lists, so that the remainder of my career will seem ten times as long.

Best regards, Paul

THE WORLD’S MOST EXCITING POLO MATCH ( Taking place July 7-9)

This is an adventure story of the highest order, weaving in, briefly, the fascinating history of polo with a suspenseful and enthralling tale of the rough and tumble annual battle between two traditional rivals, tough mountain men and ponies on the roof of the world. The story would be told in such a way that the reader really cares who will win and sees it through to the nail-biting climax. It also takes readers to some of the most remote people on earth living much as their ancestors have for more than two thousand years. There is potential for many stunning pictures

The roar of ten thousand spectators mingled with the thud and screech of tribal bands greets the arrival of the polo teams from Chitral and Gilgit in Pakistan’s fabled Northwest Frontier Province as they race out onto the flat grassy field in the Shandur pass, 12,000 feet above sea level, a place locals call ‘halfway to heaven.’ Normally pasture land for yaks, the setting is as spectacular as the game itself with the pass dominated by giant Hindukush snow mountains, 40 of them soaring over 20,000 feet and with the biggest, Trichmir, at more than 24,000 feet.

Nestled amid some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the world, the pass is an historic place, one of the landmarks of ‘The Great Game,’ where British and Russian spies in the 19th century played a risky game of realpolitik with the region’s kings and rajahs. Alexander the Great’s troops passed through here on their long journey of conquest, and many stayed to marry mountain girls and settle. Today, it is a volatile land with Afghanistan crowding it on the north, west and eastern borders and China overhead.

Polo in the West is a sport of the very rich, but in these remote valleys it is the national sport of a pony-loving people with each tiny village and town fielding their own teams which play the year round. Tillers of the field, carpenters, schoolteachers, yak herders take to the field with nobles, the aristocracy of polo determined by who is the best player.

The teams play polo closest to its original form. The tough, highly skilled mountain men and their rugged ponies play much the same way as they have for over eight hundred years, the game introduced here by Ali Sher Khan, a descendant of Ghenghis Khan. Unlike mod

One of the tips in a list post I have going up in the next week or so is to concentrate on a core group of clients instead of trying to garner as many clips and bylines as you can. I think this deserves further discussion.

I was reading through old journal entries last night, and several years ago in my journal I made a list of all the clients I needed to stay in touch with. There were 30 or 40 on the list. Coincidentally, at that time I was feeling scattered and burned out on writing.

Then, about a year and a half ago, I made a vow to myself to stop accepting work that had red flags or that came from clients who had proven to be PITAs. After that, assignments from easy-to-work with, well-paying magazines started flowing in. Now, I work with just 10 or 12 clients ranging from single magazines like Writer’s Digest to entire custom publishing groups like The Magazine Group. As you probably know (because I’m always writing about it here), I now make a full-time living working part-time hours, and I’m not feeling at all burned out. In fact, I feel energized.

One mistake many new freelancers make is they set the goal to get their names in as many magazines as possible. On top of that, they focus solely on newsstand magazines because (1) the newsstand magazines may be all they’re familiar with and (2) the writers are under the mistaken impression that the newsstand magazines are more lucrative for freelancers. So they send out query after query and get rejections or no-replies, and they start to wonder if they suck.

A problem with the newsstand magazines (also known as consumer magazines and glossies) is that not only are they difficult to break into and difficult to write for, but in my experience, every time you pitch them it’s like starting from scratch. I’ll write an article for a consumer pub that the editor loves, and the next time I have an idea I have to go through the whole rigmarole again: Write well-researched query, wait weeks or months for a response, write an outline for the editor, revise the outline for the editor, and finally get the assignment. While early in my career I did have ongoing relationships with magazines like Family Circle and Fitness where I didn’t have to go through this process every time, I’m sad to say that the industry has changed and it’s become more complicated to sell ideas.

In addition, while consumer pubs pay a high per-word rate — often $2 per word and up — they require so much work that the per-hour rate can be dismal. On the other hand, I usually make at least $250 per hour when I write for magazines that pay less (typically 50 cents to $1 per word) but don’t require a lengthy query process or multiple revisions.

The goal of pitching dozens of glossies is fine if your aim is simply to see your name in lights. But if you want to make an actual living and need a steadier paycheck, you need to find markets that are easier to break into and easier to work for — and when you score a good client, you should nurture that relationship instead of having a “one and done” attitude and moving on to the next target.

I consider trade magazines and custom publications to be my main meal, and the consumer pubs to be the occasional fun but fatty dessert. While I used to spend a lot of time brainstorming ideas for and pitching dozens of newsstand magazines, these days I pitch a newsstand mag only if I happen to come up with an idea that would be perfect for one — which is how I came to be writing a reported essay for a women’s health glossy this month. (And by the way, I pitched that idea in the summer and got an acceptance at the b

This query turned into an assignment from USA Weekend. I was having trouble placing the idea, and posted on a writer’s forum asking other writers for suggestions as to where to send it next. An editor from USA Weekend happened to see the post — and bought the idea! So it always helps to network and get your name out there. I ended up getting several lucrative assignments from this publication.

USA Weekend’s twist on the idea was that for each section, I had to interview a well-known expert; for example, for the interior designer section I interviewed Hildi Santo Tomás, a designer on TLC’s Trading Spaces. For the personal trainer section, I talked with Bob Greene, Oprah Winfrey’s trainer.

THE EXPERT CONNECTION: WHEN IT PAYS TO PAY A PROFESSIONAL

The guest room in Kathy Katz’s house was so cluttered that she couldn’t open the door from the hallway. “We had to go in through my husband’s office,” says Katz, 40, of Beverly Hills. “You couldn’t even see the bed because of all the papers and files. It would have taken a week to clean up, and we just didn’t have the time.”

So she called in a professional. “The professional organizer cleaned up that room in just four hours,” Katz says. “When you’re paying someone, it takes you to that level where you’re able to get rid of things you thought you had a sentimental attachment to. Also, the organizer taught me how to keep the clutter at bay.”

Who hasn’t found herself in over her head? Maybe you joined a gym but you just can’t seem to take off those extra pounds, no matter how long you spend on the elliptical trainer. Or you invited ten people over to dinner on the weekend — and your boss ends up giving you a project that takes up all your free time that week, so you don’t have the wherewithal to even plan a menu, much less shop, cook, and clean.

At times like this, it pays to pay a professional. In “The Expert Connection,” I’ll tell readers how to know when it’s time to bring in a:

• professional organizer
• nutritionist
• life coach
• personal trainer
• caterer
• personal shopper
• housecleaner
• interior decorator
• financial planner

Each section will include quotes from an expert, information on how to find the best professional for your needs, and a price range.

Your readers are busy working, caring for their families, and trying to keep everyone (including themselves) happy and healthy. Sometimes, time-strapped women need to call in for reinforcements. “The Expert Connection” will help them decide when to make the call and know what to expect when they bring in the hired guns.

I’ve written for more than 100 magazines, including Woman’s Day, Family Circle, Redbook, and Psychology Today. I’m also co-author of The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success. May I write “The Expert Connection” for you?

Best regards,

Linda Formichelli

Happy almost-New-Year! This is an updated version of a post I wrote a couple of years ago. The advice is still relevant, and it’s something I follow myself every year.

Once the confetti is cleaned up and the hangover is over, it’s time to start thinking of your 2011 plans for freelance writing. The new year is a great time to clear space in your business life and get set for the next year. Here are some suggestions:

1. Buy holiday cards for Christmas 2011. I like to send my editors holiday cards, and I tend to choose pricy ones with fold-outs and pop-ups and all kinds of goodies. Right after Christmas is the time to get your cards on sale at Borders or Barnes & Noble. You can also find beautiful cards at a discount from The Museum of Modern Art.

2. Update your business plan. You do have a business plan, don’t you? Mine is both a personal and a business plan, and I update it twice a year. It contains goals, roadblocks, and ways to overcome those roadblocks for categories like health, home, and work. If you need help, check out The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Business Plans by Gwen Moran.

3. Clean off your desk. New year, fresh start. Go through the piles of papers and sticky notes on your desk and in your in-box and either do, delegate, trash, or file them. This is also a good time to clear out your e-mail in-box, reorganize and streamline your e-mail folders, and clean up your computer desk-top (how many file icons do you have cluttering it up?).

4. Back up your computer. If you don’t regularly back up your computer, now’s the time to make a plan to do so. Research back-up options such as Internet back-up services, set a back-up schedule, and set your calendar to send you reminders when it’s time to back up your files (or set the system to automatically back up on a regular basis).

5. Create clips. If you’re like me, you have a stack of magazines with your articles waiting to be turned into usable clips. Do it now! I cut mine out with an Xacto knife and then recycle the rest of the magazine. I store the clips in files labeled A-Z. Every once in awhile, I turn a few select, recent clips into PDF files to send to editors who request them. No matter how you create your clips, imagine how good it will feel to be rid of all those magazines cluttering up your office.

6. Educate yourself. Restock your bookshelves with books that reflect where you want to be in 2009. For example, if you plan to move into corporate writing, get Bob Bly’s Secrets of a Freelance Writer and The Well-Fed Writer by Peter Bowerman. Looking to sell more magazine articles? Well, even if I do say so myself, you can’t go wrong with The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock. While you’re at it, sell books that no longer serve you on Half.com. (I’ve made a few thousand over the last several years selling books on Half.com.)

7. Get rid of your tolerations. Tolerations are those little things that bug you every day and drain your energy: My computer’s fan makes a lot of noise. My friends keep calling while

For various articles I’ve had to find all kinds of “real people” or “people on the street” — an African American Chevy Suburban owner, a mom whose child had transient tics, an Asian blended family. Chances are, sometime in your writing career you’ll need an anecdote from a real person (as opposed to an expert) for a query or article. Many writers get stuck because they don’t know how to locate individuals who meet their (often very) specific requirements. Here are my top tips for where — and how — to get the best real people sources.

1. Use ProfNet and Help a Reporter Out (HARO).

These are both source-finding services that are free to journalists. They’re meant to help writers find experts, but the funny thing about experts is that they’re real people, too. And HARO, which is also free for sources to join (ProfNet charges expert sources), attracts thousands of people who would like to be in the media, whether they’re experts or not. Be as detailed as you can in what you’re looking for — I’d say you can’t be too clear. In my experience, potential sources often skim the listing, so the clearer you are, the less likely you are to get lots of off-topic responses.

2. Use social media.

Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are godsends for writers looking for real-people sources. They’re full of real people! And if you have a large network – and you encourage that network to pass your request on to their networks through sharing or retweeting – you can probably find any type of person you need. When you post, ask your friends/followers/connections to share your request; I recently read that posts that actually include a share request are forwarded along more than other posts.

3. Post in forums.

Chances are, there’s a forum or discussion group that caters to the exact people you’re looking for. For example, I found moms of kids with Tourette’s and transient tics through a forum for people with movement disorders. Do a Google search for your keywords plus “forum,” and search on Google Groups and Yahoo groups as well for an appropriate forum/list. When you find one, do a little lurking to figure out if this is a good place to post your request. (You’ll probably run into a lot of dead forums.) It’s always a good practice to e-mail the moderator asking if it’s okay to post as a journalist looking for sources; that way, when you post you can mention that you have the permission of the forum administrator. This can help allay any suspicions that forum members may have. Also be sure to use your full name and include a link to your website if you have one, so forum members can see you’re a real person and not some kind of a weirdo. Give a deadline for responses so you don’t have people responding months later.

4. Create an e-mail list.

I know a couple of writers who keep extensive e-mail lists that they blast an e-mail to when they’re looking for real-people sources. Start with your friends, family members, and fellow writers. And use the list sparingly — you don’t want to piss people off with constant e-mails looking for Hispanic candy shop owners on the East Coast! Be sure to ask recipients to pass along your request to anyone they know who may fit the bill.

5. Look for variety.

When you’re on the hunt for real-people sources, look for people who are ethnically and geographically diverse. Editors don’t want to see that all your sources are from the same area of the country or are all white. Mos

I have a new free teleclass scheduled for January 6, 2011: Using Fear as Fuel When Writing and Querying, taught by Sage Cohen, author of the upcoming book The Productive Writer (Writer’s Digest Books). Fear is a huge problem for many freelance writers, so I’m excited about this teleclass! To get the details and learn how to sign up, please go to the teleclass page.

Also, a reminder: There are only 6 spaces left in the January 10 session of my Write for Magazines e-course. It’s filling up really fast this time! So if you want to learn how to generate a salable article idea, target the best markets, and write a kick-butt query letter, now is the time to sign up! You can get more details and reserve your space here.

Happy holidays — and here’s to a successful 2011!

I offer to answer readers’ burning freelancing questions on the blog. If you have a question, please send it to me at [email protected]. If you have a LOT of questions, please consider signing up for my phone mentoring for writers!

Danielle asks: Your query packet helped me to form my first ever query for MetroParent, a local publication. Now that I have sent my query, I want to send a follow-up email. My question is: How do I craft a professional follow up query? I don’t know what information to restate or how to not let it sound like I am a child begging for recognition. How do I stand out?

I don’t worry about making my follow-up e-mail exciting — I keep it short and to the point and paste the query (which is the star of the show) below it so the editor doesn’t have to search for it. Here’s what I generally write:

Dear [name]:

On [date] I sent you a query for an article called “Please Buy Me.” Since I haven’t heard back from you, I’m afraid my query has gotten lost in cyberspace! I’ve pasted the query below for your convenience. Would you mind letting me know if this idea sounds interesting to you?

Thanks so much, and I look forward to your reply!

Cheers,

Linda

You want to stand out with your query, but I don’t think you need to spend a lot of time on the follow-up; you’re just doing a quick touching-base. Also, don’t drive yourself nuts wondering if your follow-up is “just right.” Follow your gut and you’ll probably be fine.

Good luck with your first query! Let me know when it sells. [lf]

I recently added some great writer blogs to my reader and have selected five posts I think will resonate most with Renegade readers. Enjoy!

• In 2006, I posted How to Write Faster: 7 Tips, which is one of my more popular posts, search-engine-wise. For even more advice on cutting down your writing time, I recommend How to Slash Your Writing Time in Half at Write to Done. I like Mary Jaksch’s tip to spend time ruminating about your article before you write; this is something I always do.

• Last week I posted Bust My Excuse: I’m Afraid of Interviewing — but what if you’re afraid because you don’t know how to conduct an interview? Kelly James-Enger offers some great tips for kicking interview ass in Five Techniques to Better Interviews on her blog Dollars and Deadlines. I especially like her tip to do your homework on the source so you don’t ask him questions that can easily be found on his website.

• Did you ever have an editor kinda-sorta offer you an assignment, but then you wait weeks and weeks for the article specs, turning down other jobs in the meantime? Jodee Redmond offers good perspective on this problem in How to Deal When a Client Drags Their Feet: Do You Wait It Out or Move On? on the Freelance Writing Gigs blog. Her take: Treat the editor like the guy who says “I’ll call you” after the first date: Don’t wait by the phone, and move on with your life.

• Just getting started as a freelancer after years of working the 9-5? You may be surprised to learn, for example, that you probably don’t need a resume or that you’re not just a writer but also an accountant, marketer, and administrative assistant. Learn about the life that awaits you in John White’s guest post Five New Realities for Freelance Writers on Carol Tice’s Make a Living Writing blog.

• Every post on Jennifer Lawler’s Finding Your Voice blog is simply wonderful, but for the writers I talk to every day who fear that a single mistake will blacklist them from writing jobs forevermore, I recommend What Friends Are For. As you’ll see, even seasoned writers make silly mistakes — and keep getting jobs. Jennifer has published more than 30 books, has been an agent, and is a sought-after editor. If she can fill out a client form incorrectly three times in a row and still have success like that, so can you!

I offer to bust readers’ excuses for not pitching magazines — or, if they’re pitching, for approaching only low/no-pay pubs. If you have an excuse you’d like me to bust, you can send it to [email protected].

Here’s Janet’s excuse: I really want to make it as a freelance writer, but I’m afraid of interviewing people! I feel like people won’t want to talk to me if they know I’m a newbie or that I don’t yet have an assignment. I’m also afraid I’ll make mistakes and my interviewees will see that I’m not a professional.

I’m with you, sister! I’ve been freelancing full-time since 1997 and have probably done over a thousand interviews, but I still feel a twinge of fear each time I pick up the phone. It’s truly my least favorite part of the freelance writing life. Here’s how I bust this excuse.

* Be grateful. I told my life coach about how much I dislike interviews, and she suggested I change the fear into gratitude. (Yes, I know, I talk about my life coach a lot. I love her!) Now, before I pick up the phone, I take a few seconds to reflect on how these interviews make it possible for me to have a job I enjoy and live a life I love. I have a friend who works in retail who’s been stalling on reaching for her dream of becoming a writer because she doesn’t like interviews. I always tell myself that I’d rather suck it up and do a couple of interviews than work the aisles of Sears eight hours a day. Not that there’s anything wrong with working in retail, but I did it for several years and hated it — and the idea of doing it again makes me grateful that I can work at home.

* Keep it short. Many of my e-course students are afraid to ask sources for interviews when they don’t have an assignment in hand. My trick is to ask for just five or ten minutes of the source’s time. In my e-mail, I tell the source that I just need to get a few quotes for my pitch, and if I get the assignment I’ll be back in touch for a more in-depth interview. It almost always works for me, and I’ve had only three or four students (out of about 350) who approached sources and were told to come back when they had an actual assignment. (And to those sources I say: You want the publicity but won’t help me get the assignment that will give you that publicity? Next!)

* Name drop. When I e-mail a request to a potential source, I let her know what magazines I’ll be pitching. I think a source is more likely to say yes if she knows you’re pitching, say, Smithsonian or AARP: The Magazine than if you approach her with a vague request for an interview. You’re telling the source that you’ve thought out your pitch and that you have a plan for getting it accepted.

* Warm them up. To help you — and your source — get over the interview jitters, before you launch into your questions, say something to break the ice. I usually ask where the source is located, and then we talk about his hometown or state for a minute. If I’m not familiar with the area, I ask how the weather is there. Never fails!

* Believe. Out of more than a thousand interviews, I can’t remember any sources who were outright mean to me. I’ve had some clueless ones, and some annoying ones, but never anyone who insulted me or who even implied that I was less than professional. You can only learn this for yourself if you get out there and do interviews.

I hope that h

This is the season when I plan for the coming year…I think about how I did, career-wise, in the past 12 months and what I want to change in the next 12. I’m also busy planning the next free teleclass for writers, which is tentatively scheduled for January 6…stay tuned for more details.

If you’re like most freelancers, your 2011 business plan probably includes selling more articles, becoming a more confident writer, generating more salable ideas, making more money freelancing, or ditching the 9-5 to become a full-time freelancer. That’s why this is a great time to sign up for my January Write for Magazines class or schedule a phone mentoring session for the New Year.

My next Write for Magazines e-course starts on Monday, January 10 — perfect timing for those of you who have made resolutions to improve your writing career in 2011. In eight weeks, this course walks you through everything you need to know to create and send a knock-your-socks-off query letter to your dream markets. Students of this course have landed assignments in Woman’s Day, SELF, Graduating Engineer, Rhode Island Home, Wines & Vines, Writer’s Digest, E: The Environmental Magazine, Spirituality & Health, and more. I limit the number of students I take in the Premium class (with full e-mail support) because I give such thorough feedback on assignments that I can handle only so many! If you want to break into magazine writing — or, if you’re already freelancing, to break into your dream market — get more details and sign up today here.

Want even more personalized help? I offer half-hour and full-hour phone mentoring sessions, and my clients have been extremely happy with the results. One of them broke into higher-paying markets within 10 days, another sold an idea I helped her develop that very day, and my most recent client got a positive response from an editor within two days. You can get more info on my mentoring here.

I hope to help you become even more successful in 2011!

It’s almost Thanksgiving, and I’m feeling extra grateful. I love my job and I love my life, and I’m thankful for all the people who helped me make my dream a reality. In particular, I’d like to thank:

* My readers. It’s no fun writing into the void, so I’m grateful that you keep coming back to read the Renegade Writer blog. It’s my mission to help writers reach their goals, whether your dream is to get started or to quit your 9-5 job or to boost your writing income. It’s so gratifying when I hear from a reader that my advice helped her in some way.

* My mentors. I’m not afraid to ask for help, and even to pay for it. My life coach, the instructor of the Yoga of Writing retreat, my close writer friends, my goal buddy, and the writers who answer my questions on Twitter and Facebook have been instrumental to my success. They give me advice, listen to my rants, help me find sources and markets, and help me brainstorm new and better ways to do things.

* My editors and copywriting clients. Thank you for continuing to hire me for your writing projects. I love working with every one of you. Without you, well, I wouldn’t have a writing career. I’ll always work my hardest to make your jobs easier.

* My clients and students. I always recommend diversifying, not only to keep your income secure but also because writing, writing, writing can be a grind. Teaching my e-course and doing phone mentoring have been so much fun. Teaching lends variety to my career, and of course I really enjoy interacting with writers at all different stages of their careers. That people actually pay me for my advice is like some wonderful dream!

* My sources. I so appreciate that sources take the time to participate in my articles. Even when my editors ask me to go back to them with a dozen additional questions during the revise phase or when fact checkers call them with lengthy checks, they’re always gracious.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! What are you grateful for this year? [lf]

Today I interviewed the treasurer of a local university for their alumni magazine, and at one point in the conversation he said, “Your processes are geared towards getting you the results you’ve been getting. If you don’t like the results, then your processes are no good.”

I love this. It makes a lot of sense for the freelance writer: If you’re not getting the work you want, then you need to tweak what you’re doing.

The statement also resonated with me personally. Lately I’d been wanting to attract new magazine clients and mentoring/e-course clients, but felt stuck. How could I expand my business? My usual M.O. wasn’t working as well as I would have liked.

I had been viewing social media as a distraction to be used as little as possible, but by chance Eric got me a book called The Zen of Social Media Marketing from the library. As I read it, I realized that this is what I’d been missing. I can connect with people through this blog, but the way to bring people to the blog is to actually, you know, get out there and build my expertise on other platforms. I definitely need to keep tabs on the amount of time I spend on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, but I’m excited about this change in direction and look forward to connecting with writers in new ways.

I call situations like this, where you suddenly take a leap into a new way of thinking and working, mind shifts. It was a mind shift in the summer of 2009 when I decided to cut my workweek down to two days (while maintaining the same income), and it was a mind shift two years ago when a coach talked me into offering phone mentoring (when I was previously scared of the idea).

Sometimes mind shifts come on of their own accord, but there are ways to help spur a mind shift when you feel stuck. So if you’re having trouble finding article ideas, thinking up new markets, or dreaming up new ways to sell your writing, here are some ways to force a mind shift.

Meditate. Sometimes we get stuck because we spend so much time running around putting out fires that we have no time or mental space to tackle the big issues. When this happens, I force myself to take a few minutes to lie on the floor and meditate. I often come up with fresh new ideas as, ironically, I’m trying to not attach to random floating thoughts.

Sometimes, opening yourself up this way brings on benefits without your even trying. The other day I was feeling harried and worried about not having enough work, so I shut my laptop and lay down on the floor. When I got up a little while later and checked my e-mail, there was a message from one of my favorite editors asking if I’d like to write a column for her magazine! That night before bed, I did a guided meditation from The Meditation Podcast. When I woke up in the morning, there was an e-mail from a custom publishing company I had written to weeks before, saying they were looking for freelance writers and would be in touch. I checked the time stamp and realized the e-mail had been sent at 10:30 pm the night before — the exact time I was doing the meditation.

Ask a coach. Whenever I feel like I’m stuck in low gear and need a mind shift, I set a session with my life coach. She’s the one who talked me into teaching e-courses even though my initial market research was less than positive. And it was a coach at The Yoga of Writing re

Have you been procrastinating on signing up for a phone mentoring session? Maybe this e-mail I received from a client yesterday will give you the nudge you need:

You’re good! I talked to you on what? Tuesday? And have a positive response (copied and pasted below) by Thursday! Holy cow, that’s the fastest any advice I’ve ever received has worked.
—Karen Scott

Are you looking to break into magazines — or make more money writing? My mentoring clients have been experiencing lots of success. I’d love to help you, too! Check out the phone mentoring page and sign up today. [lf]

I offer to answer readers’ burning freelancing questions on the blog. If you have a question, please send it to me at [email protected]. If you have a LOT of questions, please consider signing up for my phone mentoring for writers.

Nina asks: I submitted a pitch to a major magazine today. How long do I wait before sending it to a different venue? (That is, assuming they don’t immediately send me an acceptance…)

I personally send simultaneous submissions to editors I haven’t worked with before and follow up after two to three weeks. If I were sending a query to one editor at a time, I would follow up after two to three weeks and ask if there’s any interest or if I should pitch it elsewhere. If I got no response in another week, I’d then send it on to the next editor on my list. That’s just me, though; you might find that a different timeframe works for you.

Also, if you send queries one at a time, be sure to prioritize your markets so you’re sending your idea to the most desirable market first, second most desirable market second, and so on. Nothing stinks more than to sell an article to a third-tier magazine and then find out that a dream magazine wants to buy it and you’ve already sold the rights! I even do this if I’m simultaneously submitting: I’ll send the query to group A, then group B, and so on.

I hope that helps! [lf]

I loved this post on Diary of a Mad Freelancer: What Elle Woods Taught Me About Freelancing. For those of you who don’t know, Elle Woods is the main character in the movie Legally Blonde. She’s a ditzy sorority girl who decides to study law at Harvard and gets in — and succeeds — by working her uniqueness. In this post, P.S. Jones extracts great lessons from the movie, from how to deal with mean people to why you should take your dog (that is, your freelancing buddies) wherever you go. A good read!

I’ve critiqued a lot of queries, and also spoke with two dozen editors for The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock about what makes them swoon when it comes to queries — and what makes them rubber-stamp a big NO on top of the letter. Here are some of the snafus that will net you a NO:

Snafu #1: Sending your query to a general editorial mailbox.

This won’t actually make an editor say no, because chances are an assigning editor will never see your query in the first place. You need to find out what editor assigns the department you’re pitching and sleuth out that editor’s direct e-mail address. Yes, sometimes this means you call the magazine to find out who the right editor is, and sometimes it means you finagle the magazine’s e-mail format from their advertising page (or from Google, or from a writer’s forum) and use that to e-mail the editor. Put your amazing reporting skills to work!

Many writers are afraid to do this when a magazine’s guidelines state you need to send your queries to [email protected] — or worse yet, when the guidelines tell you to snail mail your query. While I’ve been known to look at guidelines to find out what departments are open to pitches, I never follow instructions to send my query into a black hole, because I know that assigning editors are happy to get targeted, well-written pitches for compelling article ideas. Also, I once ran a post from a former editor who said that most editors don’t even know what their guidelines say — and they’re certainly not in the habit of being “guidelines police.”

Snafu #2: Slacking on the title.

I always recommend that writers come up with a snazzy title for their article. True, it’s likely that the editor will change your title once the article goes through the editing process. But a good title in your query does a few things — it:

1. Helps the editor envision your article on the cover of her magazine.

2. Makes the editor want to continue reading to find out what you’re pitching.

3. Helps you hone your idea. If you have trouble summing up your article in a title (and subtitle if you need it), it may be because your article idea isn’t narrow enough.

4. Shows the editor you know her magazine, if you choose a title that’s in line with the titles the magazine usually runs.

I usually put the title after the salutation, and then jump into the query. I also use the title in the subject line of my query e-mail.

Snafu #3: Not jumping into the story.

Lots of writers hem and haw with a four-paragraph lede before getting to the interesting stuff — they tell the editor who they are, why they’re pitching this idea, and blah blah blah. It’s enough to make an editor’s eyes glaze over as she hits “delete.”

One good tip I learned from other writing teachers is to toss out your first paragraph. It’s hard, but if you do this, you’re more likely to start off your query with an editor-grabbing lede. Also, try to start off your query the way the magazine you’re pitching starts off its articles. For many women’s and health magazines, for example, this will be with a real-life anecdote from someone in the magazine’s demographic or from yourself (if you’re part of the magazine’s demographic). Other magazines like to jump right into the action of a story — so, for example, if you’re writing about a harrowing experience you had as a nurse, you would start right in

If you really, really like us, please nominate the Renegade Writer blog for the 5th Annual Top 10 Blogs for Writers Contest! I’ve been working hard to bring readers a good mix of posts about marketing, craft, motivation, productivity, and personal development for freelance writers. I love the writing life, and my goal is to help other writers break the chains of the 9-5 and make a go at freelancing. I hope the blog has helped you gain more confidence as a freelancer!

Freelancers write to me all the time to ask why an editor rejected (or never responded to) their idea: “Does the editor hate me?” “She said she has the article in inventory. What does this mean?” “Should I follow up?”

Kelly-James Enger addresses these questions in 10 Good Reasons the Editor Said No. She pinpoints every reason you can get a thumbs down, from a sloppy query to a late submission. Definitely worth a read! [lf]

I’ve started noticing a theme that comes up with most of my e-course students and mentoring clients: They tell me they want to break into national magazines (usually women’s magazines) so they can make enough money to quit their jobs and make a living as a full-time freelancer.

Of course, I’m very willing to help them. I’ve written for dozens of newsstand magazines, from Family Circle to Fitness, and I have a pretty good idea of what they’re looking for. However, I don’t know anyone who makes a full-time living writing only for these types of magazines, for one good reason: They’re very difficult to work for. It seems pretty sweet to make $2 per word and up writing for a newsstand magazine, but let me tell you — you work your ass off for that money.

Because ideas have to go through multiple layers of acceptance, it often takes months to hear back on a query — and then, when you do, sometimes the editors need the article turned around very quickly. Then, once you turn in the article, the multiple rounds of revisions start. Finally, once the article is finally accepted, you have to wait to get paid. One newsstand women’s magazine accepted my idea in June, the article wasn’t accepted until November, and I wasn’t paid until the following April.

Now, I’m not saying that it’s not worth it to pitch and write for national magazines. Not at all. They make excellent clips that can help open the door to other magazines. And the per-word rate is a factor: I definitely felt like I had “made it” when I got my first assignment that paid over a dollar a word. Finally, I’ve developed relationships with many wonderful editors at national magazines.

But if your goal is to make enough income to freelance full-time, I’ll tell you what I tell my students: You need to write for other markets as well, and trade magazines are a great, often overlooked market for freelance writers. Trade magazines are publications that are created for the members of a certain industry. For example, Credit Union Times is for execs in the credit union industry, In-Plant Graphics is for people who run on-site print shops, and you can probably guess who reads Sheep! magazine.

Here are some of the benefits of writing for trades:

* They’re easier to break into than national magazines. I’ve written for more than two dozen trades, including Funworld, Multi-Channel Merchant, and Call Center Management Review, and I broke into almost all of them with letters of introduction. While many trades are happy to receive pitches, they also often come up with ideas in-house and assign them to freelancers.

* They’re less competitive than national magazines. So many writers overlook this great market that trade magazine editors tend not to be overwhelmed with pitches like their national magazine counterparts.

* They make great clips. A clip from a trade magazine can help open the doors to other magazines. I used mostly trade clips to break into national magazines.

* They’re fun to write for. The people I interview for trade magazines are usually excited to share information about their industries, and that excitement is contagious. You may think it’s boring to write about, say, how to set up a cleaning schedule for your restaurant (which is a topic I wrote on last year), but I disagree. A true freelance writer can find interesting nuggets in any topic.

* They can pay well per hour. The per-word rates can look stingy compared to national magazine rates &md

I offer to answer readers’ burning freelancing questions on the blog. If you have a question, please send it to me at [email protected]. If you have a LOT of questions, please consider signing up for my phone mentoring for writers. I’m offering a 10% discount until November 15; e-mail me to find out how to get your discount.

Gail asks: When selling a reprint, should you update any statistics or information that may have changed since the first time you wrote the story? I have an opportunity to resell a story, but the statistics are old and one of my experts has changed titles, from professor to emeritus professor. All the other information is the same, but should I sell this as a reprint?

I don’t consider myself an expert in this area, so I asked someone who is: Kelly James-Enger, author of

Kelly says that she sends the Word file she has on her hard drive, not a PDF or other version of the story that actually ran. That’s easier for her, and means she doesn’t have to maintain PDFs, etc. of stories that have run to market her reprints.

She sends the editor the article as is and lets her know she’d be happy to update it; “I’m not going to do the extra work unless she wants to purchase reprint rights to it,” she says. If the editor would like Kelly to update the article for reprinting, she double-checks statistics, job titles, and so on. “It doesn’t take long and ensures that the reprint is up-to-date,” Kelly says.

Kelly is also willing to “tweak” a reprint to better fit the audience. “For example, I wrote a piece on how to lose weight for a woman’s magazine and rewrote the lead to focus on brides wanting to get in shape for their wedding and resold it to a bridal market,” she says. “This is still a reprint, but it’s been customized and/or updated (or both) for the reprint market, which will make your client happy.”

I love teaching my e-course Write for Magazines, and I’m excited to announce that the next session starts on Monday, January 10, 2011. Here’s what a former student has to say:

Since taking Linda’s course, my acceptance rate has gone way up. I have had editors send positive replies immediately in response to my queries. I write for quite a few custom publishers and have actually become so busy since taking Linda’s course that my calendar is full. One editor was so impressed with the first two queries (followed by articles that were on-time, error free and polished, as Linda also emphasizes in her course) that she asked me to send 12 article ideas for her to run throughout the year. I did and she accepted them all.

I can’t say enough about Linda’s course and her ability to tune into what editors really want. She really is the queen of online writing courses!

—Nita Crighton

My students are telling me that thanks to the course, they’ve landed assignments in such magazines and webzines as:

* Cottage Living
* For Me
* Black Health
* Woman’s Day
* E: The Environmental Magazine
* Writer’s Digest
* SELF
* Diabetes Forecast
* Blue Water Sailing
* Pizza Today
* Wines & Vines
* Spiritualty & Health
* New Jersey Family
* Weight Watchers Magazine
* Washington Parent
* Babyzone.com
* Graduating Engineer
* Rhode Island Home, Garden & Design
* Working Mother

I’d love for you to join the ranks of these and other students who are reaching their writing dreams. Because I spend so much time critiquing students’ assignments and answering their questions, I have to limit the number of students in the Premium version of the e-course (with e-mail support) to ten…so don’t wait to sign up!

You may be asking, “Who the heck is this chick to be teaching a course in breaking into magazines?” Well, I’ve written for more than 130 newsstand, custom, online, and trade magazines since 1997, including Health, Redbook, Inc., Writer’s Digest, USA Weekend, Woman’s Day, Family Circle, Alternative Medicine, WebMD, and Wired News. I’ve taught more than 350 students through my Write for Magazines e-course and my phone mentoring for writers in the last five years. Finally, as the co-author of The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock, I interviewed the editors of two dozen newsstand and trade magazines, from Smithsonian to Parenting, on what makes queries work.

You can get more information on Write for Magazines here.

I hope I get to work with you! [lf]