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AudioGo has merged with Audio Bookshelf, publisher of award-winning audiobooks for children since 1992. AudioGo (formerly BBC Audiobooks America) will expand their catalog to include a growing roster of new AudioGO Children’s imprint titles, incorporating Audio Bookshelf’s diverse catalog of children’s and young adult titles now recorded, packaged and distributed by AudioGO.

Hi, all! Just a quick note to let you know I have four spaces left in the Freelance Writer’s Blast Off sessions that start on August 2 and August 4.

If you like the idea of weekly hour-long phone calls with two successful, professional writers and group support in a forum environment, this course is for you. We cover finding your writing niche, developing and improving your writer website, perfecting your queries and letters of introduction, organizing your freelance business, and much, much more.

Participants also get 6 free weeks in Carol Tice’s Freelance Writers Den.

Here’s what one of our students has to day:

I highly recommend this class. Carol and Linda know their stuff and give you a no nonsense approach that will help you right away. I’m bummed that the class is ending next week because they’re a wealth of information. Also check out Carol’s Writers Den for more insight. I know Linda will be hanging out there as well.
—Wade Finnegan

Sound interesting? To blast off your freelance writing career, get more info and sign up here. I look forward to working with you! [lf]

Blackstone Audio offers simultaneous download of  digital MP3 audiobooks without waiting lists or holds through their Max Access collection of best-selling titles available through OverDrive. Keep up with what’s new from Blackstone on their blog here. I’ll be hearing more about this feature and plenty more at OverDrive’s Digipalooza, their International User Group Conference, later this week. Watch for more News You Can Use!

Hello, Renegade Writers! I have a new free teleclass scheduled. But before we get into that, I wanted to remind you of a couple of Very Important Things:

1. My next Write for Magazines 8-week e-course starts on Monday, March 7. The Premium version includes 8 weeks of unlimited e-mail support, and I offer very thorough critiques of ideas, the markets you choose to pitch, and your query title, lede, body, and conclusion. Previous students have landed assignments from Spirituality & Health (with a cover story!), SELF, Woman’s Day, E: The Environmental Magazine, Washington Parent, and more.

Here’s what one student had to say:

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

I limit the class to 10 participants — so I can give each student the attention he or she needs — and there are five signed up now, so if you’re interested please sign up soon! Get details, download the FAQ, and sign up on the e-course page.

2. My new e-book Get Unstuck! For Freelancers: A 6-Week Course to Boost Your Motivation, Organization, and Productivity—So You Can Do More Work in Less Time, Make More Money, and Enjoy the Freelance Lifestyle has been getting a great response! I turned my popular Get Unstuck e-course into an e-book, so you can learn to become a productive writer at a fraction of the cost (just $9.95!). To get more details and to purchase the e-book, go to the e-books page.

Now, on to the teleclass:

Five Reasons Why Editors Won’t Buy Your Great Ideas, taught by Diana Burrell

Date: Tuesday, March 8, 2011 at 8:30-9:30 pm ET (Note that this is East Coast time; please check for the correct time in your time zone. Also note that this is PM, not AM!)

Topic: Five Reasons Why Editors Won’t Buy Your Great Ideas: You’ve come up with one of the best story ideas of your life. You’ve researched the subject thoroughly, read six back issues of the magazine you’re pitching, and you’re so sure this idea will sell, you’re already booking interviews with your sources. But then your editor writes, “I’m sorry, it’s a great idea but not right now.” Has she lost her marbles? How can she leave such a perfect idea on the table like that?

In this teleseminar, freelance food journalist, author, and ghostwriter Diana Burrell will share with you the five surprising reasons your editor may be giving your great ideas the thumbs down. And by the way, none of these reasons will be that you haven’t read six back issues of the magazine or that you spelled her name wrong. Once you understand what may be happening behind the scenes, you’ll be better prepared to turn the nays into yays with future ideas. There will be time after the presentation to ask questions about generating story ideas for articles and other fr

Before, if you wanted a to schedule a phone mentoring session with me, you had to e-mail me and we’d go back and forth for a day or so about times, payment, and the form I need you to fill out.

Now, thanks to the wonders of technology, you can visit my new scheduling page to select an available time from the calendar, fill out my form, and pay via PayPal. And like magic, you’ll get a phone mentoring session that will help you hone article ideas, boost motivation, overcome freelancing fear, find more time for writing, and more.

Not sure if you want a phone mentoring session? Check out what this recent client had to say (and read the mentoring page for several more testimonials):

Linda flat-out rocks! She re-ignited my passion, fueled new ideas and provided clarity on how to bump up the success quotient for my copy coaching and freelance writing business. In one hour with Linda I got more ideas than I can possibly implement over the next three to six months.
—Jan O’Daniel, www.janodaniel.com

I work with freelance writers at all stages of their careers — from aspiring to established. A phone mentoring session is a great way to invest in your career in 2011. I hope to work with you! [lf]

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!

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!

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]

First the bad news: I recently raised the prices a bit on my phone mentoring for writers. After mentoring so many clients I got a better handle on how much work I put into each session and how much I need to charge. I realized that I was earning well below my hourly rate, so I bumped up the price.

Now the good news: To show my appreciation for all my supporters, and because I didn’t want to just spring a price jump on everyone, through Friday, November 15 I’m offering a 10% discount. You don’t have to actually have your session by November 15 to take advantage of the discount, but you do need to sign up for a session by then. After that, the price will go up again to the new amount.

Through phone mentoring, I can help you hone article ideas, brainstorm markets, get over the fear of pitching, gain motivation, and more. Here’s what a few of my recent clients have said:

“In just a half hour session, Linda distilled years of information in a way that was instantly accessible. I started getting paying assignments in just ten days after following through on just one of many suggestions! Although I am a seasoned writer and have had my name in print, getting insider tips from someone in the know is invaluable.”
— Yael Grauer

“I was hoping Linda would offer practical advice, encouragement and insider information during our 30-minute conversation — and wow did she deliver! Linda answered all my questions and then some, as well as helping me focus on my freelance goals and create a plan to move forward. Exactly what I needed!”
—Carol Heffernan

“In one half-hour telephone session, Linda covered a lot of ground—she answered all of my questions, offered specific, detailed advice and gave me some fantastic tips and resources. As a freelancer who has experience but is ready to move to the next level, it was a huge boon to be able to speak with someone so knowledgeable and so willing to share her insights. Exactly what I needed!”
—Fiona Kirk

You can get more info on my phone mentoring at http://www.writeformagazines.com/mentoring. If you’re interested in signing up for a mentoring session, e-mail me at [email protected] and I’ll give you the details on how to get your discount.

Thanks so much, and happy writing!

There are only three Premium spaces left in my next Write for Magazines e-course, which starts this coming Monday, September 13. Previous students of this course have written killer queries that landed assignments with Woman’s Day, Writer’s Digest, Graduating Engineer, SELF, Pizza Today, Blue Water Sailing, Rhode Island Home, E: The Environmental Magazine, and more.

My last session just finished up today, and I’ve been so excited to read my students’ final query letters — and to bask in their compliments about the course. I think I’ll soon be adding Fine Homebuilding and Natural Health to the list of my students’ success stories, and several others as well!

I’d like to add that I limit the number of Premium students (who get full e-mail support) because I put so much work into critiquing their assignments and answering their questions that I can only handle so many. I pride myself on being very thorough when critiquing students’ article ideas, titles, and query ledes and bodies.

I hope I can help you get your start in magazine writing — or break into your dream market.

I love teaching my e-course Write for Magazines, and I’m excited to announce that the next session starts on Monday, July 19, 2010. I was also excited to receive this testimonial from a former student:

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

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 120 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. And if you’re more interested in getting a boost in motivation, organization, and productivity, you may enjoy my e-course Get Unstuck! for Freelancers.

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

Last week, I posted that one of my former e-course students landed a feature story assignment from Spirituality & Health with the query she developed in my class. Now it’s your turn! A new session of my two e-courses starts on Monday, March 15 (that’s three days from now!).

In Write for Magazines, you’ll go through eight steps to generating a salable article idea, finding markets for it, sleuthing out the right editors to pitch, and writing and sending a query letter. Former students in this course have scored assignments in Woman’s Day, Cottage Living, Black Health, E: The Environmental Magazine, Writer’s Digest, and other top-notch magazines. Interested in a piece of this action? Check out my Write for Magazines e-course page.

In Get Unstuck! for Freelancers, you’ll learn how to become more productive, more organized, and more motivated — so you can get more work done in less time. I share my secrets to beating perfectionism, writing faster, streamlining your assignments, and more. I earn full-time income working only two days per week, so these tips definitely work for me! To boost your business, visit the Get Unstuck! e-course page.

Finally, if you want even more personalized help, I offer phone mentoring for writers. One recent client had been writing for free — and less than one week after our talk, paying magazines were asking for her clips and ideas. Here’s the mentoring page if you’d like to get started.

Hope to work with you soon! [lf]

The Care and Feeding of an Editor: Building Relationships That Will Help You Succeed as a Writer is tomorrow, Tuesday, March 9 2010 at 8:30-9:30 pm ET (Note that this is East Coast time; please check for the correct time in your time zone.) This class will take place via teleconference.

To be a successful freelance writer, you need to build relationships with your editors. Editors who know and like you will look more quickly and more carefully at your queries. And let’s face it, we don’t want to be querying forever — we eventually want to get into editors “stables” of writers they hand assignments to, and editors choose those writers they have a positive relationship with. In this teleclass, I’ll give tips on how to foster good relationships with your editors — before you ever land an assignment, during the assignment process, and between articles. There will be time for a Q&A at the end. Also, I’ll be making a special offer for conference attendees only!

Conference number: 218-895-0763

Passcode: 2244#

**This is not a toll-free number. If you have unlimited long distance, you won’t pay for the call, but if you pay for calls by the minute, it will appear on your bill.**

Here is the link where you can access the participant keypad controls: http://www.freeconferencepro.com/support.aspx. This will tell you how to mute the call, how to get help, and more.

If you’re interested in taking part in the call, please e-mail me at [email protected] with “RSVP Editors” in the subject line to let me know just so I can get a rough tally of how many people to expect. Don’t worry if I don’t reply to your RSVP — if you send it, rest assured that you’re in!

If you’d like to be alerted via e-mail whenever I have a new teleclass scheduled, please subscribe to the e-mail list on this page.

The Rules (Even Renegades need rules!)

These are some basic guidelines to help make the teleclass successful for everyone:

• Use a landline for the best phone reception for you and for others in the class. If you must call in from a cell phone or internet phone, please be prepared to either mute yourself or hang up and call back on a different line if you bring an echo or static to the call. Speaker phones are not recommended since they pick up all background noise and can disrupt the call for others. Skype is also not recommended as the conference call system tends to kick off Skype users. (It’s happened to me!)

• Not sure what time the class starts in your time zone? Use the Time Zone Converter at http://www.timezoneconverter.com/cgi-bin/tzc.tzc to find out when it’s 8:30 pm ET where you live.

• Disable the “Call Waiting” feature on your phone. To do this on most phones, dial *70 before dialing into the teleclass call. After you hang up, your call-waiting feature automatically resumes. However, it’s best to check with your telephone company provider or cell phone company.

• Turn off the ringer to the second line when using a multi-line phone.

• Please stay close to the base unit if you are using a cordless phone. Otherwise, the static can ruin the call for everyone.

• Do not put the teleclass on hold if the Hold feature on your phone plays music or other sounds. It’s very difficult to conduct a class over the music or commercials piped in from your Hold feature. If you must put the call on hold, please hang up and call back when you are ready to rejoin the call.

• Announce yourself when you join the teleclass: your name and, if you like, the city you are calling from. Then, please mute your line by pressing *6 on your phone’s keypad to help reduce background noise. Yo

I’ve just scheduled my next free teleclass for writers!

The Care and Feeding of an Editor

Date: Tuesday, March 9, 2010 at 8:30-9:30 pm ET (Note that this is East Coast time; please check for the correct time in your time zone.)

Topic: The Care and Feeding of an Editor: Building Relationships That Will Help You Succeed as a Writer. To be a successful freelance writer, you need to build relationships with your editors. Editors who know and like you will look more quickly and more carefully at your queries. And let’s face it, we don’t want to be querying forever — we eventually want to get into editors “stables” of writers they hand assignments to, and editors choose those writers they have a positive relationship with. In this teleclass, I’ll give tips on how to foster good relationships with your editors — before you ever land an assignment, during the assignment process, and between articles. There will be time for a Q&A at the end. Also, I’ll be making a special offer for conference attendees only!

About Linda: Linda Formichelli has written for for Health, Woman’s Day, USA Weekend, Writer’s Digest, Oxygen, Redbook and other newsstand magazines, plus dozens of trade and custom pubs. Linda co-authored The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success and The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock. She lives in Concord, NH, with her writer husband, toddler son, and two cats. Linda’s website is www.lindaformichelli.com.

Conference number: 218-895-0763

Passcode: 2244#

**This is not a toll-free number. If you have unlimited long distance, you won’t pay for the call, but if you pay for calls by the minute, it will appear on your bill.**

Here is the link where you can access the participant keypad controls: http://www.freeconferencepro.com/support.aspx. This will tell you how to mute the call, how to get help, and more.

If you’re interested in taking part in the call, please e-mail me at [email protected] with “RSVP Editors” in the subject line to let me know just so I can get a rough tally of how many people to expect. I may also e-mail you materials if I decide to have “handouts.” (If you prefer to remain totally anonymous, that’s fine too.) Don’t worry if I don’t reply to your RSVP — if you send it, rest assured that you’re in!

If you’d like to be alerted via e-mail whenever I have a new teleclass scheduled, please subscribe to the e-mail list on this page.

Thanks so much, and I look forward to seeing you there!

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I’ll be speaking on a panel at the American Society for Journalists and Authors conference in NYC. The panel is called “Increase Productivity: Over the Top Organizing” and will take place at 2 pm on Saturday, April 24. Here are the details:

INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY: OVER THE TOP ORGANIZING (Intermediate)

It’s easier than you think to find more hours in your day. Learn ways to use programs that help you stay organized and become more efficient when writing, researching and editing, as well as tips for becoming and staying organized in your office to increase efficiency and productivity.

Moderator: Gretchen Roberts, ASJA; wine and food writer; when she’s not busy organizing her wine stash and tasting notes, she’s writing for Slashfood.com, MyRecipes.com, Wine Enthusiast, Vinobite.com, Woman’s Day, Better Homes & Gardens, Cooking Light, and Health.

Panelists:

Howard Baldwin, ASJA; experienced business and technology writer covering everything from games to mainframes and the chips that run them; credits include corporate work for companies such as Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Intel, SAP, Oracle, and Symantec.

Linda Formichelli, contributor to more than 120 magazines, from Pizza Today to Woman’s Day; co-author of The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success and The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock; teaches the e-course Get Unstuck! for Freelancers, which helps writers become more motivated, productive, and organized.

Elizabeth Lunday, specializes in art, architecture, and culture for magazines from Architectural Record to ScientificAmerican.com; author of Secret Lives of Great Artists and Secret Lives of Great Composers; blogs about her adventures parenting a child with Asperger’s Syndrome at The Map-Maker’s Mother; obsessed with using Microsoft OneNote for organizing everything from book research to grocery lists.

For more details on the ASJA conference, visit their conference page. I hope to see you there! [lf]

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Thanks to everyone who filled out my Renegade Writer survey — and congratulations to Colette Martin, who won a free half-hour phone coaching session with yours truly. I really appreciate that so many people took the time out of their busy day to offer their valuable feedback.

I received great feedback from 131 writers, and I thought you’d like to know what the results were:

29.4% of our readers have a part-time or full-time job and do freelance writing on the side, and 9.5% are stay-at-home moms and dads who freelance in their spare time. 20.6% say they’d like to become freelance writers but haven’t gotten started. 14.3% have been full-time freelancers for less than a year, and 17.5% have been full-time freelancers for 1 - 5 years. Only 8.8% of our readers have been freelancing full-time for more than five years. This was pretty interesting to me; I had no idea so many of our readers freelanced on the side rather than as a full-time occupation, and I also was surprised that so many are aspiring freelancers who haven’t yet taken that first step. I’d love to encourage newbie writers to overcome whatever obstacles are keeping them from breaking in!

When asked why they haven’t taken a Renegade Writer e-course or taken advantage of my phone mentoring, the vast majority (of those who have not already done a course/mentoring) say they can’t afford it. This makes sense in light of the fact that most of our readers are newer writers or aspiring freelancers who haven’t gotten started yet. Based on this info and the suggestions of some readers, I’ve decided to start offering my phone mentoring in half-hour increments so writers don’t have to purchase an entire hour. Also, in I’ll soon start offering e-mailed query critiques so writers can get one of the benefits of my Write for Magazines e-course without having to pay for (or take) a full 8-week class. As for the e-courses, all of our instructors offer versions with no e-mail support at half the price of the versions with full e-mail support; this option is perfect for self-starters who can work on their own (which all freelancers need to be).

I’d also like to point out that we offer a lot of free resources for new writers: The blog is of course free and there are hundreds of helpful posts on everything from marketing to the craft of writing. Diana and I offer a free packet of 12 query letters that worked for us — just send a blank e-mail to [email protected]. And my Free Teleclasses for Writers are (what else?) free.

Of all the types of posts I write, none was a clear winner in the hearts of our readers. But just edging out the rest was opportunities for writers. I do post opportunities when someone alerts me to them (and was very excited recently when a reader let me know she placed an essay in one of the Chicken Soup books thanks to a Renegade Writer post about the opportunity!). But there are other sites, like Deb Ng’s Freelance Writing Jobs, that do a much better job of scouring the web for writing gigs.

Many writers asked to see examples of queries that worked. I hear you — I have one going up this week, and have been searching through my query archives for other good ones to post. Also, I’d like to remind you that our book The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock has two dozen queries from different writers along with comments by the writers and their assig

FOLIO: reached out to a wide selection of magazine/media industry professionals — publishers, editors, chief executives, dealmakers, bloggers — to channel their inner Nostradamus and work up some predictions for 2010. Which magazines will survive? Which won’t? Which technologies will propel the industry next year? What are the keys to staying in business while hopefully making a profit in the process? Read what they say in FOLIO’s 115 Magazine and Media Predictions for 2010. [lf]

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Is food writing your dream career? In February, Monica Bhide will be speaking at the Roger Smith Food Writers’ Conference in New York City. Monica will be on a panel called Turning Your Life and Food into a Best Seller. Other panels at the conference include The Future of Food Writing on the Internet, How to Make a Living as a Food Writer, and Surface or Substance: Food Writing in Magazines. [lf]

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My free teleclass Secrets to Essays That Sell with Amy Paturel was a great success! We had close to 50 writers on the line, and Amy shared the scoop on everything from using universal themes to following up with editors. I especially liked the question and answer portion of the teleclass, but that may be because I asked a lot of questions myself!

The recording of the call is now available for those who weren’t able to make it. I hope you enjoy the recording! [lf]

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If you’ll be attending Amy Paturel’s free teleclass Secrets to Essays That Sell on December 15, please download and read the class handout on the Free Teleclasses for Writers page. You can also get more info on this teleclass and how to RSVP on this page. Thanks! [lf]

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If you attended Monica Bhide’s free teleclass on Breaking into Food Writing, you know Monica is a wonderful coach who is full of who-knew information on writing food pieces that sell and on finding markets for your essays, recipes, articles, and more. Now, Monica is making a special offer: If you sign up for the Premium version of her e-course, which starts on January 11, you’ll automatically be entered into a drawing to win a free 30-minute phone coaching session with Monica. For more info on Monica and her course, and to sign up, visit the Renegade Writers E-Course page. Thanks! [lf]

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My teleclass Break into Food Writing with Monica Bhide was a success! We had over 60 writers in attendance, and Monica gave some wonderful information on little-known food markets for writers (including how to create your own), the skills you need to break in, and how to use social media to boost your food writing sales.

The recording of the teleclass is now available online. Unfortunately, every time I unmuted my line the recording stopped and I had to restart it, so the recording is in three parts. The transitions aren’t the smoothest, but the info is all there. I hope you enjoy it!

Breaking into Food Writing with Monica Bhide: Part 1

Breaking into Food Writing with Monica Bhide: Part 2

Breaking into Food Writing with Monica Bhide: Part 3 [lf]

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Are you planning to attend the free teleclass Breaking into Food Writing with Monica Bhide on November 18 at 8:30 pm ET? If so, please download the handout from my Free Teleclasses for Writers page and be sure to read it through before the class.

If you’re interested in this teleclass and would like to RSVP to reserve your place, you can also find the full details on that page.

Thanks so much! [lf]

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My first free teleclass for writers, on Querying with Confidence, was this past Tuesday evening. I think it was a great success! We had 60 writers on the call, and I got some wonderful questions during the call and afterwards in e-mail. I started out with five minutes of greeting callers as they popped on the line, which was a whirlwind because so many people arrived at once from all over the world. Then I lectured on the components of a successful query for about 15 minutes, and then there was a Q&A session for about 35 minutes.

The teleconferencing system had some quirks — like not letting people use Skype to call in, and kicking me off halfway through the call so I had to dial back in — but the price was right (free) so I’ll likely be using the service again for next month’s teleclass. However, I’m thinking about trying a webinar format in the future, so if anyone knows of a free or cheap webinar service, please e-mail me.

Many people who weren’t able to attend have asked me for a recording of the teleclass. Your wish is indeed my command. There are actually two files because when I was kicked off the line, the recording stopped and I had to start a new one when I was back on the call. The first recording contains my lecture, and the second one is the Q&A.

Querying with Confidence Part 1 (Lecture)

Querying with Confidence Part 2 (Q&A)

You’ll also want the handout, which has two queries that I refer to during the class. You can download the handout here (PDF format).

Unfortunately, the special offer that I made for teleclass participants to get a discount off my courses and a free 20-minute coaching call is no longer available. But there is still space in my January 11 Write for Magazines e-course and my October 26 Get Unstuck! for Freelancers e-course. More info on these courses on my Write for Magazines site.

Thanks to everyone who attended my first teleclass and helped make it successful. I’m working on setting up the November teleclass now. You can get the scoop on where and when it will happen by subscribing to my e-mail list on the Free Teleclasses for Writers web page. [lf]

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Are you attending my free teleclass Querying with Confidence on October 13? Please download the handout (which is a PDF file) on the teleclass page and take the time to read it over before the call. Also, have it handy during the call as I’ll be referring to it.

If you plan to attend the call and you haven’t RSVPed yet, please do so by e-mailing me at [email protected]. I reserved a bridge line for 100 participants and we’re fast approaching that, so I want to keep a tally of how many are attending so I can change my reservation if needed. (Also, please forgive me if I don’t respond to your RSVP…I’m getting so many!)

During the teleclass I’ll be making a special offer for participants only that will be valid for just 48 hours after the call…so be sure to join us!

Thanks, and I look forward to seeing you there! [lf]

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