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 lindaformichelli@gmail.com.

Here’s Diane’s excuse: I always feel that I’m not good enough. I don’t have an MFA, I haven’t been writing for 20 years, and I am not a superior writer. I have issues with passive voice and prepositional phrases. I work hard to correct them, but it gives me a feeling of inferiority. Even if I meet a writer who says she is just starting out, it always seems that her writing is impeccable. Therefore, every other writer is better and an editor is going to use my query to windex her computer monitor.

Let me start off by saying that I don’t have an MFA, a degree in journalism, or anything close to that; my MA is in Slavic Linguistics. I know many successful freelancers, and very few of them have specialized degrees.

If you have issues with grammar and style, those are easy enough to correct. The Elements of Style is available for free online. It’s fun to read and will help you learn to write in a simple, effective style that works for most magazines. The good news is that you know where you need work, so you can check out those parts of the book first and pay close attention to those issues in your writing.

If you’re not already, become a voracious reader of everything from trade magazines to literary fiction. You’ll start to recognize what makes good writing, and will absorb the different styles that work for each market.

But most important, learn by doing. Some of my first pitches were embarrassingly bad, but I still sent them and eventually they improved and I started getting regular work. When I first started getting assignments — mostly for trade magazines — I would print out the article and go over the draft with a red pen multiple times. Now, after 13 years, I can write and edit an article on the screen and never have to print it out. You’ll experience the same growth in your abilities and confidence if you just keep pitching and writing.

If you feel you need more help than you can get from a book — or if you write and write but still feel that your writing needs work — you can hire someone to go over your queries and articles before you turn them in. I know a writer who speaks English as a second language, and she uses a freelance editor to polish her work. She’s a wonderful writer, but I’m sure the editor catches small grammatical and stylistic errors and makes her articles shine. Can’t afford a freelance editor? Barter something you do well (web design? coding? administrative tasks?) with a writer or editor whose grammar and style are impeccable.

Don’t compare yourself to other writers. What they do has no effect on your success. The best thing you can do to get over the feeling that other writers are kicking your butt is to write, write, write — and pitch, pitch, pitch. Don’t give yourself a mental rejection slip; send your ideas to editors and let them be the ones to say No — or Yes!

Summer is a lazy time, but if you invest in your professional development now, you’ll be all set for the fall rush — when vacations are over, the kids are back in school, and you’re ready to rack up some new magazine assignments (or maybe your first!).

I find that when I invest in my own career, I often get an immediate boost. For example, I have phone sessions with my life coach several times a year, and it was with her prodding that I started my popular e-courses, cut my work schedule down to two days per week, and wrote a query that landed me a $2,500 assignment in Woman’s Day. And when I went on a Yoga of Writing retreat in New Mexico two years ago, the instructor convinced me to start offering phone mentoring for writers, which has gone ridiculously well. These career investments ended up paying for themselves — and then some!

To help you gear up for fall, I’m offering a 10% discount on my phone mentoring through Friday, August 20. The cost is normally $125 for an hour or $65 for a half hour, but with the discount the price is $112.50 and $58.50.

Here’s what a recent student had to say about her phone mentoring session:

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

Here are some of the topics I can address during a phone mentoring session:

* Motivation
* Productivity
* Magazine querying
* Marketing
* Fear/confidence issues
* Article writing
* Idea generation
* Breaking in/getting started
* General freelancing issues

If you’re interested getting ready for fall with a phone mentoring session with a veteran freelancer, please e-mail me at lindaformichelli@gmail.com. I want to make sure I can help you before you send me any money.

You don’t need mentoring because you already have a query ready to go? I also offer a query critiquing service. Send me your finished query and I’ll give it a very thorough critique of everything from the idea to the organization to the writing. I pull no punches, but I’m not negative or mean. I’ll even suggest markets you may not have thought of if any spring to mind.

Happy writing!

Jennifer asks: My question has to do with an expert who I spoke to on the phone. She basically said, “Read my book and it will tell you everything you need to know.” Do you know if a magazine like “Parenting” would be okay with me using quotes from the book and citing the book (instead of interviewing the expert)? Does this get too promotional? I think I can make the quotes sound conversational and follow-up with expert if I need to tweak the quotes a bit. I wonder what you think.

Aargh, I hate when I get that response from a source! They don’t understand that you’re going to them only partly for information — but just as important, you need to get good quotes from them to make your query or article livelier and more readable. When people say that to me, I explain it to them like this: “While I’m happy to get background information from your book, I’d love to talk with you for just a few minutes to get some good quotes that will make my article more interesting to read. I need to provide some expert quotes, and I can’t quote from a book.”

Of course, you can quote from a book, but I would use this as a last resort — meaning you really need this source (no one else will do) and she refuses to speak to you. And even then, you need to tell readers you’re quoting from a book, not an interview: “‘Parents need to set boundaries,’ says Ima Kidd, PhD, in her book How to Have Kids and Stay Sane (Ten Speed Press, 2008).” Be careful not to overdo this — once in an article is probably fine, but you want the bulk of your quotes to come from actual interviews. I’ve written hundreds of articles, and I can count on one hand the times I’ve quoted from a book.

Have a question for the Renegade Writers? Send it to rwclasses@therenegadewriter.com and we may answer it on the blog.

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 lindaformichelli@gmail.com.

Here’s Stacy’s excuse: I just sold my first query-ever! And while I’m excited to get paid for my writing, I’d like to pitch the big league magazines. I know I should be pitching FOB ideas, but I get super nervous. Plus my pitch letters are too long or too short. How can I find a safe middle ground?

First, congratulations!

A query should be as long as it needs to be to get your idea across. However, one mistake many new writers make is give too little info for the editor to be able to get a good idea of what you’re pitching. A query needs to have an eye-catching lede, describe the idea, give examples of what you plan to include in the article, and convince the editor that you’re the right person to write the article. You want the editor to be able to envision the article in her magazine. It’s hard to do all that in one paragraph! My first sale to a national women’s magazine resulted from a three-page query.

However, if you’ve worked with the editor before and have a good relationship, you may be able to get away with quick pitches. I have sold ideas that I described in just a paragraph or two, but these were to editors who already knew my work.

One rule of thumb: Your query shouldn’t be longer than the article you’re pitching. That’s why some writers prefer to just write up FOBs (Front of Book pieces — in other words, shorts) instead of pitching them — they say it would take longer to sell the idea than to just write it. And that’s fine!

One other thing: Don’t think that as a relative beginner, you have to pitch FOBs. If you have a great idea for a feature, go for it! If the editor thinks your idea would make a better short she’ll let you know — but why limit yourself?

Last week I ran a contest to give away free entry into my Write for Magazines e-course starting on July 19. The winner of the random drawing is Paola Loriggio. Congratulations, Paola!

Not a winner (of the contest, that is — I know you’re a winner in life!) but still want to learn how to break into your dream magazine? Check out my Write for Magazines course — as I mentioned, the next session starts on Monday! I’ve been getting great reviews from students, plus letters from former students who have landed assignments in magazines ranging from SELF to Spirituality & Health to Writer’s Digest. Here’s a testimonial I just received:

We got several assignments from various magazines, and I learned how to get them by taking your course. We have recommended your course to many of our sailing friends who want to make a little money on the side from writing about their experiences. Most of our work was done for Blue Water Sailing, but we have sold articles to Cruising World, Caribbean Compass, and a few smaller sailing publications. Using the approach you taught, getting an assignment is easy.
— Wayne and Treba Thompson

I hope I get to help you, too!

Since we brought our son Traver home in early 2009, work seems to have gotten so much easier and I seem to have even more free time than I did before. How can that be? After all, as any freelancing mom or dad will attest, trying to get any writing done with a squalling baby or toddler in the house is like trying to work with an adorable jackhammer going in the next room. And as a parent, I’m doing much more housework and cooking than I did pre-baby.

Here are my random thoughts about this phenomenon.

My priorities have shifted. Before, work was on my mind all. the. time. If I wasn’t brainstorming article ideas, I was worrying that a key source hadn’t gotten back to me or bemoaning the fact that I had a looming deadline. I never forgot an interview or a deadline because those to-dos were seared into the backs of my eyeballs where they would be visible to me wherever I went. But now, I have something much, much more important to think of. I actually need to check my calendar every day to make sure I don’t miss an interview, and am often surprised to see that I have a phone call scheduled in just a few hours. And somehow…it all gets done.

With Traver, I find that I have many more “in the moment” experiences, which is saying a lot for someone who has ADHD. Instead of thinking about all the work I have to get done, I’m becoming engrossed in a hot air balloon book or playing “criss cross applesauce” and marveling at my toddler’s little gap-toothed smile.

I’ve also set boundaries. Pre-kid, I had no problems working whenever someone needed me. Now, I generally work on Tuesdays and Thursdays so my other days are free to spend with my family. I do check e-mail on the other days in case an emergency comes up (and it rarely does), but I try to set my interviews for Tuesdays and Thursdays. And if I need to set interviews on another day (as I will this week), I set them during Traver’s naptime. (Luckily he takes three-hour naps!) I used to respond to e-mails within minutes, and now it often takes a day or more. And you know what? It doesn’t matter.

I parent, freelance (and earn most of our family’s income), and keep up the house — and still have plenty of free time, while a student of mine who is retired and has no kids recently told me that she didn’t have time to complete the course assignments. Part of it is setting priorities. Would I rather work or spend time with my kid? Spend time with my kid. Would I rather watch TV or work? Work. Would I rather surf the Internet or clean the house? Well, you know what I’d RATHER do, but guess which one I choose?

All of this has happened since we brought home our son. Does anyone else feel that having a kid forces you to reorder your priorities, often for the better? Parents, have you become more efficient in your work? Do you find, like I do, that you have more free time simply because you aren’t spending 100% of your time rehashing your to-do list?