Archive for January, 2009

7 Tips for Standout Queries

January 29, 2009
By Linda Formichelli
7 Tips for Standout Queries

This is a guest post by writer Kristine Hansen. She’s written for Wine Enthusiast, Yoga Journal, American Way (the inflight magazine for American Airlines), The Writer, The Onion, Audubon, Budget Travel, Backpacker, Town & Country, Midwest Living, and Time Out Chicago. Don’t worry. I won’t go on and on about these lean economic times....
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Posted in Advice, Query letters | 7 Comments »

When the Marketing Response is Disappointing from Erik Sherman’s WriterBiz

January 28, 2009
By Linda Formichelli

You’ve sent out 20 letters of introduction (commonly known as LOIs) to magazine editors and have gotten exactly zero assignments. Find out what this means and how to analyze your LOI ROI with Erik Sherman’s article When the Marketing Response is Disappointing.
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Posted in Marketing | No Comments »

RW Classes Starting Monday

January 27, 2009
By Diana Burrell

Elaine Grant, who teaches the Magazine Writing Basics class through the Renegade Writer, just sent me this testimonial for her class: Elaine’s class helped me focus my ideas and target my writing to get it ready for publication. Her online “lectures” are full of information and fun to read. I still find myself referring...
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Posted in Classes | No Comments »

What to Do When You’re in Over Your Head from Editor Unleashed

January 26, 2009
By Linda Formichelli

Have you ever gotten in over your head with an assignment? Maybe the topic ended up being too technical for you or your sources spoke in fluent jargon-ese. Maria Schneider, my former editor at Writer’s Digest and current owner of the Editor Unleashed blog, has tips for getting through a tough assignment. First step:...
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Posted in Advice, Writing | 2 Comments »

14 Foolproof Proofreading Tips for Bloggers from Copyblogger.com

January 23, 2009
By Linda Formichelli

Copyblogger.com has a great post on 14 Foolproof Proofreading Tips for Bloggers. For example, the poster recommends keeping a list of words you commonly misspell so you can search and destroy them before your post goes live. Check it out!
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Posted in Writing | 1 Comment »

Are you true to yourself as a writer?

January 21, 2009
By ElaineAppletonGrant
Are you true to yourself as a writer?

I’ve been teaching Magazine Writing Basics for a while now, and when I taught my last session, I added two phone consultations to the e-course – one during the first week, and one at the end of the 8-week class. I wanted to speak with my students because I really feel that teaching magazine...
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Posted in Advice, Classes, Observations, Self improvement, Writing | 9 Comments »

Persuasive Writing: Why Logic Isn’t Enough

January 20, 2009
By Linda Formichelli
Persuasive Writing: Why Logic Isn’t Enough

This guest post is by Tracey Palmer, freelance writer and editor and founder of Palmer Communications and Chicks Who Write. As journalists, we love nothing more than quoting facts and figures. You can’t argue with them, right? Logic rules. That’s what I always thought. But remember Mr. Spock? The Star Trek icon, part human,...
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Posted in Advice, Writing | 4 Comments »

Follow More Journalists on Twitter

January 18, 2009
By Linda Formichelli
Follow More Journalists on Twitter

Want to follow other journalists on Twitter, or find out how other writers are using this site? Here’s a directory of journalists, bloggers, and media outlets on Twitter. (I’m at http://twitter.com/LFormichelli … Diana’s at http://twitter.com/dianaburrell.)
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Posted in News you can use, Writing | No Comments »

What’s your freelancing code?

January 16, 2009
By Diana Burrell

Earlier this week I was giving advice to a freelancing friend of mine who was having a bad day, and I heard myself say, “If this assignment violates your code, then don’t do it. It’s as simple as that.” It made me wonder how many of us have a code, personal rules or standards...
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Posted in Ethics, Observations, Personal yammerings, Rules | 4 Comments »

Do You Write for Cheap? Read This.

January 14, 2009
By Linda Formichelli
Do You Write for Cheap? Read This.

I was recently on a writer’s forum where a writer posted that he was writing articles for a penny a word and wondering if that was wise. The other posters shared that they also write for a penny a word, and boast that they can bang out the articles quickly so it’s worth it...
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Posted in Advice, Hooks & Crooks, Observations, Personal yammerings, Rants | 21 Comments »