Archive for May, 2010

Bust My Excuse: I Get Held Up Researching markets

May 31, 2010
By Linda Formichelli

A few weeks ago I offered to bust readers’ excuses for not pitching magazines — or, if they’re pitching, for approaching only low/no-pay pubs. (By the way, if you have an excuse you’d like me to bust, you can send it to lindaformichelli@gmail.com.) Here’s Steve’s excuse: It’s not that I don’t pitch or query,...
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Posted in Advice, Magazines, Marketing, productivity | No Comments »

Rant: On Ickiness (Or Those Who Can’t Do, Teach)

May 26, 2010
By Linda Formichelli
Rant: On Ickiness (Or Those Who Can’t Do, Teach)

I recently downloaded the free e-book The Zero-Hour Workweek by Jonathan Mead of Illuminated Mind. The title is a play off of The 4-Hour Workweek, the popular book by Tim Ferriss. The e-book is pretty inspiring, but when you get right down to it it’s a guide on how to start a blog on...
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Posted in Hooks & Crooks, Observations, Personal yammerings, Rants, Self improvement, Writers, productivity | 15 Comments »

Why it pays to become an idea machine

May 25, 2010
By Diana Burrell

If you’ve ever heard me speak at a conference, you know that I freely admit that I find writing articles to be a struggle. It’s not that I’m a bad writer, but I’m a slow writer and I’m tormented that what ends up on the screen is not the beautiful story I’ve created between...
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Posted in Advice, Classes | 3 Comments »

7 Tips for Freelancing at Starbucks (and Borders, and B&N)

May 24, 2010
By Linda Formichelli
7 Tips for Freelancing at Starbucks (and Borders, and B&N)

Last year I rented an outside office in downtown Concord, NH. I loved it, but when I cut my work week down to two days in August of 2009, I realized it wasn’t worth $300 per month to spend a mere eight days in my office every month. So I sublet the office to...
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Posted in Advice, Observations, Writing, productivity | 15 Comments »

Recording of Ideas Teleclass Now Available Online

May 19, 2010
By Linda Formichelli

My free teleclass 5 Tips for Finding Ideas That Sell with Diana Burrell two weeks ago was a hit! We had more than 50 writers on the line. Thanks to everyone who showed up and asked their great questions. For those of you who couldn’t make it, I recorded the teleclass. The recording is...
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Posted in Classes, News you can use, Query letters | No Comments »

Bust My Excuse: I’m a Busy Mom–I Don’t Have Time to Write!

May 17, 2010
By Linda Formichelli
Bust My Excuse: I’m a Busy Mom–I Don’t Have Time to Write!

You may remember that I offered to bust readers’ excuses for not pitching magazines — or, if they’re pitching, for approaching only low/no-pay pubs. (By the way, if you have an excuse you’d like me to bust, you can send it to lindaformichelli@gmail.com.) Here’s Heather’s excuse: I’m a stay at home mom. I have...
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Posted in Writing | 8 Comments »

Linda’s Premium E-Courses Are Now Full

May 14, 2010
By Linda Formichelli

Just a quick post to let you know that my Premium e-courses Write for Magazines and Get Unstuck! for Freelancers are now full. I usually get a few last-minute sign-ups, but this time I can’t handle any more! There is still room in the Basic versions, which are half-price classes with no e-mail support....
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Posted in Classes | No Comments »

Bust My Excuse: My Ideas Stink

May 12, 2010
By Linda Formichelli

Last week, I offered to bust readers’ excuses for not pitching magazines — or, if they’re pitching, for approaching only low/no-pay pubs. I received several excuses that are holding writers back, and I’ll be busting them over the next several weeks. Here’s Deonne’s excuse: I come up with lame article ideas, not fresh, newsworthy...
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Posted in Advice, Marketing, Motivation, Query letters, Writing, You Ask, We Answer | 5 Comments »

Three career-boosting classes start next week

May 10, 2010
By Linda and Diana

Just a quick note to let you know that Diana’s new Become an Idea Machine class, retooled to provide e-mail support, and sessions of Linda’s e-courses Write for Magazines and Get Unstuck! for Freelancers, will start on Monday, May 17, 2010. Diana has reworked her popular idea workshop so that she could provide one-on-one...
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Posted in Classes, Query letters, Writing, productivity | 2 Comments »

What’s Your Excuse?

May 6, 2010
By Linda Formichelli

This week I wrote a post called 3 Excuses That Are Keeping You from a Successful Freelance Writing Career. I received comments and e-mails from several writers listing their own excuses that I hadn’t included on my list. Then I came up with an idea: If you e-mail me your top excuse that’s keeping...
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Posted in Motivation, productivity | 2 Comments »