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 queries@renegadewriter.com. 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 assigning editors on what made the queries work. These queries landed assignments from magazines ranging from Smithsonian and Parenting to Fitness and the L.A. Times Magazine.

One of the least popular types of posts was contests, which surprised me because we usually get so many entrants.

(Speaking of which, one respondent complained that it’s “obvious” that we use the contests and teleclasses to promote our e-courses. With all the free resources we offer and prizes we give away, I certainly hope people don’t begrudge us the opportunity to sell our services too. It’s not like we’re trying to fool anyone — when we give away a free e-course as part of a contest, of course we’re promoting the course! And in a free 60-minute teleclass, approximately one minute of that is spent offering an e-course discount to participants. Hardly underhanded.)

As for what readers would like to see more of, querying, marketing, and idea generation were in the lead, followed closely by productivity (which are my favorite posts to write as I’m a productivity junkie). I’ll keep these requests in mind as I brainstorm ideas for new posts.

Most readers also requested more posts geared for beginning writers, though a few asked for posts geared aimed at advanced writers. As one advanced writer pointed out, information for newbies is all over the web, while no one targets longtime professional freelancers. I’d like to make everyone happy by focusing on beginning writers’ issues while occasionally bringing up advanced topics, but I wonder: Is there anything I know that an advanced writer wouldn’t already know? One seasoned respondent suggested a post on how to create multiple income streams by selling e-books, teaching courses, and so on. I’ll see if I can pull something together; in fact, I’ve been thinking of profiling writers who have successfully built multiple income streams.

As for beginning posts, I’m sure I can cook up plenty of topics that haven’t been done to death already in other blogs and magazines. So keep an eye out for more posts aimed at aspiring and newer writers!

As I mentioned, I offer free teleclasses for writers; I did one on query writing, and have also had guest speakers talk about essay writing and food writing. These teleclasses attract from 50 to 80 writers per session. I asked readers what they would like to see covered in future teleclasses, and the top two topics by far were idea generation and writing for trade magazines. You got it! I’m now trying to set up an idea generation teleclass.

Finally, I asked you to let it all hang out and let me know what you would like to see on The Renegade Writer blog. Many of you reiterated your desire for posts aimed at newbie writers, which I can certainly do. Many people also asked me to post more often. Right now I try to put up one “big” blog post on Monday, with a couple of smaller ones throughout the week. Since my goal has been to earn a full-time income working just two days per week so I can spend more time with my one-year-old (and yes — I’ve been doing this for a few months now), I’m not sure I want to post much more often. The weekly “big” post is a lot of work! I need to balance my time between non-paying work like the blog and paying work like my article assignments and e-courses.

Also, lots of readers liked the idea of a private forum for writers. Diana has brought up this idea in the past as well. I like it! However, we’d need to think about what our forum would offer that you can’t already get at free forums like MediaBistro or other fee-charging forums like Freelance Success. I’d also have to figure out: Do I have time to moderate a (hopefully busy) forum? So again, I’ll have to do some thinking on this idea.

Thank you once again for taking my survey; reading your feedback was eye-opening. I love that I now have a clearer idea of what Renegade Writer readers want, and I’m trying to balance those requests with my own goals (such as my new two-day workweek).

Here’s wishing you a successful 2010 with many lucrative and interesting writing assignments! [lf]

Please do show your love by nominating us for the award. Thanks so much! [lf]

Brazen Careerist

The 4-Hour Workweek

I’ve read the 4-Hour Workweek and had mixed feelings about the book when I put it down. I liked it because helped me figure out a way to do the types of stories I wanted to write.

On the other hand, I rolled my eyes at how Ferriss won his kickboxing world record (he played a loophole in the rules), and after subscribing to his blog for a few months, I decided to drop it from my feed reader. It might have been the fact that he made scrambled eggs in a microwave oven. I’m just not sure I can take food advice from someone who’d cook an egg this way. And besides, I wasn’t reading his blog to get his egg-cooking tips, any more than you’d give a rat’s ass how Linda and I pluck our eyebrows or exfoliate our elbows on our how-to-make-moolah-writing blog.

At first read, I was impressed at how honest Trunk was with her feelings about Ferriss and his book. Then I felt weird about it and uncomfortable for her. I cringed when she wrote what she learned about Ferriss through her book editor; I’d be annoyed if I were her editor for letting that confidence out. Let me rule out right now: it’s not a gender thing. I love reading the rants of angry women. I applaud women who take a stand. Trunk’s a terrific writer and I respect her honesty. But there’s honesty and there’s offering your readers free reign to pick through your dirty laundry basket, and that’s how I felt after reading this post — I saw too much of Trunk’s dirty underwear here.

On the other hand, Trunk and Ferriss, being master marketers and all, are probably giving each other virtual high fives this morning. I bet Ferriss’s amazon.com numbers went up, and so did Trunk’s, and they both got a bunch of new blog subscribers. So what do I know?

What do you think? Would you ever publicly skewer another writer in the way Trunk did, decide to play nice, or say nothing at all and keep your opinions about a professional colleague you dislike to yourself? Why or why not? Add your comments below. [db]

I mentioned gaming, one of the three vice industries that tends to do well in bad times (alcohol and tobacco are the other two). If you’re addicted to your kid’s Wii or can navigate casinos in New Jersey and Connecticut blindfolded, you could parlay your gamer-girl (or -boy) knowledge into some good assignments.

No matter what the economy is like, everyone needs to eat. People might not be dining out as much, which is excellent news for food writers who know their way around a kitchen. You can write articles about creating favorite restaurant dishes at home, develop recipes for families on budgets (“Feed your family for a week on $25″), or review kitchen gadgets. This is precisely the kind of writing I’m doing right now and I’m busier than ever! If you have any interest in writing about food, sign up for Monica Bhide’s fantastic food writing class here on the Renegade Writer, a course that gets rave reviews. It’s jam-packed with exclusive interviews with top food writers and editors, and it even includes a cookbook proposal that sold!

The travel and tourism industries get kicked around quite a bit during recessions, but one segment of this industry that fares well is luxury travel. The super-rich still manage to squeeze in ski trips to Gstaad and South African safaris even when their stock portfolios are taking a pounding. It just so happens that our travel writing course is taught by Alison Stein Wellner, and one of her beats is the luxury travel market. I know she’s wicked busy with assignments, so if you have a pen for the glitz, you might want to consider writing “above your station” so to speak. On the other end of the spectrum is budget travel, although I’m guessing the markets might be a little hard to find right now. But you could always start a blog if you had a unique angle, something like budget travel for the foodie or traveling when you have more dash than cash.

And speaking of which, if you have a talent for pinching pennies, you can apply this knowledge to just about any beat or industry.

I could keep going on, but I’ll turn this over to you guys. What do you think are the best beats for freelancers in 2009? Add your comments below. [db]

But moving on. The author, Alexandra Penney, became enormously wealthy for writing that book, which was on the New York Times bestsellers list for weeks, along with the other sex-advice books she penned through the years. She was also Self magazine’s editor-in-chief for years. Then she became a freelance artist. In her late 40s, she invested all of her retirement money — her life savings — with Bernie Madoff’s investment company. And you know what happened next.

Now Penney is blogging about what it’s like to be nearing retirement with her nest egg gone on Tina Brown’s new site, The Daily Beast. She has written three posts so far on her blog, titled The Bag Lady Papers, and I’m addicted. She’s getting flamed like crazy: people are criticizing her for worrying about the housekeeper she’ll have to let go, the white shirts she’ll have to iron herself, and the second home and (possibly) her apartment she’ll have to sell. Sure, compared to many folks, she’s lived a privileged life, and you could argue she was a fool to hand her whole nest egg to Madoff. On the other hand, she worked hard to earn this money and she acknowledges she has enjoyed the good life. Seems like she has plenty of cause for anger when her future’s been pulled out from under her.

I think she’s brave to blog about her experience, her despair, her fears. One thing I like about her blog is that she sounds like a spunky chick; I have no doubt she’ll pull through.

What do you think? Do you feel any compassion for her or think she’s an entitled whiner? Post your comments below. [db]

• First, Michelle Rafter of the WordCount blog tells us why we should add interactive material to our story pitches.

• podcastFAQ has everything you need to know about creating a podcast.

• Rafter also has a great post on including links in your articles.

• Need to format your articles for the web? Webmonkey’s Cheatsheet gives you the scoop on creating links, headlines, colors, and more.

• Streamingmedia offers How to Create a Video Podcast in 3 Steps.

• Want to earn money through your own blog, or by blogging for others? ProBlogger is a great resource for newbies and advanced bloggers alike. You can also follow ProBlogger on Twitter — he often posts jobs for bloggers there.

• Web usability guru Jakob Nielsen gives details on writing for the web. Here are more links on how users scan webpages, designing press releases for the web, and more.

Can you recommend any other resources? Please post them in the Comments below! [lf]

Next was an idea I’ve had brewing for ages. I’m an incurable Anglophile, but I’ve never been able to find a website or blog to feed my addictions. I thought, Why not start one of my own? All hail Britannia! (The fabulous Reese of DesignbyReese did the header for me.)

If you’re fascinated with British food, culture, style, and/or history, do check it out. I’ve only had it live for a couple days and it’s definitely a work-in-progress, but it’s already getting some good traffic. If you prefer to read blogs through a feed reader, there’s a link up at the top of the main page to help you out. Thanks! [db]

1. Copyblogger: As the undefeated champ, this blog has held the number-one spot for three straight years! The baby of Brian Clark, this blog keeps winning because of its excellent and educational articles.
2. Men With Pens: James Chartrand and Harry McLeod are the dynamic duo who continue to deliver rich content and community discussion.
3. Freelance Writing Jobs: Founded by Deb Ng, this site is the first stop for freelance writers seeking new work and great articles (and it remains a top winner since this contest began).
4. Write to Done: This blog delivers a steady stream of excellent articles for all writers and is the product of top blogger Leo Babauta.
5. Confident Writing: Looking for encouragement? Joanna Young will help you take your writing to the next level.
6. The Renegade Writer: Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell, authors of a book by the same name, help freelance journalists find inspiration.
7. Remarkable Communication: One part writing, one part marketing and one part selling, this excellent blog by Sonia Simone will help any writer succeed.
8. Writing Journey: Looking for a great stop on your writing journey? Bob Younce’s blog will refresh and energize you.
9. Freelance Parent: Two moms, Lorna Doone Brewer and Tamara Berry, provide excellent perspective on writing while balancing time with little ones.
10. Urban Muse: Susan Johnston covers a wide range of excellent topics that all writers will enjoy.

[db]

I think we’d better get used to this, since my prediction is this isn’t just going to be a one-off experiment. People are really becoming comfortable with telling their own stories, and they’re doing a good job of it. Of course, we all think about blogs as being the prototype –which of course is what we’re all doing here right now! But blogs are actually only a contributing factor to the change that is coming, or the bare beginnings of what we will see in the way information is distributed in the future. The new paradigm, I think, will be computer games, which are more and more popular among young people both here and abroad.

For instance, last year, there was a highly popular game called World Without Oil, which asked players to imagine what their lives would be like during a genuine oil crisis. I heard its creator speak about it yesterday at a conference, and blogged about this and what it could mean for writers on my site.

In that post, I said this:

The value a nonfiction writer brought to the world used to be easy to describe. We go forth in the world, and find out what people think, and know, and tell everyone else these stories. But I think that way may be finished, or, to be more accurate –it’s finishing….In these new forms of media, people are telling their own stories, without mediation.

The difference between a game and a magazine, or a blog and a newspaper, is the interactivity. People aren’t readers, they’re participants, they have a goal, they have something at stake. They don’t need us writers to tell them what to think, to interpret, to mediate –what they want is something to react to, something to absorb, and moreover, they want to tell us (by which I mean the entire world) what they know.

Obnoxiously quoting myself further:

The new value of a nonfiction writer I think will be to tell our own stories, the stories only we can tell, based on some unusual experience or expertise. And, the knowledge and the application of actual narrative craft. [Which, I'll add here, most "real people" don't know very well and do not need to know very well.]

What do you think? Am I nuts? Have I had a swig of new media spiked Kool Aid? If not, where does all of this leave us writers? [alisonsteinwellner]