Check out the page for The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock. The best quip about the mixup in the comments below will win a signed copy. Signed by me and Linda that is. Winner announced on Friday, March 12 at 5:00 p.m ET. Or maybe not.  – DB (follow me on Twitter!)

As a testament to Monica’s awesomeness as a writer and cook, the book’s foreword is written by none other than Mark Bittman of the New York Times‘ Minimalist/Bitten fame. Or as I like to think of him, that guy who wrote the cookbook I turn to most in my kitchen, How to Cook Everything.

On top of all this, yesterday The Golden Pencil posted an interview with Monica yesterday in its Successful Freelancer Spotlight. Check it out!

Yay Monica! We here at the RW blog are so proud of you. [db]

Last time I posted an update about my fun fun RW Makeover, I was just about to head to the Philadelphia Phillies home opener. Well, it’s past the all-star break, Chase Utley broke his wrist, and I’m about to throw in the towel on that season.

But the calendar almost turned to August means one thing for me: my book’s just about due. A quick reminder: I’m writing a travel guide to the South Jersey shore, a book that now has a name! The South Jersey Shore, Atlantic City to Cape May: Great Destinations. It’s being published by Countryman Press in spring 2008.

I’ve learned a lot in the process, mostly (duh) about travel writing. But I’ve also learned a lot about priorities and time management.

To start, I’ve used Linda’s advice about not checking email that often. I can’t cut down to only twice a day like she has, but not looking for that little “new email” sign on my inbox has kept me more focused on the task at hand.

I’ve gone back to making daily tasks lists e.g. here’s what I need to do today. Then I go through the list, slashing something off the list when it’s done. I try not to stray from that list because, again, it’s a time suck.

Now on to priorities. I signed up for the RW makeover because I wanted to write more about books. It’s something I’ve had to cut back on while writing my own book because, well, I have a deadline for this one. So I’ve been much more selective in what review projects I’ve taken on. It’s given me the chance to figure out what kinds of books I really like to read instead of pitching everything and anything to any book editor I can find, because those are the only books I’m going to read right now. What have I learned? I’m not that big fiction fan. Instead, I like interesting non-fiction titles, like one I reviewed for the St. Pete Times. I also just turned in a piece about a vampire book to a regional magazine — another one I enjoyed reading because it was just so damn interesting. I think that figuring this out will help me when I’m back at book reviewing and writing-about-books.

I also started a blog. I know that might seem like a time suck, and at times it is. But it’s a blog that will be used as a promotional tool for my book, and I’m starting amass a readership now (so read it!). It’s also a spot for me to vent a smidge about the process of travel writing, which can be fun, lonely, stressful and exciting at the same time.

So enjoy the summer while it lasts. I’m about to slash “post on Renegade Writer” off my task list. Up next? Call mom. Gulp.

<>So far, I’ve written the proposal overview and started the market and competition sections. There’s far more research involved in writing the proposal than I would have thought. I’ve already read the books that are going to be my big competitors, but I continue to search online for new ones, and am hunting down elusive sales figures for all of them. Now I’m working on blurbs about those competing books, with the aim of showing agents and editors why mine will be better so I can get that six-figure advance (I’m only dreaming about the six figures – I’d be more than happy with four figures!)

I hope to have the proposal complete by the end of September. Although that seems rather far away, there’s a lot of writing and polishing to do before I’m comfortable sending it out, and my kids and husband won’t let me spend all my time at my computer. A September deadline seems manageable to me, and I’ll update you all when it’s ready to go. [Ginny Williams]

I’ve also been working on my “hook” for the proposal, and e-mailed it off to Katey, who had some excellent suggestions. She suggested I take those two paragraphs and develop them into a one-to-two page overview for the proposal before our next meeting, and start taking notes and outlining the different sections of the book.

There’s a lot of work for me to do before this makeover ends – my next meeting with Katey will be my last under the terms of my makeover win – and I have decided to purchase one of her book coaching packages so we can continue our work together. Katey’s enthusiasm for my book and helpful suggestions make me believe I can write – and sell – this book. She’s upped my confidence level several times over and is a real pleasure to work with. Our next meeting date is still to be determined – my daughter finishes kindergarten this week and I am scrambling to work out summer plans before I can schedule our last makeover-related meeting. [Ginny Williams]

I went to Powell‘s and downloaded the book, and when Adobe’s Digital Editions beta completely spazzed out on me, I ran over to my local bookstore to buy a copy. That night, I sat down and read the book start to finish.

Ferriss is an interesting guy. I suspect some people won’t appreciate his extreme renegade approach to achieving goals (want to be a kickboxing champion overseas? Look for loopholes in the rules — like if you throw your opponent out of the ring three times, you automatically win the match.) Not only can he kickbox some ass, but he speaks several languages fluently, is a world record holder in tango, owns his own company, and is 29. You read that right. 29, my friends.

There was a lot of really good stuff in this book. While I suspect I could never whittle my workweek down to four hours (nor would I want to — I actually like my job!), I did get some good ideas about working more efficiently. For example, I’m really quite horrible about delegation. After reading this book, I hired a coder to work on this blog. I had this long list of things I wanted to fix, and I thought, What the heck? It’ll take me two weeks to learn how to make those changes, when I could hire someone who already knows what to do. I also decided to hire someone to do some research for me, and I’m thinking about hiring an assistant this fall. I’ve also cut back on checking my e-mail. I do my MIT (most important things) in the a.m., then check it.

Another point Ferriss made that really hit home for me: so many of us work so that when we’re 65 we can sit back and finally enjoy the fruits of our labor. Doesn’t it make more sense to arrange our work so that we can enjoy those fruits now? I fully expect that I’ll be nimble far beyond my 60s, but a huge reason why I decided to go freelance is so that I can enjoy the perks this lifestyle affords — today. For example, I’m going to Germany this fall with my family, and then to India in November. Try slipping a month of travel past some big corporate HR department.

Here are a couple other interesting links associated with Ferris and his book.

• Tim Ferriss’s website (check out the interview with Robert Scoble)
• An interview with Ferris and author Marci Alboher at Google.

I’m curious if any other blog readers have read this book. What did you think of it? Did it inspire you? Post your comments below! [db]

One of my goals in this RW makeover was to buy a home. In previous posts, I’ve written about how I cut costs and how I added extra money to my savings account. Doing both of these things saved me a good chunk of change. The financial guru who advised me said it might be worth asking my parents for a little bit of help. I was hesitant at first — my first attempts at doing as much was rebuffed by my father, who hinted that I would only get the money if I was officially, um, attached to a man. I didn’t even want to go there again, but at the financial guru’s advice, I spoke to my dad. He didn’t seem too opposed to the idea, so I started looking. Why not? I thought it would take me a while to find something that worked for me, and I figured that looking would help me find the type of home I’d want.

At first, I only had three criteria: price, location and the house had to either have central air or forced hot air heat (meaning adding central AC isn’t as difficult as a house with radiators). I live in a lovely suburb of Philadelphia and wanted to stay here, but to be closer to the downtown area so I could walk to the health food store; the library; the weekly farmer’s market; restaurants and Wawa (if you don’t know what Wawa is, you’re really missing out on the finer things in life). I looked at big houses that needed some TLC (okay, a LOT of TLC) and some smaller houses with nice yards. But after two sessions of house hunting, I knew that I didn’t want to heat a big house, and that I didn’t want to pay taxes on a big yard. That brought me to a quaint two-story brick row home two blocks from the center of town and one block from the train that takes me into Philadelphia. It was in my price range and in good shape (though the bathroom will need a reno — who thought a pink sink was a good idea?). No central AC, but it could be easily added. I brought my parents and brother to look at the house, and dad agreed that it was a solid investment and that he would give me money earmarked for my wedding now — a house vs. a party? Easy decision for me.

So I put in the bid and within two days, it was accepted, and I go to settlement on Wednesday. I spent most of last night searching craigslist adds to see what furniture people were selling, and tomorrow me and mom will go to Home Depot to buy paint for my new office and library — yes, I said library. I am a book dork, after all.

It’s a bit scary thinking that I’ll be the owner of my own house now, but I’m very excited and ready to get going.

As for the book stuff, I’m still working on it and sold a book-related essay to a magazine — that essay will appear in the fall. I’m still reviewing for the Philadelphia Inquirer (check it out here and here and here), and was even assigned their “summer beach reads” article.

Next weekend is also Book Expo America, which is one of the biggest book publishing events in the world. I’ll be reporting for Poets & Writers, but I’ll also be schmoozing the heck out of everyone and checking out new books. It’s where I made a lot of contacts last year, and I’ve spent part of last week setting up meetings and get togethers (see you Friday, Cambridge University Press!). Do I wish that maybe BEA didn’t coincide with my moving into the new house? Sure. But it’ll be worth it in the end. I might not sleep for the next week, but at least when I finally do, it’ll be under a roof that I can now call my own.

Jen

P.S. I also joking put into my makeover application that I’d like to find a boyfriend, and I did. Even though Diana and Linda have helped in many ways through this website, I think I can at least stake claim to that victory