• Write for Magazines with Linda Formichelli (STARTS FEBRUARY 27, 2012)
• Become an Idea Machine with Diana Burrell (STARTS FEBRUARY 13, 2012)

---

 

WRITE FOR MAGAZINES, taught by Linda Formichelli

START DATE: Monday, February 27, 2012 (sign up now – there are just 10 spaces in the Premium version of the course)

DURATION: 8 weeks

COURSE DESCRIPTION: If you want to write for magazines but don’t know how to get started — or if you need some motivation to get you going — this course is for you. In eight weekly lessons, Linda will walk you through:

• Coming up with a salable idea
• Finding markets that would be interested in your idea
• Finding the right editors to send your idea to
• Interviewing people for the query letter (the proposal that sells the editor on your idea and yourself as a writer)
• Writing a winning query letter
• Getting your query out the door!

So far, students of this course (which launched in June 2005) have landed assignments from Writer’s Digest, Woman’s Day, Rhode Island Home, Living & Design, For Me, Body & Brain, Michigan Out-Of-Doors, MyBusiness, Pizza Today, E: The Environmental Magazine, Black Health, Cottage Living, and other magazines.

TESTIMONIALS

I had been freelancing for two years, and was desperate to grow my business beyond regional markets. I signed up for Linda’s Write for Magazines e-course, and within months landed an assignment in one of my dream magazines: a national health/fitness publication! Linda combines her deep knowledge of the industry with unwavering encouragement to help her students shape raw ideas into salable queries. I’ve struggled with self-doubt over my ability to succeed as a freelance writer, but I completed her class armed with the tools, advice, and — most importantly — the confidence I needed to know that it can be done!
—Jennifer L. Nelson

It has finally happened!!

I could not have done this without your awesome online writing course. It taught me so much in such a short period of time. I would never have had the courage to email or call editors with such little experience had it not been for your writing class. You were a tremendous support throughout the course.

Well, I am happy to say that my first PAID article hit the newsstands yesterday. It’s a 9/11 10th Anniversary story in Flight Journal‘s October issue. My mom found it at the local Barnes and Noble.”
—Shannon Salinsky

At the very end of 2006, I decided to take one of your courses with hopes of starting a freelance career. In January 2007, I bought Query Letters That Rocked. I completely changed the way I did things…the first story I sold this year was to USA Today! Since then, I have sold stories to The New York Times, American Cheerleader, Wondertime, American Baby, Discover, Yoga Journal, Spirituality & Health, Web MD, Mother Jones, Fit Pregnancy, Delicious Living and Plenty. I’m now having people come to me– have signed on to do some niche blogging and just accepted a trade article today.
—Rachel Mosteller

I’m a nervous nelly, and I was having a hard time deciding between just the class or the class with email support. I went with email support, and I am so glad I did! Linda was there with me every step of the way through the nerve-wracking process of calling magazines and interviewing sources. I always felt like I had a knowledgeable friend that I could turn to for help if I felt too freaked out. The class taught me so much, but my interactions with Linda were priceless. I even heard back from a major women’s magazine within a week of sending my query. I highly recommend this course!
—Lynda Lampert

I got three assignments as a direct result of Linda’s e-course. I can’t say enough good things about Linda or this class. She’s so smart, savvy, sassy, and … what other “s” words can I use? … how about super-special. And she can see into the future! Really, sometimes she called assignments before I saw them coming, which was encouraging, and helped me keep going.
—Jebra Turner

Better than any college course I’ve taken, learning from a deeply experienced writer like Linda was a delight. Her step-by-step tips and thorough guide are immensely helpful – 4 years after taking the course & I still refer to them weekly as I compile ideas to pitch. I’ve recommended Linda’s class to countless fellow writers and not one of them has told me they regretted signing on. This is the best money you will spend on your writing career this year; go for it and don’t look back!
—Victoria Everman

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: Linda has written for more than 130 magazines since she started freelancing in 1997, including such top-notch publications as USA Weekend, Inc., Family Circle, Fitness, Health, Psychology Today, Parenting, Wired News, Business Start-Ups, Men’s Fitness, and Woman’s Day. Linda is the co-author of The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success and The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock.

QUESTIONS? E-mail Linda.

COST: $600 for the Gold version with eight weeks of e-mail support and eight half-hour phone coaching sessions. $240 for the Premium version with eight weeks of e-mail support. For this session only, the Basic version with no e-mail support (normally $120) is Pay What You Want (minimum $30).

PLEASE DOWNLOAD & READ THE E-COURSE FAQ (PDF format)

BUY NOW:Write for Magazines Gold **NOTE: The Gold version is not available for this session. Please consider signing up for Premium instead.**

 

BUY NOW: Write for Magazines Premium

 

BUY NOW: Write for Magazines Basic (Pay What You Want, minimum $30)

BECOME AN IDEA MACHINE: HOW TO (PAINLESSLY!) BUILD UP AN INVENTORY OF STORY IDEAS TO SELL TO MAGAZINES, taught by Diana Burrell

START DATE: Monday, February 13, 2012

DURATION: 3 weeks

COURSE DESCRIPTION: Are you a beginning freelancer who can’t tell a good story idea from a ho-hum one? Perhaps you’re more established, but you dread pitching ideas — even when your editors ask for them. Or maybe you’ve been freelancing for so long that every idea you come up with feels tired and stale. Wherever you are in your career, this fun three-week class is for you. The first week, you’ll learn several skills that’ll ensure you’ll never lack for ideas. The following week you’ll begin to shape some of your ideas into stories that can sell. And then in the third week, you’ll learn how to target those ideas for appropriate markets. Once you’ve finished the workshop, you’ll never panic again when an editor asks, “Got any other great ideas for me?” NOTE: I offered material in this class as a workshop called “Story Ideas That Sell,” so if you’ve taken that workshop before, please read my FAQs if you’re interested in taking this as a class.

My students have sold ideas generated in my classes to:

 

• Parenting
• The Boston Globe
• The Washington Post
• The New York Times
• Yankee
• Woman’s Day
• Discover Magazine
• Saveur
• New Scientist, and more!

Here’s what some of my students have to say:

“I consider myself a pretty successful freelancer, but I’ve always struggled with ideas–figuring out what the story is and how to frame it. It was a good week if I came up with one solid query, never mind the dozens I hear other writers talking about. I signed up for Diana’s class hoping to kick-start my idea generator, and it worked almost immediately. By the end of the first week, I had come up with 77! And before the three-week class was over, I’d sold my first story to the New York Times, thanks to Diana’s help in finding the angle. Because I’d signed up for the premium class, she and I workshopped the idea together. She raised questions I’d never have thought to address in the query, and 24 hours later the editor assigned it.

Here’s what it comes down to: Diana’s three lessons are packed with information, tips, suggestions, and questions. She’ll have you looking at things–your life, your personal history, the world around you, the world you’d like to explore–in ways you’d never come up with on your own. You’ll become one of those writers you hear about, the ones that make you jealous because it seems so effortless. The ideas are there, in your head. Diana will help you find them.” –Debbie K.

“I admit that I was a skeptic.  I had never taken an on-line class, and Diana’s was inexpensive and not a huge time commitment (just three weeks).  A good place to start, especially if you were like me — which is to say, a doubter.  Diana wasn’t just interested in helping me generate ideas; she wanted to help me sell them… and I did. What more could I ask for?

This is awesome! 276 ideas written down so far and today I thought of a friend who, I know, will help me generate tons more. I know this because she already gave me some ideas … PLUS the assignment you gave … is working like a charm! I’m so excited!!! — Tracy O’Brien

ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR: Before she became a full-time freelance writer in 1999, Diana Burrell spent over 10 years working in advertising and marketing, both on the agency and client side. The one thing she loved was coming up with ideas and concepts, whether naming a new caulking product or developing national trade show promotions. She learned how to generate vast numbers of ideas quickly, sort through them, and refine the best ideas into concepts that excited customers. This skill has served Diana well as a freelancer for magazines and newspapers such as Parenting, Kiwi, Oxygen, Cook’s Illustrated, Family Circle, Clean Eating, The Boston Globe, Psychology Today, and more. As the co-author of The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success and The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock, Diana’s no-holds-barred advice has inspired many aspiring and working freelancers. She lives in suburban Boston with her family and two cats, and occasionally teaches at local adult education programs and community colleges.

DOWNLOAD DIANA’S FAQ FOR THIS COURSE (pdf)

COST: Premium level (e-mail support) $149

BUY NOW: Become an Idea Machine PREMIUM

COST: Premium level PLUS phone mentoring (e-mail support + 3 1/2-hour telephone mentoring sessions) $299

BUY NOW: Become an Idea Machine PREMIUM+MENTORING

---