Customer Reviews

The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success

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If I was to listen to many `other' freelance books, I'd have to start at the bottom, write for `Gopher's Monthly' or any other obscure magazine, amass enough clips to start a small recycling plant, be happy to receive any trivial payment offered and only then feel worthy enough to target the big magazines.

No thank-you! The reason I chose to become a freelancer in the first place was to be able to write the articles I was interested in for the magazines I read. But to do so I'd have to break a few `rules'. This is where The Renegade Writer comes in. It teaches you the rules you ARE allowed to break, and better yet HOW to break them.

Filled with tricks and tips for everything from the all important query letter to where to find those ideas editors drool over, this book is a must have for anyone serious about taking their freelance dreams and turning them into a paid reality.

Do yourself (and your career) a favour by buying this book.

According to Linda Formichelli and Dianna Burrell,...Their guide, The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success, as the name suggests, is all about exploding myths and breaking rules ~ not for the sake of it, but for the success of it. The authors claim that not only are many of the so-called rules unnecessary, they're costing writers time, money and even business. They claim their earnings have gone from strength to strength by re-writing the rules of freelance writing.

The book redefines a wide range of issues facing freelancers including:

* Being well connected (they offer tips that allow even unknown-writers to get a foot in an editor's door);
* Brimming with ideas (they show you how to kick start your creativity and generate ideas naturally);
* Writing short queries (they show that queries up to three pages not only tell more but sell more);
* Asking for more money (if you think a piece is worth more money, the girls tell you to negotiate ~ and show you the best strategies);
* Turning down work (freelancers aren't beggars, so they can and should choose assignments that are right for them - the girls have built their businesses on this philosophy);
* Quibbling over contracts (you should negotiate a fair contract rather than simply settle for what's initially offered ~ the authors explain what to do and what to avoid before signing).

The Renegade Writer challenges many more rules and also offers plenty of commonsense advice and tips on everything from winning more assignments, earning more money and getting paid faster to 'stealing' other writers' ideas ~ a wonderful way to develop fresh material.

Some of the highlights of the book are chapters, such as:

* 'Signing on the Dotted Line' ~ lots of useful information on contracts, kill fees plus advice on writing for hourly fees or word rates.
* 'Talking the Talk' ~ solid guidelines for interviewing techniques.
* 'Putting Pen to Paper' ~ opinions on deadlines, quotations and fact checking
The Renegade Writer's light, breezing and somewhat witty style makes reading the book easy going and digesting the new 'rules' effortless.

Many writers will not agree with all of the opinions or conclusions, but most freelancers with an open mind will capitalize on the authors' fresh ideas and viewpoints.

The Renegade Writer is better suited to established freelancers rather than new writers. While it contains a new outlook on many areas of the business, it's important to know the rules before you begin breaking them.

-- Michael Meanwell, author of the critically-acclaimed 'The Enterprising Writer' and 'Writers on Writing'. For more book reviews and prescriptive articles for writers, visit www.enterprisingwriter.com

Like many freelancers and those-who-would-be-freelancers-if-they-would-stop-reading-books-about-it-and-just-do-it (I'm in that category), I have a shelf full of books on writing and freelancing. They all contain useful information, but this book is the one that's finally made me realize that if other people can making a living from their articles, so can I. I tend to get bogged down in perfectionism, so, of course, my favorite of the authors' rules-to-break is "Make sure your query letter is perfect before sending it out." The authors don't advocate being careless, of course, but they do point out that perfectionism can paralyze a writing career; they then offer some advice for conquering it and even give some examples of their own goofs.

This book contains many highly practical tips and fun-to-read examples from the "real world," but the aspect that I most appreciate is that neither writer has been freelancing for years and years (Linda went full-time in mid-1997; Diana doesn't give a date, but I get the impression of a similar length of time). However, they've both cracked major markets and are making a decent living, complete with houses, vacations, and retirement plans. Very motivating!

What are the rules of freelancing? What have you been told you must do to be successful?

"Only write about what you know."
"Send SASEs with all your queries."
"Never query a magazine unless you've read the last six months of issues."

Take these rules (and lots more), mix in two of the most successful freelancers today with a willingness to break the rules, and the result is a well-written, entertaining and enlightening book for freelancers. The authors reveal their rule-breaking successes and convincingly explain why you can break the rules, too.

Flip through any women's, parenting, or writer's magazine, and you will likely see one or both of the authors gracing the pages. The Renegade Writer tells how they do it (and what they don't do!).

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Some of my favorite rules to break include:

"Ideas are all around you." (Diana explains how she spent a week organizing her office, and the empty desktop inspired her to create.)

"Don't trust the Web." (You learn what sites give you the best research.)

"Writers don't need to send invoices." (Yes, you do!)

This is the perfect book if you've ever asked yourself, "Should I be doing something differently?"

Last night for the first time in at least a week, I was requested to sit outside my daughter's room as she fell asleep. I grabbed my new copy of The Renegade Writer for some company.

I was enthralled. (No joke.) I had planned to read only the introduction, but I continued on through the first chapter, long after my little one was snoozing. (This was no small thing, as I was sitting on a six-inch-by-six-inch pillow on a heart-of-pine floor.)

The writing is light and funny. The tips are out of the mainstream but not outrageous. This book is well worth the cover price.

Not only was I entertained and inspired but The Renegade Writer served to boost my spirits and confidence. This week, my first big magazine story was edited to bits. I'm working on a re-write and repeating the mantra: "I *am* a good writer. I *am* a good writer." The Renegade Writer helped me remember that this business is tough but worth it.

I hope others find this great reference, but not too many. I don't want the competition.

Engaging, entertaining, informative: what more could you ask for from a how-to book? Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell not only give you permission to break all the silly little rules about writing that you've somehow managed to incorporate into your psyche, they spoon-feed you a complete roadmap.

The Renegade Writer serves up a bevy of interesting, successful, real-life characters all of whom have instinctively broken the rules and not only gotten by with it, but also lived to enjoy big, fat paychecks and a lifestyle of their own choosing. Interviews and quotes from expert sources debunk many of the myths that we've come to accept as gospel.

The book is full of facts and figures, metrics and data, but you'll find all the good stuff plopped right down in the middle of captivating narrative. At the end, you'll find an appendix full of resources that's easily worth more than the price of the book.

I've already used several of the techniques described in the book, and they work. I've even made up a few rules of my own along the way. If you have an open mind, this book will give you the confidence to write your own ticket through creative interpretation of the rules-interpretations that allow you to work on your own terms and get a bigger piece of the pie based on your talent and not on your ability to conform to convention. There's more than enough convention to go around. I'll take "renegade" any day!

Has Renegade been helpful? Do birds fly? Seriously, I've done a lot of reading and this is the snappiest, sassiest, smartest book I've seen on how to make it in the freelance world. It's double the bang for your buck because it's a quick read and a lot of fun, but not what I call "mind candy." It's not a book I'll read once and stick in the back of the shelf. It's a book I'm highlighting, flagging, folding the corners of pages on, and knowing I'll go back to it again and again, even when I've "made it" myself as a writer. It's a book I'll recommend but never loan out because I want it around. So many tips in there will continue to inspire long after I'm writing features for the major glossies!

What freelance writers love more than our jobs is reading (and writing) about our jobs --- hence the proliferation of books targeting freelancers. But The Renegade Writer is one freelance guide that's really worth it. Funny, motivating, and packed with real-life examples, Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell explains how to profit from ignoring all the old saws about freelancing (keep your queries to one page; take whatever they're willing to pay you) and doing things renegade-style.

It's a quick, fun read --- I tore through it in a day --- and before I even finished it I made a sale by dashing off an email query that was a lot longer than what I usually would have written. Then, pumped up with Renegade motivation, when I got a positive response in about twenty minutes I negotiated first North American serial rights instead of the work-for-hire contract the magazine originally offered.

Renegade Writer is a great guide for beginners like me, but should also have a lot of good-to-know tips for veteran freelancers. Highly recommended.

This book would make an excellent gift for someone who has been freelancing for a while but is not as successful at it as they'd like. It contains strong opinions and sassy writing from two freelance writers who have cracked major markets and figured out how to make a living as writers. I don't recommend this book for beginners because it assumes that readers already know how freelancing works (or is supposed to work). And if you do know a lot about freelancing, you have to read the book with a certain suspension of disbelief, since some of the "rules" it cites the authors obviously made up to keep their format consistent. Still, the book is highly entertaining, and working freelance writers are sure to pick up some new ideas from it.

I reviewed the original edition of this book and am now editing my review with an update and a big "thank you" to Linda and Diana for their guidance and insider info. Back when I read the first edition in July 2004, I had just lost my public relations writing staff job and decided to leap into the freelance writing career I'd always dreamed of. The result of this venture has been good news/bad news, but the good news is that in the past nearly-two years, I've earned almost $10,000 as a freelance writer, and the first assignments came directly as a result of Linda and Diana's suggestions. Granted, $10,000 isn't enough to go without a day job--especially after the IRS and Social Security take their share (and yes, Mr./Ms. Auditor, I declared it all), but more important than the money is the library of clips I'm compiling. I've gotten multiple assignments from 10 limited-circulation magazines, and most of them have been bylined features and profiles. Now, the "bad news" in this scenario is that medical insurance issues forced me back into a full-time staff job, but I am continuing to freelance on the side, and my next goal is to branch out into wider circulation (translation: higher paying) publications. I firmly believe that full-time freelancing is a possibility for me, and The Renegade Writer has become my how-to bible. If you're an aspiring freelance writer, or even a working one, and you didn't purchase the first edition of this book, give yourself a very inexpensive treat and add this to your collection of "how to freelance" guides. But keep this one off the shelf and on your desk, because it may be the real difference between wishing for success and actually finding it.