Inexpensive resources just for aspiring and professional freelance writers.
The Brainstorm Buddy tool is a fast, easy, and cost-effective way to know if your content ideas are solid...before you sink a lot of time and money into developing (or pitching) them.
Just answer 6 quick questions about your idea to find out whether it's ready for primetime or needs some tweaking. Brainstorm Buddy is a robust and granular tool that uses a logic formulation developed over 25 years.
At the end, you'll receive a score for your idea. If the idea could use some improvement, you'll also get customized tips on how to tweak your topic so you can try again.
I've always wished I could tell freelance writers—and the content managers/editors who hire them—the real deal about why they might not be succeeding. Now that I'm retired, am not selling anything, and am not beholden to anyone, I finally had the chance. :)
This, unscripted series shares behind-the-scenes information—and master-level content writing tips—from an insider who spent 25 years writing for glossy magazines and big businesses, teaching and coaching freelance writers, doing content strategy and training for clients, and hiring writers.
Founded in 1993, Freelance Success is a community of journalists, content creators, business writers, bloggers, social media messengers, communication consultants, copywriters, copyeditors, and editors who work together to share market knowledge and opportunities. Here's what FLX offers:
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Market reports with inside information on what publications and companies really want.
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Five-minute videos to answer your pressing questions about taxes, legal issues, tech decisions, and more.
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Active forums to hash out what's on your mind or on your plate.
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Courses. Looking for a class? Chances are good an expert is teaching what you want to learn—right there!
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Regional, in-person get-togethers.
I belonged to FLX for several years at the beginning of my career!
I spent some time as the Other Den Mother at this incredible community originally created by Carol Tice. It's filled with info-packed courses, boot camps, and a moderated forum with over 1,000 fellow writers. The Den only opens a few times per year...use my link to get on the waitlist.
The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success
For over 20 years Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell have written for top magazines and newspapers you can find on every newsstand, including Family Circle, Woman's Day, Cook's Illustrated, Parenting, Redbook, Fortune Small Business, Writer's Digest, Oxygen, The Boston Globe, Self, Inc., and dozens more.
These authors break all the rules: they pitch magazines they’ve never read, call editors to pitch ideas, research extensively before they even get an assignment, and usually follow their own inclinations rather than the official directions. They’ve negotiated for more money and better terms without risking their careers, learned that editors are not the writer-gobbling monsters many freelancers fear, and established long-term relationships with editors at top publications.
And in The Renegade Writer, they share all their tips and tricks so you, too, can become the go-to writer editors love.
When the first edition of The Renegade Writer was published in 2003, it helped thousands of magazine writers around the world find more (and better) ideas, break into new (or tough) markets, research and write their articles with more efficiency, and get paid more money...and showed them that the freelance life can be extremely profitable when they use their brains instead of tired-old rules. This third edition, which has been an Amazon best-seller in the journalism category, includes new “rules” that freelancers can break, updates on the featured writers from our second edition, and new Q&As with successful rule-busting writers.
From Pitch to Published: How to Sell Your Article Ideas to Magazines
Maybe you're a budding freelancer who dreams of seeing their byline in a magazine like Redbook or Women's Health. Or you're a mid-career writer who can't seem to break out of the pack and clinch the assignments that other writers seem to nab with ease. If you want to start scoring assignments from top magazines like Smithsonian, Inc., mental_floss, and Fitness—not to mention trade and custom publications—From Pitch to Published: How to Sell Your Article Ideas to Magazines is the guide you need to take you there.
You'll learn how to craft winning article pitches that pique interest from editors and lead to lucrative assignments. Included are over 20 actual pitches that sold to magazines such as Women's Health, Parenting, Los Angeles Times Magazine, Entrepreneur, and more plus interviews with the writers and their assigning editors. You’ll learn from these insiders:
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What every editor is looking for in a story pitch...and if you think it's a list of your writing credits, you're wrong.
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Why your writer’s voice is more important than you think.
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How to sell your idea to a national magazine even if you've never been published before.
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What to do if you have no clips, samples, or credentials.
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How to stand out from the competition with your very first sentence.
From Pitch to Published also includes a comprehensive Q&A about the art and science of selling article ideas to magazine editors...everything from how to structure a winning query letter to how to sell a “killed” article. If you're a beginning writer, you'll learn how to land your initial assignments with more ease and less angst, and if you've been around the block a few times, you'll find dozens of tips to help you improve your sales ratio.