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Summary: Coach Yourself to Freelance Writing Success!
Review: A great self-coaching book on achieving freelance writing success.
The authors outline the negative thoughts and attitudes that might hold you back and show you how to blast through them in order to achieve your goals. Terrific energy & ideas! K. Weingarten M.Sc.Ed/MFA Daily Life Consulting http://www.dailylifeconsulting.com
Rating:
Summary: Coach Yourself to Freelance Writing Success!
Review: A great self-coaching book on achieving freelance writing success.
The authors outline the negative thoughts and attitudes that might hold you back and show you how to blast through them in order to achieve your goals. Terrific energy & ideas! K. Weingarten M.Sc.Ed/MFA Daily Life Consulting http://www.dailylifeconsulting.com
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Summary: Rewriting the rules of freelance writing
Review: 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
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Summary: The Renegade Writer
Review: An amazing book! Whether you're a "newbie" or a seasoned pro, this book is a keeper. Full of practical information, loaded with real-life examples, the Renegade Writer gives you a blueprint for success as a free-lance writer. And it's fun to read! Let's face it, most how-to-write, how-to-sell books are a snooze, but this one is different. It's highly entertaining, written in a breezy style, and packed with inside information you can start using today. Do you think editors and publishers hold all the cards? Think again! This book levels the playing field. No more dead-ends or blind alleys on your career path. The authors have "broken all the rules" to reach the top--and you can,too!
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Summary: I'll take RENEGADE any day!
Review: 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!
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Summary: Fresh look at the world of freelancing..
Review: Excellent resource for new freelancers. Understandable and easy to use as reference. Basic and to the point without all the fluff.
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Summary: The best freelance book I've read
Review: 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!
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Summary: Be a Rebel, Boost Your Career
Review: I am on a never-ending quest to find books for freelance writers that are not just appropriate for beginners, but are valuable to experienced writers, too. This is one of those rare books. In fact, I think it would be more valuable for writers who have at least some experience. This book is written for savvy, smart, talented writers who need a little help taking their career from "eh" to "hot." The authors practice what they preach, advising writers to do such renegade things as writing 2- to 3-page queries, skipping the SASE, e-mailing editors, calling editors, asking for better contracts, and stealing other people's ideas. The little anecdotes about which magazines responded to longer queries, which websites made assignments based on letters of introduction, and so on, are also terrific and encouraging. The research shows in this book, as there are great quotes from editors and other successful freelancers. The authors' styles are humorous and fun, the book's a joy, and it gets my highest recommendation for being up-to-date, practical, and truly helpful. Formichelli and Burrell are a great team with a wide variety of writing experiences to draw upon. Thumbs up. --Jenna Glatzer, editor of www.absolutewrite.com and author of Outwitting Writer's Block
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Summary: Anybody who doesn't follow the rules is O.K. in my book.
Review: I don't know how much you can learn about being a good writer from a book. I have read about 100 books on writing, but it wasn't until I listened to my inner voice that I started writing better and getting published. Another way to say it, perhaps a bit more metaphorically is that if you have to read a book on how to be a renegade lover, you're looking in the wrong place. So, if at least this book gets through to writers that you have to make your own sense out of the crazy world of writing, art, publishing, human motivation and desire and beauty,it's a step in the right direction. If you want to understand what good writing is though, you should read Shakespeare, The King James Bible, and all the great classic and modern writers, let it all sink in, then marinate your brain in the lusciousness of great language. Then go read what purports to be "good" writing nowadays, see how it's mostly junk, and avoid contributing to the junk pile. And if you can write good stuff that's worth publishing and worth the trees that have to be cut down to produce paper and all the computer crashes, you'll do fine.
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Summary: Great book!
Review: I found this to be a great book that gives you a fresh look at the process of becoming a freelance writer. It is well worth the money. Offers great tips and real life examples, I highly recommend this book.
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