The Renegade Writer
A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success

Linda Formichelli & Diana Burrell

Average Rating 9/10 (1 Review)

For decades freelance writers have been told to follow the 'rules' of the business or risk poverty. Keep your query letters to one page! Don’t call an editor! Accept every assignment you’re given!

Now the truth comes out: Many highly successful freelance writers ignore those basic rules and many others, and even flaunt them to their own advantage.

Authors Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell have published articles in Redbook, Woman’s Day, Men’s Health, Writer’s Digest and scores of other consumer and trade magazines. When they began freelancing they read all the freelance writing books, followed all the silly rules and struggled to get by. Eventually, they realized that certain 'rules' didn’t really benefit them. One by one those rules dissolved and were replaced with clever ways to get assignments, get paid more for them, and finish them more effectively.

Formichelli and Burrell share their insights in The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success. This book teaches freelance writers how to break into previously unattainable markets by eschewing the old way of doing things. It explains that freelancers can negotiate for more money and better terms, without risking their careers. It teaches that editors are not the writer-gobbling monsters many freelancers fear, and explains how to establish and foster relationships with these important gatekeepers. In short, The Renegade Writer helps freelancers become renegades and succeed!

Review by Andrea (180806) Rating (9/10)

Review by Andrea
Rating 9/10
An inspiring, alternative, brazen and bold slant on breaking into the freelance writing market, this book is difficult to put down (and when can you say that about a non-fiction publication?). Whether you’re new to freelancing, or old hat, you won’t be able to resist trying out the authors’ tips for making your way into the market by ignoring what all the other books say.

This guide is fresh and exciting; it makes you want to pack in your day job and take a chance on a bigger, wider world of writing. Not that I’m advising that’s what you should do, but if you’ve been trying all the sure and tested ways that the other books suggest and you’re still not getting published, then you might want to change your strategy a little. Here’s how to do it in a different way, from writing query letters that are longer than one page, to sending emails direct to editors without a snail mailed proposal or SAE in sight, this books tells you how to break the rules and land assignments in a very competitive business.

The Renegade Writer is positive and upbeat - it doesn’t hold you back with warnings of how bad things could go, but fills you with optimism about how great it can be if you work at it hard enough. In a very easy-to-read layout (lists of 'rules' and how to change them) and covers everything from breaking in, pitching queries, getting ideas, doing research and interviews, and determining contracts. Lots of useful information in a reader friendly format.

The only - and very slight downside - is that it’s a US book, so a minority of the information isn’t applicable in the UK, though it doesn’t deter from how useful this book still is for UK and US readers alike. It’s everything the other 'How to' books aren’t, plus more, and I’d say this is a must for any budding freelancer. If you’re need of a little kick, are feeling weighed down by the number of rejection letters landing on your doorstep, or just wondering how to begin, then invest in The Renegade Writer, you won’t be disappointed.
Andrea (18th August 2006)