Successful Freelancer Spotlight: Linda Formichelli

Good Monday morning readers!

Today, I’m shining the spotlight on Linda Formichelli, coauthor of The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success and The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock! In addition to her books, Linda has written for more than 120 magazines, including Health, Woman’s Day, Writer’s Digest, USA Weekend, Oxygen, and Redbook.

Linda also teaches a query writing class through the Renegade Writer site and offers phone mentoring for writers. And she runs Creative Professionals for Animal Welfare.

Given our recent discussions on The Golden Pencil about query writing and LOIs, I thought Linda would be a great resource.

How long have you been freelancing full time, and how did you get your start? What did you do prior to freelancing?

I’ve been freelancing full time since July 1997. In 1996 I had gotten my Master’s degree in Slavic Linguistics from Berkeley. I didn’t want to continue my studies, so I had the idea to get into publishing. I went on informational interviews to see if I would like to work in this industry. I learned that it wasn’t for me, but thought my experiences informational interviewing would make a great article. I got a copy of Writer’s Market and a book called Queries and Submissions, wrote up a query, sent it to a magazine I’d never seen —and got an assignment for $500!

This wasn’t a surprising thing for me to do . . . I had always been interested in writing, and when I was a teenager I submitted short stories to sci-fi magazines. Never had any luck, but never lost the love of writing.

What are the best pieces of advice that you’ve ever received as a freelancer?

I have trouble focusing, and when I have a lot of work to do, I can’t get anything done because no matter what I’m working on, I’m distracted by the thought that I should be doing one of the other projects. I also can’t decide which project to start, so I procrastinate. I told my coauthor Diana Burrell about this, and she told me to just do *anything.* Just pick something and do it. And she was right—anything I can do to make a dent in my projects is progress. I don’t have to worry about doing the perfect thing at each moment—I just have to think about getting my work done.

My life coach, Kristin Taliaferro, taught me to think about who my market is and not undersell myself. Several years ago I wanted to start an e-course for magazine writers, but when I asked on a writers’ forum how much people would pay for such a course, they all said, “Why would I pay for what I can find online for free?” So I dropped the idea.

When I told Kristin about this, she said, “Those people are not your market. Your market is people who value your advice as an expert and are willing to pay for it.” So I started the course, and I’ve had close to 300 students!

What prompted you to write The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success? What would you say are the top three messages/lessons that you hope readers are left with after reading the book?

I was having lunch with an editor of mine and I was complaining about how all the books and magazines say you have to keep query letters to one page while I’d been having more success with longer, more researched queries. I said, “I should write an article on that,” and he said, “You should write a book!”

Really, though there are a lot of tips in the book, I want readers to learn one thing: You have to do what works for YOU. Try doing things the way the books and magazines tell you to, but if you’re not getting the results you want, chuck the rules and test out different tactics. There is no one, perfect way to do anything. That’s what being a Renegade Writer is all about.

You also have written The Renegade Writer’s Query Letters That Rock, and you teach some query-writing courses through your Web site. Based on your experience, what are the most common misconceptions that people have about queries? What are the most common mistakes they make when writing queries?

Many new writers shoot themselves down. They write, “I have no clips, but . . . ” or “I’ve never written for a magazine of your caliber, but . . .” Don’t give the editor a reason to say no! Do your best and wow the editor with your excellent idea and sparkling writing. If you have no publishing credits, just don’t mention it.

Also, some writers don’t keep the needs of the editor in mind. She doesn’t care what YOU need (an assignment, clips, whatever)—she cares about what SHE needs (a writer who will make her job easier). So leave out all the lines like, “I’ve always wanted to write for Beet Grower’s Fortnightly” or “I want to start writing parenting articles.”

Who cares? Tell the editor what you can do for her and her readers. For example, I might end a query with a line like, “Your readers want to spend less time doing housework—and more time with their families. My article ‘Speedy Cleaning Tips’ won’t disappoint them. May I write this article for you?”

Note: Readers can get a free packet of 12 query letters that worked for Linda, her husband Eric, and coauthor Diana Burrell, by sending a blank e-mail to queries@renegadewriter.com.

What are the top three pieces of advice that you can offer to people who want to write successful queries?

1. Do your research. A lot of writers balk at the idea of spending any amount of time on queries that may not land assignments. But putting in time will give your queries a better chance at succeeding. Be sure to offer statistics, research, and quotes that support your idea so the editor knows that (a) you know how to report as well as write, and (b) your idea will fly. Nothing is worse than getting an assignment and then finding out through research that the premise of your article is faulty!

2. Be natural. Sometimes writers are so worried about sounding professional that their queries come off stilted and boring. Throw a little personality in there. A good tip is to read the magazine you’re pitching and match the tone of your query to the tone of their articles.

3. Don’t be perfect. Perfectionism can keep you from getting your queries out there. Remember that there is no such thing as a perfect query; editors have different likes and dislikes, so there’s no one query that will please them all. An “imperfect” query in the hands of an editor is better than a query you work on for six months in the hopes of turning out the perfect pitch—and that ends up languishing in a drawer because you’re never satisfied with it.

There’s certainly no magic formula for writing query letters, but how much research do you typically do before sending your queries? Do you line up sources ahead of time?

I line up sources and do quick interviews with them so I can include quotes in my query. This shows that you have good sources lined up and that you know how to get a good quote. It also adds interest to your query letter.

I’ve heard some writers talk about writing pre-queries—basically a short e-mail to an editor or client about a story idea with an offer to expand on the idea and send a fully researched query if they’re interested. Have you ever tried this approach? If so, has it worked for you?

I have done this, but only with editors I’ve worked with before. If I’m approaching a new-to-me editor, I generally like to knock their socks off with a well-researched query letter or letter of intro. But if I have an idea for a magazine I’ve written for, I might say, “I’ve been working on an idea about how to get through difficult interviews. Would you be interested in this? If so, I’ll be happy to work up a full pitch for you.” Sometimes they buy the idea without the full pitch!

Do you send LOIs to editors before sending them queries?

I have been sending more and more LOIs. I like to send them to trade and custom magazines and have often landed assignments that way.

I’ll also send them to magazines that are new to me to feel out whether they use freelancers. For example, I recently sent an LOI to a free parenting magazine I saw at Babies R Us. The editor asked for clips, then gave me an assignment worth $1.50/word—no query required. It never hurts to send an LOI . . . if the editor would like you to pitch ideas, she’ll let you know.

Given the current state of the publishing industry, do you think it’s more difficult to capture editors’ attention with queries these days? Any advice for query writing in tough economic times? Are there things that people should do more or less of?

I do think that it’s been getting harder to catch an editor’s attention. I feel like I have to follow up and chase after editors more than I used to. I think this is because the Internet makes it so easy to pitch editors that their inboxes are full of pitches. When everyone was snail-mailing queries, that was a small barrier to entry —less-committed writers would be turned off at the idea of putting together a package.

Not to say I don’t advocate e-mail! I always recommend that writers send their queries via e-mail because it’s quicker and it gets directly to the right editor instead of sitting in a slush pile. But I do think that editors are deluged and that makes it harder for writers.

I don’t think you need to change the way you write query letters, but you may want to market harder and be more diligent about following up. I’ve been sending out LOIs like crazy, sending touching-base e-mails to my editors, and doing other marketing to keep my name in front of editors. So far, so good.

With so many changes occurring in the print magazine industry right now, would you recommend that people branch out and send queries elsewhere (e.g. to online publications)? Should people even bother sending queries to traditional print magazines right now?

I write mostly for print magazines, and I don’t think you need to stop pitching them. If you build relationships with your editors, no matter what kind of publication they work for, you’ll always have an in.

I don’t know much about writing for online magazines, but I don’t think that pitching them exclusively is a cure-all. I know of one magazine that closed down its Web edition and kept the print edition!

The media and publishing industries are in a state of flux right now. Do you have any advice for freelancers who want to remain competitive in this environment? How can freelancers keep work coming in the door in these tough economic times?

I always recommend that writers diversify so that if one form of writing dries up, they have others to take up the slack. For example, I write for magazines, coauthor books, teach e-courses, and have been getting back into corporate writing.

Any other advice for full- and part-time freelancers?

1. Develop a thick skin! You will experience rejection, and if you let it discourage you from sending your ideas out there, you’re guaranteeing failure. When you get a rejection, send the editor a different idea and send the query somewhere else.

2. Build relationships with your editors. Send them ideas (obviously), send them news and research studies you think they can use (without expectation of anything in return), mail them holiday cards or small gifts. Let your guard down a little . . . you can be friendly with your editors. And of course, the best way to build relationships with your editors is to do a great job on your assignments!

3. Turn your assignments in on or before deadline. It sounds obvious, but it’s one of the top complaints I’ve heard from editors. Get started on your assignments early so that if you run into trouble—a key source won’t cooperate, you get sick—you can let the editor know well ahead of deadline.