Good Monday morning readers!
Today, I’m shining the spotlight on Emma Johnson, a freelance writer who specializes in business, finance, and money topics. She’s written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Entrepreneur, Psychology Today, USA Today, and dozens of other publications. Her “Launch Your Life” multimedia series on MSN Money explores personal finance topics of interest to people in their 20s and 30s. Emma also is frequently interviewed by the media about money and business topics. Most recently, she was interviewed on the TODAY show.
With all of the emphasis on the economy and readers’ insatiable interest in all …read more

Hi everyone, my name is Shelley DeLuca. I am honored and excited to be joining the team here at Bizzia.com! Most of all, I am looking forward to visiting with you each week, getting to know some of you, and hearing your thoughts, concerns and questions as we enter this new phase of the publishing industry—really, it’s a new phase of the business world as a whole in the current economy.

I’ve had the good fortune to work in many forms of media and publishing, including magazines, books, newspapers, news services, and the Web. Most recently, I was managing editor at …read more

Good Monday morning readers!
Today I’m shining the spotlight on longtime freelancer Robert McGarvey. Robert has successfully freelanced for more than 30 years and has written more than 1,500 articles for leading national publications, including Reader’s Digest, Men’s Fitness, The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, and American Way. Robert covers a broad range of topics in his writing, including travel, technology, CEOs, real estate, the energy sector, sales, and career development.
Robert also is the author of several books, including How To Dotcom (Entrepreneur Press, 2001), and The Complete Spy (Perigee, 1983). He also is the coauthor of Start Your Own …read more

Good morning readers!
Today, I’m shining the spotlight on Kristine Hanson, a freelance writer, author, and seasonal worker on an organic/biodynamic vegetable farm. She specializes in writing about food, drink, and how to live a “greener” life.

Since 1999, Kristine has contributed to a wide range of publications, including Wine Enthusiast, Yoga Journal, American Way, The Onion, Audubon, Budget Travel, Backpacker, Town & Country, Midwest Living, Time Out Chicago, and the eco-living Web sites, Idealbite.com and Grist.org. She also has written for The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Milwaukee Magazine, and The Business Journal of Milwaukee.

Kristine also is the author of The Complete Idiot’s …read more

Good Monday morning readers!
Today I’m shining the spotlight on food writer and author Monica Bhide.
Monica has written food, travel, and lifestyle features for The New York Times, American Baby, Parenting, Food & Wine magazine, SELF, Health, Prevention, AARP—The Magazine, The Washington Post, Cooking Light, Washingtonian, The Chicago Tribune, Salon.com, and National Geographic Traveler. She has written about a broad range of subjects—from spices to culinary travels abroad.
Monica also just contributed to a new book by National Geographic called Sacred Places of a Lifetime. And her third book, Modern Spice—Inspired Indian Flavors for the Contemporary Kitchen, will be released …read more

When I first started freelancing full time, it was just me, my 14-year-old cat, the ticking clock, and the occasional phone interview during the day. In other words, very little human interaction and some very welcome silence.
And for a while, that was just fine with me. I’ve always been a bit of a lone wolf. And having grown up as an only child, I’ve never minded my alone time. In fact, sometimes my family and my closest friends argue that I seem to enjoy my alone time a little too much. So for the first few months of freelancing, I …read more

Good Monday morning readers!
Today, I’m shining the spotlight on Rachel C. Weingarten, a creative brand strategist and president of Octagon Marketing Group (Formerly GTK Marketing Group). Rachel also is the author of Career and Corporate Cool™, Hello Gorgeous! Beauty Products in America, and a contributor to Fortune Small Business.
Rachel’s comments on small business, trends, and marketing regularly appear in the Associated Press, ABC News, The New York Times, the Washington Post, Newsweek, Crain’s New York Business, and other top media outlets.
Most recently, she created a series on women entrepreneurs for CNNMoney.com, worked with internationally best-selling authors and directors, and appeared …read more

Good Monday morning readers!
Today, I’m shining the spotlight on Erik Sherman, a full-time freelance writer, editor, photographer, and consultant who is considered an expert in contract issues in many freelance circles. Erik’s work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, Fortune, and USA Weekend.
Erik also is working with a friend on a new travel book about Boston, based on the work they did for Massachusetts Curiosities. And he teaches some online classes on business planning and marketing and blogging about the high tech industry at industry.bnet.com/technology.
Given our recent discussions on The Golden Pencil about clients, payment, and learning …read more

Good Monday morning readers! Today, I’m shining the spotlight on Alison Stein Wellner, a prolific travel writer, author, and longtime freelancer.
Alison, who has freelanced full time for 13 years, writes a blog about travel for the Huffington Post, a travel and lifestyle column for TheStreet.com, and writes a blog about her travel adventures and observations at A Very Curious Mind (previously A Curious Mind). Alison also is also a writer-in-residence at Alaska House, New York, where she is working on a book about King Island in the Bering Strait. She also is the author of Americans at Play (New Strategist …read more

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 …read more