Freelance Writing Direct with Estelle: Conversations with authors, journalists, agents, novelists, memoirists, niche writers, publishers, writing teachers, assigning editors and media experts. cover art

Freelance Writing Direct with Estelle: Conversations with authors, journalists, agents, novelists, memoirists, niche writers, publishers, writing teachers, assigning editors and media experts.

Freelance Writing Direct with Estelle: Conversations with authors, journalists, agents, novelists, memoirists, niche writers, publishers, writing teachers, assigning editors and media experts.

By: Estelle Erasmus
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 Welcome to the award-winning Freelance Writing Direct podcast—named the 2025 Podcast of the Year in the Education category by the American Writing Awards. Freelance Writing Direct is your go-to resource if you're a writer who wants to break through the noise and get published—whether in essays, memoir, books, or journalism. Hosted by Estelle Erasmus—an award-winning journalist, author of Writing That Gets Noticed (named a “Best Book for Writers” by Poets & Writers), NYU writing professor, and seasoned editor-in-chief—the show blends craft, industry insight, and career strategy to help writers get noticed and published. Each week, Estelle shares short, sound bite-filled episodes packed with actionable tips and candid conversations with bestselling authors, top editors, and publishing insiders. You'll get a behind-the-scenes look at how the writing world really works—plus smart, strategic advice to move your writing forward. From breaking into top publications and crafting irresistible pitches to navigating the path to book deals, Estelle pulls back the curtain on the writing life. She shares how the “sauce is made,” with writing prompts, publishing tips, and guidance from her 30+ years of experience across over 150 publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, AARP, and The Independent. Whether you're a creative writer, freelance writer, or aspiring author, you'll find community, mentorship, and momentum here. And as the show evolves, so will Estelle—listening to her guests, responding to her audience, and always staying one step ahead of the industry curve. If you've ever asked: How do I get started writing? What are assigning editors really looking for? How do I find an agent? What do publishers want? What writing tips can I use today to improve my craft? How do I get my pitches noticed? What do bestselling authors and writing teachers recommend? You're in the right place. It’s time to elevate your writing—with Freelance Writing Direct. Estelle can’t wait to read what you’ll be writing. Learn more at estelleserasmus.com, follow Estelle on Substack at estelleserasmus.substack.com, and connect with her on social media @EstelleSErasmus. About Estelle Erasmus: Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist, 2025 TEDx Speaker, and the author of Writing That Gets Noticed (named a "Best Book for Writers" by Poets & Writers Magazine). She is a Contributing Editor for Writer's Digest and the host of the Freelance Writing Direct podcast, which was named the 2025 Podcast of the Year (education) from The American Writing Awards. Estelle is also an adjunct instructor for NYU’s School of Professional Studies/Center for Publishing and Applied Liberal Arts. Her work has appeared in over 150 publications including The New York Times, Next Avenue/PBS, WIRED, The Independent, The Washington Post, and AARP: The Magazine. She has served as the editor-in-chief of five national publications. Find out more at estelleserasmus.com, follow her newsletter on Substack, and connect on social media @EstelleSErasmus.2022 Economics Leadership Management & Leadership Personal Development Personal Success
Episodes
  • #140 Growing Up in a Black-and-White World and the Truth Between the Lines Featuring Shannon Luders-Manuel

    #140 Growing Up in a Black-and-White World and the Truth Between the Lines Featuring Shannon Luders-Manuel
    May 22 2025

    What does it mean to grow up in a world that doesn’t fully reflect your identity?.In this episode, covering memoir, race, religion, the stories we’re told, and the ones we learn to write ourselves, Estelle Erasmus sits down with writer and memoirist Shannon Luders-Manuel, author of The One Who Loves You: A Memoir of Growing Up Biracial in a Black and White World. Shannon shares the deeply personal journey behind her memoir, which explores her childhood growing up mixed-race in a predominantly white family, her complex relationship with her Black father, and how those dynamics shaped her identity, relationships, and voice as a writer.

    In this episode:

    • The story behind the book’s title and structure [3:31]

    • How Shannon used personal artifacts, like journals and letters, to write memoir [6:08]

    • The challenges and emotional truths of writing about family [7:15]

    • Writing scenes, trusting memory, and tips for memoirists [15:02]

    • How religion, race, and belonging intersected in Shannon’s upbringing [18:37]

    • Her experience as a sensitivity reader and why nuance matters [19:46]

    Connect with Shannon:

    Website: https://www.shannonludersmanuel.com/

    Watch Estelle’s TEDx Talk: How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond

    In her widely shared TEDx Talk, Estelle Erasmus reveals how to command attention in a noisy world—starting with a chaotic moment involving Thomas the Tank Engine. It’s bold, funny, and packed with real-world strategies for writers who want to be seen and heard.
    🎥 Watch, comment, and share: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpcWmjpzSIQ

    About Estelle:
    Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist, author of Writing That Gets Noticed (named a “Best Book for Writers” by Poets & Writers), and host of Freelance Writing Direct—2025 Podcast of the Year (Education), American Writing Awards. A Contributing Editor for Writer’s Digest and adjunct instructor at NYU, she’s written for over 150 outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP: The Magazine, and has served as editor-in-chief of five national magazines.

    ✨ Explore More:
    📚 Writing That Gets Noticed – Buy the Book | Listen to the Audiobook
    📬 Subscribe on Substack – Craft tips, pitch advice & exclusive podcast extras
    🎓 Sign Up for Estelle’s NYU Classes
    🎧 Freelance Writing Direct – Interviews, insights & behind-the-scenes publishing tips

    Follow Estelle:
    📸 Instagram | 🎵 TikTok | 🐦 Twitter | 🌐 BlueSky
    Show More Show Less
    30 mins
  • #139 How to Submit Your Writing to Literary Magazines and Get Published Featuring Dennis James Sweeney

    #139 How to Submit Your Writing to Literary Magazines and Get Published Featuring Dennis James Sweeney
    May 15 2025
    Submitting your work doesn’t have to feel like a mystery. In this episode, Estelle Erasmus is joined by Dennis James Sweeney, author of How to Submit: Getting Your Writing Published with Literary Magazines and Small Presses (New World Library). Whether you're a seasoned writer or just starting out, this conversation offers a grounded and empowering look at how to navigate the literary submission process. In this episode: How to find the right literary magazines and small presses for your work [5:56] How platforms like Substack are changing the publishing landscape [7:21] The differences between consumer/mainstream and literary publishing [11:15] The role of vulnerability, validation, and a curated community [16:16] Why positive rejections are invitations, not failures [25:38] How to build a submission strategy that makes sense [27:40] What makes a cover letter stand out (without overthinking it) [28:22] The importance of aligning submissions with the write intention [30:06] Creating a joyful writing space [32:55] Dennis James Sweeney is the author of How to Submit: Getting Your Writing Published with Literary Magazines and Small Presses, a guide for writers. His first book, In the Antarctic Circle, won the Autumn House Rising Writer Prize and was a Debut Poetry Book of 2021 in Poets & Writers. You’re the Woods Too, his second book, was a Small Press Distribution bestseller and a finalist for the Deborah Tall Lyric Essay Prize. Most recently, The Rolodex Happenings won the Stillhouse Press Novella Prize. Sweeney's fiction, nonfiction, and poetry have appeared in Ecotone, Ninth Letter, The New York Times, The Southern Review, and Witness, among others. He has an MFA from Oregon State University and a PhD from the University of Denver. Originally from Cincinnati, he lives in Amherst, Massachusetts, where he teaches at Amherst College. Connect with Dennis Website: https://www.dennisjamessweeney.com Get How to Submit on Estelle’s Bookshop https://bookshop.org/p/books/how-to-submit-publishing-your-writing-with-small-presses-and-literary-magazines/21264529?aid=98827&ean=9781608689361&listref=authors-who-have-appeared-on-freelance-writing-direct Podcast Episodes Mentioned Casey Mulligan Walsh, Episode #137 https://estelleserasmus.com/137-writing-through-rupture-finding-belonging-after-loss-with-casey-mulligan-walsh/ Rachel Kramer Bussel, Episode #128 https://estelleserasmus.com/128-crafting-cathartic-personal-essays-with-rachel-kramer-bussel-of-open-secrets-magazine/ Watch Estelle’s TEDx Talk: How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond In her widely shared TEDx Talk, Estelle Erasmus reveals how to command attention in a noisy world—starting with a chaotic moment involving Thomas the Tank Engine. It’s bold, funny, and packed with real-world strategies for writers who want to be seen and heard. 🎥 Watch, comment, and share: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpcWmjpzSIQ About Estelle: Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist, author of Writing That Gets Noticed (named a “Best Book for Writers” by Poets & Writers), and host of Freelance Writing Direct—2025 Podcast of the Year (Education), American Writing Awards. A Contributing Editor for Writer’s Digest and adjunct instructor at NYU, she’s written for over 150 outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP: The Magazine, and has served as editor-in-chief of five national magazines. ✨ Explore More: 📚 Writing That Gets Noticed – Buy the Book | Listen to the Audiobook📬 Subscribe on Substack https://estelleserasmus.substack.com – Craft tips, pitch advice & exclusive podcast extras 🎓 Sign Up for Estelle’s NYU Classes🎧 Freelance Writing Direct – https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast Interviews, insights & behind-the-scenes publishing tips Follow Estelle: 📸 Instagram | 🎵 TikTok | 🐦 Twitter | 🌐 BlueSky
    Show More Show Less
    37 mins
  • #138 Making Memoir Peculiar—and Propulsive Featuring Dinty W. Moore

    #138 Making Memoir Peculiar—and Propulsive Featuring Dinty W. Moore
    May 8 2025

    What gives memoir its momentum—and its magic and what if the structure you’re resisting is exactly what your writing needs?

    Before we dive in…✨New TEDx Talk! I share a deeply personal story—and the actionable lessons I teach at NYU and in Writing That Gets Noticed—in my TEDx Talk: How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond Please watch to the end (that’s what counts!), and if it resonates, I’d be so grateful for a comment on the TEDx YouTube page. 🎥 Watch, comment, and share: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpcWmjpzSIQ

    Back to my illustrious guest...In this episode, I talk with celebrated writer, author, and teacher Dinty W. Moore about why the peculiar often makes the most powerful material. We explore how to shape scenes that move, lean into voice and vulnerability, and write with the kind of tension that keeps readers turning pages. Plus, Dinty shares craft insights, revision tips, and the surprising ingredient every great memoir needs.

    As the founding editor of Brevity, the journal that helped define flash nonfiction, Dinty shares his honest take on voice, structure, and how to write toward truth—even when memory is imperfect.

    Dinty W. Moore is author of the memoirs Between Panic & Desire and To Hell With It, and the writing guides Crafting the Personal Essay and The Mindful Writer, among other books. He has published essays and stories in Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, Georgia Review, Kenyon Review, Short Reads, and elsewhere. He is founding editor of Brevity, the journal of flash nonfiction.

    In this episode:

    • How Brevity began and why it still matters [2:37]

    • Dinty’s philosophy on truth, memory, and writing nonfiction [7:53]

    • The mistake many memoirists make with voice—and how to fix it [10:56]

    • Why structure often emerges after the writing [12:31]

    • How to excavate childhood memories with sensory detail [18:30]

    • The connection between humor and grief in storytelling [24:50]

    • What he’s learned from years of revising, publishing, and teaching[26:31]

    Connect with Dinty

    Website: https://dintywmoore.com

    Facebook: https://facebook.com/dintymoore

    BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/dintywmoore.bsky.social

    Connect with Brevity

    X: https://twitter.com/brevitymag

    Mentioned in This Episode

    Cheryl Strayed’s episode #38

    https://estelleserasmus.com/38-cheryl-strayed-on-writing-and-tiny-beautiful-things

    Maggie Smith’s episode #81

    https://estelleserasmus.com/81-the-art-of-shaping-a-compelling-story-featuring-maggie-smith/

    About Estelle:
    Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist, author of Writing That Gets Noticed (named a “Best Book for Writers” by Poets & Writers), and host of Freelance Writing Direct—2025 Podcast of the Year (Education), American Writing Awards.
    A Contributing Editor for Writer’s Digest and adjunct instructor at NYU, she’s written for over 150 outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP: The Magazine, and has served as editor-in-chief of five national magazines.

    ✨ Explore More:
    📚 Writing That Gets Noticed – Buy the Book | Listen to the Audiobook
    📬 Subscribe on Substack – Craft tips, pitch advice & exclusive podcast extras
    🎓 Sign Up for Estelle’s NYU Classes
    🎧 Freelance Writing Direct – Interviews, insights & behind-the-scenes publishing tips

    Follow Estelle:
    📸 Instagram | 🎵 TikTok | 🐦 Twitter | 🌐 BlueSky
    Show More Show Less
    36 mins

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