『Freelance Writing Direct with Estelle: Conversations with authors, journalists, agents, novelists, memoirists, niche writers, publishers, writing teachers, assigning editors and media experts.』のカバーアート

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.

著者： Estelle Erasmus
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 Want to get published or land a book deal? Join TEDx speaker and author Estelle Erasmus for smart writing tips, publishing insights, and behind-the-scenes advice for fiction writers, memoirists, and authors at every stage. Winner of the 2025 Podcast of the Year (Education) from the American Writing Awards, Freelance Writing Direct is your go-to podcast for writing tips, publishing advice, and insider strategies to help you get published—whether in essays, memoir, fiction, books, or journalism. Hosted by Estelle Erasmus—award-winning journalist, TEDx speaker, NYU writing professor, and author of Writing That Gets Noticed (named a "Best Book for Writers" by Poets & Writers)—this show blends writing craft, career strategy, and behind-the-scenes publishing insight. Each week, Estelle shares short, practical episodes full of: Writing tips for essays, memoir, and books Pitch strategies that get editors' attention Publishing advice from agents and bestselling authors Solo episodes, coaching episodes and candid conversations with industry insiders Whether you're just starting your freelance writing journey or aiming for your next book deal, you'll find actionable tools, story prompts, and the momentum you need to grow your writing career. Listeners often ask: *How do I get published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, or WIRED? *What writing tips will make my voice stand out? *How do I find an agent or land a book deal? *What do editors actually want? *How do I shape my personal story for publication? You're in the right place. It's time to elevate your writing—with Freelance Writing Direct. 🎙️ About Estelle Erasmus Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist, TEDx speaker, and author of Writing That Gets Noticed. She's a Contributing Editor for Writer's Digest, an adjunct writing professor at NYU, and the former editor-in-chief of five national magazines. Estelle's work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, AARP, Next Avenue, and The Independent, among 150+ other outlets. She is also the host of Freelance Writing Direct, named the 2025 Podcast of the Year in the Education category by the American Writing Awards. Learn more: estelleserasmus.com Newsletter: estelleserasmus.substack.com Social: @EstelleSErasmus on Instagram, X, Threads, and LinkedIn2022 マネジメント・リーダーシップ リーダーシップ 個人的成功 経済学 自己啓発
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  • #169 Finding the Line: How a Linear Structure Brought a Memoir Into Focus with Heather Sweeney

    #169 Finding the Line: How a Linear Structure Brought a Memoir Into Focus with Heather Sweeney
    2025/12/11
    Some lives resist easy summary, and Heather Sweeney's was one of them. After two decades inside a military marriage, marked by relocations, solo parenting, and a gradual loss of personal direction, she knew she had a story, but not yet a shape. Estelle Erasmus talks with Heather about how she translated that long, complicated stretch of living into her memoir, Camouflage: How I Emerged from the Shadows of a Military Marriage. They discuss the early drafting that felt scattered, the challenge of seeing her own experience clearly, and why a straightforward linear structure ultimately gave the narrative its definition. Heather shares how moving chronologically helped her understand what moments carried weight, what could be left out, and how structure can reveal meaning that isn't visible in real time. In this episode: How Heather determined that a linear structure best served her story [1:33] How she found the true "start" of her memoir [3:00] How she used a three part structure built around beginnings and endings [5:18] How reader responses to her early essay revealed a gap in stories about military divorce [7:02] Why the book needed forward motion instead of fragmentation [11:31] How she balanced writing about real people with protecting privacy [12:00] Turning years of journals into a clean storyline [13:21] How she considered weaving in military history or prescriptive elements, and why she chose to keep the memoir focused and personal [15:03] What she's excited about next in her writing life [28:44] Why readers from all backgrounds connect with her story [30:06] Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/GlBYpm9Ac2Y About Heather Sweeney: Heather Sweeney is the author of the memoir Camouflage: How I Emerged from the Shadows of a Military Marriage. She writes about divorce, life as a military spouse, parenting, and women's health, and her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, HuffPost, Business Insider, TODAY.com, Newsweek, Good Housekeeping, Healthline, Reader's Digest and Military.com, among many others. She lives in Virginia with her boyfriend and two college-aged kids. Connect with Heather: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writersweeney Substack: https://heathersweeney.substack.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heather-sweeney-5a15115b/ X/Twitter: https://x.com/WriterSweeney Get More from Estelle 🎓 Learn with Estelle: • NYU Zoom Course: Writing About Your Life Through Memoir & Essays — Learn more• Private Small-Group Memoir Class — JANUARY AND MARCH SOLD OUT. Next 6-week session begins May 2026. Email freelancewritingdirect@gmail.com for details and to get on the waiting list. 📰 Read & Subscribe • Substack:— NEW POST: How to Pitch Slate: Advice, Ideas and Examples on How to Write Articles and Essays from NYU My Editor-on-Call Event • Newsletter: Sign up at estelleserasmus.com for show updates + a free Pitching Guide. 🎤 Watch: Estelle's TEDx Talk — How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond 📘 Book: Writing That Gets Noticed — named a Poets & Writers "Best Book for Writers." Audiobook here 🎧 Listen: Freelance Writing Direct Podcast — 2025 Podcast of the Year (American Writing Awards) About Estelle Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist,TEDx Speaker, author of Writing That Gets Noticed, and host of Freelance Writing Direct. A contributing editor for Writer's Digest and adjunct professor at NYU, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP The Magazine. She has served as editor-in-chief of five national magazines. Follow Estelle: • Instagram: @EstelleSErasmus • TikTok: @EstelleSErasmus • Twitter: @EstelleSErasmus • BlueSky: @estelleserasmus.bsky.social
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    33 分
  • #168 The Making of A Modern Love Essay, "Negotiating the End of Us" with Leslie B. Blanchard

    #168 The Making of A Modern Love Essay, "Negotiating the End of Us" with Leslie B. Blanchard
    2025/12/04
    Modern Love essays aren't accidents, they're built from a bold hook, clear structure, and often, the courage to write through grief. In this episode of Freelance Writing Direct, Estelle Erasmus talks with her student, writer Leslie B. Blanchard, about the journey of her New York Times Modern Love essay, "Negotiating the End of Us," from a quick in-class prompt to publication. Leslie shares how the opening line "He always said he would die young" became the spine of the piece, and how focusing on the negotiation around death made her grief story stand out in an inbox flooded with loss. As Estelle often teaches her students, the right entry point can transform a personal story into one an editor cannot ignore, and Leslie's piece is a powerful example of that. This episode is for writers who want to turn deeply personal material into publishable essays—and need to see exactly how community, revision, and coaching make that possible. Takeaways: How a 10-minute classroom exercise grew into a Modern Love essay [2:50] Why a specific, original hook is essential when writing about grief [6:21] How Leslie found the structure and emotional center of her piece [10:29] Craft choices that tightened the piece: cutting digressions, choosing one central metaphor, and having "bargaining" in the final line. [20:07] How workshops, careful line edits, community, and supportive coaching can turn a private story into a publishable essay and help a writer trust their voice. [27:47] About Leslie B. Blanchard Leslie tackles the complexities of marriage and child-rearing with a transparency that will leave you simultaneously laughing as you brush away tears. She began writing about marriage to her high school sweetheart and life raising 5 children. She's since added the grief of widowhood, joy of grandchildren and comfort of remarriage to her cache of insights. She's been interviewed on NPR, spoken at "Listen To Your Mother" and been published in The New York Times' Modern Love, Next Avenue, Huffington Post, BonBon Break, Today Parenting, Your Teen Magazine and Scary Mommy. She also a collaborated on, "Lose The Cape - It's a Teen Thing!" Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bxezcEqnWK4 Connect with Leslie Her Modern Love essay: Negotiating the End of Us: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/style/modern-love-negotiating-the-end-of-us.html Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/leslieblanchard0408 Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/agingersnapped Twitter: https://twitter.com/Yayamom43Leslie Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/AGingersnapped Get More from Estelle 🎓 Learn with Estelle: • NYU Zoom Course: Writing About Your Life Through Memoir & Essays — Learn more• Private Small-Group Memoir Class — JANUARY AND MARCH SOLD OUT. Next 6-week session begins May 2026. Email freelancewritingdirect@gmail.com for details and to get on the waiting list. 📰 Read & Subscribe • Substack:— NEW POST: How to Pitch Slate: Advice, Ideas and Examples on How to Write Articles and Essays from NYU My Editor-on-Call Event • Newsletter: Sign up at estelleserasmus.com for show updates + a free Pitching Guide. 🎤 Watch: Estelle's TEDx Talk — How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond 📘 Book: Writing That Gets Noticed — named a Poets & Writers "Best Book for Writers." Audiobook here 🎧 Listen: Freelance Writing Direct Podcast — 2025 Podcast of the Year (American Writing Awards) About Estelle Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist,TEDx Speaker, author of Writing That Gets Noticed, and host of Freelance Writing Direct. A contributing editor for Writer's Digest and adjunct professor at NYU, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP The Magazine. She has served as editor-in-chief of five national magazines. Follow Estelle: • Instagram: @EstelleSErasmus • TikTok: @EstelleSErasmus • Twitter: @EstelleSErasmus • BlueSky: @estelleserasmus.bsky.social
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    41 分
  • #167 Fairyland: A Transcendent Father–Daughter Story Finds New Life in Film with Alysia Abbott

    #167 Fairyland: A Transcendent Father–Daughter Story Finds New Life in Film with Alysia Abbott
    2025/11/27
    Queer history is family history, and Alysia Abbott's Fairyland proves how one father-daughter story can illuminate an entire era. In this conversation, Estelle Erasmus talks with Alysia about her acclaimed memoir of growing up with her single gay father in 1970s and 80s San Francisco, and how that memoir found new life as a feature film more than a decade later. In this discussion, they explore the love, art, grief, and legacy at the heart of the story. Alysia shares how her father built a queer literary community long before the internet, and how his journals, letters, poems, and comics helped her reconstruct their world on the page. Together, Estelle and Alysia explore the craft, history, and emotional truth that shaped both the memoir and its cinematic adaptation. In this episode: Writing memoir from a daughter's perspective inside a queer community shaped by AIDS and activism [4:12] Showing how Fairyland bridges counterculture and mainstream culture, bringing a once marginalized father-daughter story into national conversation [6:03] Exploring how memoir can serve a higher purpose by honoring a life, a community, and a legacy that might otherwise be lost [23:53] Capturing the cultural touchstones, from poetry readings to Pride to the queer arts scene, that defined a transformative era [25:33] Using journals, letters, interviews, and research to rebuild a vivid sense of time, place, and character [28:57] Navigating the leap from book to film while remaining a trusted collaborator rather than an obstacle [33:44] Crafting an ending that situates one family's story inside a larger shared queer history [41:47] Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/sIyYiDxaGP8 About Alysia Alysia Abbott is the author of Fairyland, A Memoir of My Father, which was a New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice and a winner of the ALA Stonewall Award and the Madame Figaro Prix Heroine. The feature film based on her memoir, directed by Andrew Durham and produced by Sofia Coppola, premiered at the Sundance Festival in 2022, played in theaters across the country last month, and is now streaming on major platforms. Her essays and reviews have been published in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, WBUR's Cognoscenti, Vogue and elsewhere. She has been awarded grants and fellowships from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, Ragdale and the Virginia Center for the Arts. She currently teaches literature and memoir at Emerson College and MIT. Connect with Alysia: http://www.alysiaabbott.com/ Stream Fairyland here: https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/fairyland Get More from Estelle 🎓 Learn with Estelle: • NYU Zoom Course: Writing About Your Life Through Memoir & Essays — Learn more• Private Small-Group Memoir Class — JANUARY AND MARCH SOLD OUT. Next 6-week session begins May 2026. Email freelancewritingdirect@gmail.com for details and to get on the waiting list. 📰 Read & Subscribe • Substack:— NEW POST: How to Pitch Slate: Advice, Ideas and Examples on How to Write Articles and Essays from NYU My Editor-on-Call Event • Newsletter: Sign up at estelleserasmus.com for show updates + a free Pitching Guide. 🎤 Watch: Estelle's TEDx Talk — How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond 📘 Book: Writing That Gets Noticed — named a Poets & Writers "Best Book for Writers." Audiobook here 🎧 Listen: Freelance Writing Direct Podcast — 2025 Podcast of the Year (American Writing Awards) About Estelle Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist,TEDx Speaker, author of Writing That Gets Noticed, and host of Freelance Writing Direct. A contributing editor for Writer's Digest and adjunct professor at NYU, her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP The Magazine. She has served as editor-in-chief of five national magazines. Follow Estelle: • Instagram: @EstelleSErasmus • TikTok: @EstelleSErasmus • Twitter: @EstelleSErasmus • BlueSky: @estelleserasmus.bsky.social
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    52 分
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