Freelance Writing Direct with Estelle

Hannah Sward, daughter of the late poet Robert Sward, is the IAN awarding-winning author of Strip: A Memoir. Strip, Swards first book, has received the attention of authors such as Nobel Prize winner, J.M. Coetzee, Melissa Broder, and NYT Bestselling novelist Caroline Leavitt who called Sward, "One of the most moving and honest memoir writers. So eloquent, so brave."

Sward has spoken on dozens of podcasts and panels with special appearances on NBC CA Live and C-SPAN BookTV. Published in literary journals for the past twenty years, she was a regular contributor at The Fix and Erotic Review. Her most recent work can be read in the LA Times, NY Times (TLS), Huff Post, The Rumpus and others.

Sward is on the board at Right to Write Press, a nonprofit that supports emerging incarcerated writers. She lives in Los Angeles where she is working on a short story collection about love and jealousy.

In this episode:

• Hannah Sward's life story and the inspiration behind her memoir, Strip. [2:33]

• The impact of loneliness and addiction on childhood and young adulthood [3:35]

• Refusing to center in shame, despite fraught scenarios [6:30]

• How Hannah started writing her memoir, and traversed the path of sobriety [6:50]

• The benefits of mentorship [7:49]

• Structuring a book in short chapters [8:33]

• Her 2 page a day process for putting down her truth [8:48]

• Excavating childhood memories [10:36]

• Distilling scenes and setting from her dad's poetry [11:50]

• The scene she had to rewrite till she got it right [13:39]

• Navigating family reactions, especially with difficult topics [16:02]

• Looking at older work and readying it for publication [22:18]

• Hannah's next project [25:12]

Get Strip on Estelle's Bookshop

https://bookshop.org/p/books/strip-a-memoir-hannah-sward/18101649?ean=9781948954679

Episodes Mentioned

Episode #120

Writing Days of Wonder Featuring Caroline Leavitt

https://estelleserasmus.com/120-writing-days-of-wonder-featuring-caroline-leavitt/

Episode #87

Writing Memoir that Reads Like a Novel and Captivates on Every Page with Joanna Rakoff

https://estelleserasmus.com/87-writing-memoir-that-reads-like-a-novel-and-captivates-on-every-page-featuring-joanna-rakoff/

Connect with Hannah Sward

Website

https://www.hannahsward.com/

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/hannahswardauthor

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/hannahswardauthor

Threads

https://www.threads.net/@hannahswardauthor

Connect with Estelle Erasmus

Her latest substack Post: My Predictions for Publishing in 2025

https://estelleserasmus.substack.com/p/my-predictions-for-publishing-for

Apply to be on Freelance Writing Direct in a coaching episode: email [email protected] and state three of the issues you are dealing with that you would like Estelle's help with.

​​FREE PITCHING GUIDE: Find out more about this episode at

https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast. You also get a free pitching guide if you sign up for her newsletter.

Sign up for Estelle's Personal Essay Class for Writer's Digest

https://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/courses/writing-the-personal-essay-101-fundamentals

Sign up for Estelle's NYU Classes

https://www.sps.nyu.edu/professional-pathways/faculty/e/1068-estelle-erasmus.html

Get Her Book

Writing That Gets Noticed: Find Your Voice, Become a Better Storyteller, Get Published: https://rb.gy/5ihwp0

Order Her Audiobook:

https://shorturl.at/4uG2P

Sign up for her Substack https://estelleserasmus.substack.com (with craft advice and writing opportunities). Paid subscribers receive opportunities for pitch reviews, plus bonus clips from Freelance Writing Direct guests

Follow Estelle:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/EstelleSErasmus

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@EstelleSErasmus

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EstelleSerasmus

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

Krishan Trotman is the co-author of the Queens of the Resistance series and Vice President, Publisher of Legacy Lit, an imprint at Hachette Book Group in New York. She was recently profiled in the New York Times and Essence magazine as one of the few African American publishing executives. She has committed over fifteen years to publishing books by and about multicultural voices and social justice. Throughout her career, she has proudly worked with leaders and trailblazers on this frontier such as John Lewis, Stephanie Land, Malcolm Nance, Zerlina Maxwell, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Al Roker, Ed Gordon, Lindy West, and other dynamic celebrity and bestselling authors. She is the self-described Beyoncé of Books, and mom to her son Bleu.

In this episode:

• The importance of partnership in publishing and how to make it work [2:41]

• How to navigate your book's cover design conundrums [3:50]

• The benefits of acting proactively [9:45]

• Legacy Lit's mission and the true meaning of diversity in publishing [13:22]

• How Krishan sources writers for Legacy Lit and what to do to get on her radar [15:55]

• How publishers support their authors and uplift voices that might not be heard [16:01]

• How Krishan uses her spidey sense to make deals [17:58]

• An big announcement about Legacy Lit the types of books they are acquiring [19:53]

• How Audiobooks can make a difference [26:30]

• What will make you a writer that will get a publishing contract? [35:08]

Connect with Krishan and Legacy Lit

Website

https://www.krishantrotman.com/

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/KrishanTrotmanInks

Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/krishantrotman

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/krishan-trotman-14936934/

Threads

https://www.threads.net/@krishantrotman

Legacy Lit

Website

https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/landing-page/about-legacy-lit/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/legacylitbooks/?hl=en

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/legacylithbg/

Twitter

https://x.com/legacylitbooks/status/1794073420914913357

Connect with Estelle Erasmus

Estelle's episode #119 analyzing the publishing landscape

Estelle's Edge on Steering Through the Publishing Gauntlet

https://estelleserasmus.com/119-solo-episode-estelles-edge-on-steering-through-the-publishing-gauntlet/

Estelle's substack post on getting her audio book dea

If You Are Thinking About Doing an Audiobook:

https://estelleserasmus.substack.com/p/if-you-are-thinking-of-doing-an-audiobook

Apply to be on Freelance Writing Direct in a coaching episode: email [email protected] and state three of the issues you are dealing with that you would like Estelle's help with.

​​FREE PITCHING GUIDE: Find out more about this episode at

https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast. You also get a free pitching guide if you sign up for her newsletter.

Sign up for Estelle's Personal Essay Class for Writer's Digest

https://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/courses/writing-the-personal-essay-101-fundamentals

Sign up for Estelle's NYU Classes

https://www.sps.nyu.edu/professional-pathways/faculty/e/1068-estelle-erasmus.html

Get Her Book

Writing That Gets Noticed: Find Your Voice, Become a Better Storyteller, Get Published: https://rb.gy/5ihwp0

Order Her Audiobook:

https://shorturl.at/4uG2P

Sign up for her Substack https://estelleserasmus.substack.com (with craft advice and writing opportunities). Paid subscribers receive opportunities for pitch reviews, plus bonus clips from Freelance Writing Direct guests

Follow Estelle:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/EstelleSErasmus

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@EstelleSErasmus

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EstelleSerasmus

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

Caroline Leavitt is the New York Times bestselling author of 13 novels, most recently Days of Wonder, which was a CBS/Mary Calvi bookclub pick, the recipient of a MidAtlantic Arts Foundation grant, and which was translated into Russia and has a shopping agreement for film. The co-founder of A Mighty Blaze, the book program begun the day of lockdown, she writes a column blog "Runs in the Family" for Psychology Today, and is a book critic for people and the recipient of a New York Foundation of the Arts Fellowship. She teaches story structure for the novel at UCLA Writers Program Extension and works with private clients. Her work has appeared in the New York Times "Modern Love," New York Magazine, Salon, Lit Hub, The Millions and many anthologies.

Caroline is longlisted for the 2025 Joyce Carol Oates Literary Prize.

In this episode:

• The Inspiration Behind 'Days of Wonder'

• Caroline's process for crafting her story with themes and structures

• Turning trauma into art

• Navigating dual timelines

• The art of multiple POVs in her writing

• Writing with themes of change, redemption, and societal perception

• The importance of perseverance in the writing industry

• Caroline's advice for aspiring writers

Connect with Caroline

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/carolineleavitt/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/carolineleavitt

TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@carowriter99

Website: www.carolineleavitt.com

Connect with Estelle Erasmus

Apply to be on Freelance Writing Direct in a coaching episode: email [email protected] and state three of the issues you are dealing with that you would like Estelle's help with.

​​FREE PITCHING GUIDE: Find out more about this episode at

https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast. You also get a free pitching guide if you sign up for her newsletter.

Sign up for Estelle's Personal Essay Class for Writer's Digest

https://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/courses/writing-the-personal-essay-101-fundamentals

Sign up for Estelle's NYU Classes

https://www.sps.nyu.edu/professional-pathways/faculty/e/1068-estelle-erasmus.html

Get Her Book

Writing That Gets Noticed: Find Your Voice, Become a Better Storyteller, Get Published: https://rb.gy/5ihwp0

Order Her Audiobook:

https://shorturl.at/4uG2P

Sign up for her Substack https://estelleserasmus.substack.com (with craft advice and writing opportunities). Paid subscribers receive opportunities for pitch reviews, plus bonus clips from Freelance Writing Direct guests

Follow Estelle:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/EstelleSErasmus

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@EstelleSErasmus

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EstelleSerasmus

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

The publishing industry is going through a groundbreaking sea change, reminiscent of the early days of the Internet. In this episode, Estelle Erasmus speaks about the current state of the publishing landscape, changes she is seeing, how to traverse them, and what to expect going forward.

Estelle discusses the significant challenges faced by editors and writers due to the rise of AI, ongoing layoffs with media companies, the diminishing presence of print magazines, and the increasing presence of the digital world.

In this episode:

• Estelle's insights on the changes within the publishing industry.

• The decline of print magazines and the rise of social media, and what that means now

• The importance of good writing skills - and how to use it to break through the noise

• Exploring Substack and new publishing models

• What book publishers find valuable. Hint: it's not necessarily social media followers

• The future of legacy media

• How to keep an audience's/reader's attention

Connect with Estelle Erasmus

Apply to be on Freelance Writing Direct in a coaching episode: email [email protected] and state three of the issues you are dealing with that you would like Estelle's help with.

​​FREE PITCHING GUIDE: Find out more about this episode at

https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast. You also get a free pitching guide if you sign up for her newsletter.

Sign up for Estelle's Personal Essay Class for Writer's Digest

https://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/courses/writing-the-personal-essay-101-fundamentals

Sign up for Estelle's NYU Classes

https://www.sps.nyu.edu/professional-pathways/faculty/e/1068-estelle-erasmus.html

Get Her Book

Writing That Gets Noticed: Find Your Voice, Become a Better Storyteller, Get Published: https://rb.gy/5ihwp0

Order Her Audiobook:

https://shorturl.at/4uG2P

Sign up for her Substack https://estelleserasmus.substack.com (with craft advice and writing opportunities). Paid subscribers receive opportunities for pitch reviews, plus bonus clips from Freelance Writing Direct guests

Follow Estelle:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/EstelleSErasmus

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@EstelleSErasmus

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EstelleSerasmus

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

Julie Pfitzinger has been with Next Avenue, a digital publication of Twin Cities PBS, for seven years and is the Managing Editor and Senior Editor for Features. She has worked as a writer and editor for more than 25 years; her work has appeared in publications including the Star Tribune and Minnesota Parent. For several years, she was a managing editor for the community lifestyle magazine group at Tiger Oak Media in Minneapolis, where she also served as writer and editor for Saint Paul Magazine and other Tiger Oak publications.

In this episode:

• Julie's 25-year career in writing and editing [2:33]

• What types of articles Next Avenue publishes [3:47]

• The changing demographic of Next Avenue's readers [4:37]

• The topics the publication covers, including retirement, health, volunteering, money, caregiving, relationships and lifestyle [4:37]

• How and where to pitch observational personal essays and articles [6:49]

• The way that Next Avenue prefers to cover parenting in stories and why the holidays is such a key time [6:57]

• When humor pieces work [9:51]

• What makes an older story relevant? [10:23]

• The pandemic's impact on older generations and what kinds of pitches on COVID work [15:40]

• The specific (but easy) pitching portal, word count, pay and rights [20:41]

• Why Next Avenue doesn't do roundups [24:07]

• Criteria for writing about travel for the publication [24:14]

• Julie's joy at working with writers [37:22]

Connect with Julie

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/julie.pfitzinger?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Connect with Next Avenue

Next Avenue Submission Guidelines

https://www.nextavenue.org/submission-guidelines/

Pitching Portal for Next Avenue

https://airtable.com/apppNGXCs7kzbdiJr/pago2SiOjXEVW7s7E/form

Stories Mentioned in This Episode

The Founding Mothers of NPR

https://www.nextavenue.org/founding-mothers-of-npr/

My Parenting Strategy Was Too Effective

https://www.nextavenue.org/it-turns-out-my-parenting-strategy-was-too-effective/

Sorry Nobody Wants Your Parents' Stuff

https://www.nextavenue.org/nobody-wants-parents-stuff/

Lying for Love: The Psychology of Catfishing

https://www.nextavenue.org/lying-for-love-the-psychology-of-catfishing/

Two Adoptions, One Family: A Story of Two Brothers

https://www.nextavenue.org/two-adoptions-one-family-a-story-of-two-brothers/

Don't Tell Me To Stop Saying 'Don't'

https://www.nextavenue.org/dont-tell-me-to-stop-saying-dont/

Estelle's new Essay on Next Avenue

Lessons from a Babysitter with a Restless Spirit

https://www.nextavenue.org/lessons-from-a-babysitter-with-a-restless-spirit/

Connect with Estelle Erasmus

Apply to be on Freelance Writing Direct in a coaching episode: email [email protected] and state three of the issues you are dealing with that you would like Estelle's help with.

​​FREE PITCHING GUIDE: Find out more about this episode at

https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast. You also get a free pitching guide if you sign up for her newsletter.

Sign up for Estelle's Personal Essay Class for Writer's Digest

https://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/courses/writing-the-personal-essay-101-fundamentals

Sign up for Estelle's NYU Classes

https://www.sps.nyu.edu/professional-pathways/faculty/e/1068-estelle-erasmus.html

Get Her Book

Writing That Gets Noticed: Find Your Voice, Become a Better Storyteller, Get Published: https://rb.gy/5ihwp0

Order Her Audiobook:

https://shorturl.at/4uG2P

Sign up for her Substack https://estelleserasmus.substack.com (with craft advice and writing opportunities). Paid subscribers receive opportunities for pitch reviews, plus bonus clips from Freelance Writing Direct guests

Follow Estelle:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/EstelleSErasmus

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@EstelleSErasmus

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EstelleSerasmus

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

Ann Garvin, Ph.D. is the USA Today Bestselling author, finalist for the Thomas Wolf Fiction Prize, and freelance contributor at the New York Times. Ann is a nurse, scientist, educator and author of six funny and sad novels. She writes about women who do too much in a world that asks too much from them. She currently teaches creative writing at Drexel University in their low residency MFA program and is the founder of the multiple award-winning Tall Poppy Writers.

In this episode:

• The background of Bummer Camp [2:26]

• How Ann structured the transformation of each character in her novel [5:27]

• The way she built in conflict and roadblocks for each of her characters [8:34]

• How Ann equates structuring her book to painting a wall [13:09]

• What Ann does when she underwrites to fill in the gaps [17:58]

• Focusing on action and movement in the book [20:47]

• How Ann uses the endings of chapters to "open the door" to the next chapter [22:17]

• Ann's groundbreaking way of promoting the book [29:17]

Connect with Ann

https://anngarvin.com

Twitter:

https://x.com/AnnGarvin_

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/anngarvin_/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/AnnWertzGarvin?ref=br_tf

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/ann.w.garvin

Ann's Modern Love essay

He Wanted To Date Younger Women

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/07/style/modern-love-he-wanted-to-date-younger-women.html

Buy Bummer Camp on Estelle's Bookshop

https://bookshop.org/p/books/bummer-camp-ann-garvin/21144547?aid=98827&ean=9781662518560&listref=authors-who-have-appeared-on-freelance-writing-direct&

Connect with Estelle Erasmus

Apply to be on Freelance Writing Direct in a coaching episode: email [email protected] and state three of the issues you are dealing with that you would like Estelle's help with.

​​FREE PITCHING GUIDE: Find out more about this episode at

https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast. You also get a free pitching guide if you sign up for her newsletter.

Sign up for Estelle's Personal Essay Class for Writer's Digest

https://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/courses/writing-the-personal-essay-101-fundamentals

Sign up for Estelle's NYU Classes

https://www.sps.nyu.edu/professional-pathways/faculty/e/1068-estelle-erasmus.html

Get Her Book

Writing That Gets Noticed: Find Your Voice, Become a Better Storyteller, Get Published: https://rb.gy/5ihwp0

Order Her Audiobook:

https://shorturl.at/4uG2P

Sign up for her Substack https://estelleserasmus.substack.com (with craft advice and writing opportunities). Paid subscribers receive opportunities for pitch reviews, plus bonus clips from Freelance Writing Direct guests

Follow Estelle:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/EstelleSErasmus

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@EstelleSErasmus

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EstelleSerasmus

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

Abigail Thomas has four children,12 grandchildren, two great grandchildren, eleven books, and a high school education. She was asked to leave Bryn Mawr freshman year when she told the Dean she was pregnant, and she never went back. She had always wanted to be a writer, but for a long time the closest she came was bopping around her kitchen to Paperback Writer, by the Beatles. When she was forty-eight, after an interesting adventure, when she got home, she left her ego outside, and began to write a story. It didn't work, but instead of crumpling it up saying "who do you think you are?" sat in a different chair, and another, and at the end of the afternoon, she had written a story. It was published in the Columbia Journal of Poetry and Prose. She had learned you have to keep at it. Writing is work of the best kind.

She has written two short story collections, one novel and four works of non-fiction, including the memoirs Safekeeping; A Three Dog Life; What Comes Next and How to Like It; and a book about writing, Thinking about Memoir.

Still Life at Eighty: The Next Interesting Thing is her latest memoir, published by Scribners in November 2024.

In this episode:

• • Abigail's new book, Still Life at Eighty, now published by Scribner [1:11]

  • What gravitas means to Abby [3:44]

  • Why Abby's go to reference is always the dictionary [3:59]

  • The gifts Abby sees in aging [9:06]

  • The meaning of ambition and weaving [7:04]

  • How guilt grows up and becomes regret and how Abby really feels about guilt [15:02]

  • What compels her to write [18:27]

  • Using a person's voice as a framing device [25:43]

  • The importance of vulnerability and creativity in your writing [27:22]

• The meaning of her two tattoos and the third one she wants to get [31:30]

Connect with Abigail Thomas:

Website: https://www.abigailthomas.net

Substack Abigail Thomas/What Comes Next?: https://abigailthomas.substack.com

Abigail on the Joe Donahue podcast

https://www.wamc.org/podcast/the-roundtable/2024-11-20/abigail-thomass-still-life-at-80

Estelle's prior Episode #83 with Abby

https://estelleserasmus.com/83-writing-your-way-into-an-engaging-and-enthralling-story-featuring-abigail-thomas/

Connect with Estelle Erasmus

Check out Estelle's latest Substack post Debunking The Myths of Writing

https://open.substack.com/pub/estelleserasmus/p/debunking-the-myths-of-writing

Apply to be on Freelance Writing Direct in a coaching episode: email [email protected] and state three of the issues you are dealing with that you would like Estelle's help with.

​​FREE PITCHING GUIDE: Find out more about this episode at

https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast. You also get a free pitching guide if you sign up for her newsletter.

Sign up for Estelle's Personal Essay Class for Writer's Digest

https://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/courses/writing-the-personal-essay-101-fundamentals

Sign up for Estelle's NYU Classes

https://www.sps.nyu.edu/professional-pathways/faculty/e/1068-estelle-erasmus.html

Get Her Book

Writing That Gets Noticed: Find Your Voice, Become a Better Storyteller, Get Published: https://rb.gy/5ihwp0

Order Her Audiobook:

https://shorturl.at/4uG2P

Sign up for her Substack https://estelleserasmus.substack.com (with craft advice and writing opportunities). Paid subscribers receive opportunities for pitch reviews, plus bonus clips from Freelance Writing Direct guests

Follow Estelle:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/EstelleSErasmus

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@EstelleSErasmus

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EstelleSerasmus

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

Deborah Copperud is a freelance writer, independent podcast producer, and former reference librarian. Her writing has been published in Glamour, Racket, Defenestration, Great River Review, Potomac Review, Door Is A Jar, Another Chicago Magazine, and Blue Earth Review, and her Substack newsletter Deborah Copperud Shops at Target. Her work is forthcoming in The Rumpus and Good Tape. She co-hosts the It's My Screen Time Too and Spock Talk podcasts and teaches podcasting for Minneapolis Community Education. Copperud is currently at work on an essay collection about volunteering, a subject she's uniquely qualified to cover, having volunteered as a preschool choir accompanist, Democratic party activist, elementary school library book shelver, rock band cellist, potluck block party organizer, and Chess Club scorekeeper. Copperud holds a B.A. in English from the University of Minnesota and a master's in Library and Information Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She enjoys jogging and biking around the Chain of Lakes in Minneapolis, where she lives with her husband and three children.

In This Episode:

• What lane to choose when there are so many?

• An exercise that Estelle suggests to do for clarity

• Why information is power and how to accrue it

• Building an information network

• Finding agents by thinking outside the box

• Changing your mindset to a positive one

• Finding the hook in your writing

• Framing a story in a timely way

• Adding in layers to create depth in an essay

• Using mind mapping to find your focus

• Getting the SEO juice in your title

Connect with Deborah

Substack: https://deborahcopperud.substack.com/

Deborah's piece for Glamour

Best Acne Podcasts: Treating Acne Through the Ears

https://www.glamour.com/story/best-acne-podcasts

Episode Mentioned

Coaching Episode #84

Estelle's Edge: Coaching to Get Your Writing Noticed with Anna Medaris

https://estelleserasmus.com/84-estelles-edge-live-coaching-to-get-your-writing-noticed/

Estelle's article on the AARP/The Ethel

How Penny Marshall's "Laverne" Was the Role Model That Saved Me

https://www.aarpethel.com/fulfillment/why-penny-marshalls-laverne-was-the-role-model-that-saved-me

Connect with Estelle Erasmus

Apply to be on Freelance Writing Direct in a coaching episode: email [email protected] and state three of the issues you are dealing with that you would like Estelle's help with.

​​FREE PITCHING GUIDE: Find out more about this episode at

https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast. You also get a free pitching guide if you sign up for her newsletter.

Sign up for Estelle's Personal Essay Class for Writer's Digest

https://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/courses/writing-the-personal-essay-101-fundamentals

Sign up for Estelle's NYU Classes

https://www.sps.nyu.edu/professional-pathways/faculty/e/1068-estelle-erasmus.html

Get Her Book

Writing That Gets Noticed: Find Your Voice, Become a Better Storyteller, Get Published: https://rb.gy/5ihwp0

Order Her Audiobook:

https://shorturl.at/4uG2P

Sign up for her Substack https://estelleserasmus.substack.com (with craft advice and writing opportunities). Paid subscribers receive opportunities for pitch reviews, plus bonus clips from Freelance Writing Direct guests

Follow Estelle:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/EstelleSErasmus

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@EstelleSErasmus

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EstelleSerasmus

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

Betsy Lerner is the author of the recently released novel, Shred Sisters (Grove Press, October 2024). She is also the author The Bridge Ladies, The Forest for the Trees and Food and Loathing. With Temple Grandin, she is the co-author of the New York Times bestseller Visual Thinking: The Hidden Gifts of People Who Think in Pictures, Patterns and Abstractions. She received an MFA from Columbia University in Poetry where she was selected as one of PEN's Emerging Writers. She also received the Tony Godwin Publishing Prize for Editors. After working as an editor for 15 years, she became an agent and is currently a partner with Dunow, Carlson and Lerner Literary Agency.

• The surprising origin of the Shred Sisters and the reason a temporary title became so much more [3:51]

• How Betsy's life informed the book's backstory and is reflected in multiple characters [7:16]

• Writing a coming of age story with a twist [7:22]

• The difference between writing fiction and nonfiction, and why Betsy enjoys this latest genre so much [7:57]

• The value of good transitions to move the reader along and hook them into the story [10:46]

• Betsy's 'acorn' theory and how she dropped seeds throughout her book [15:22]

• The key to structure and why many writers struggle with it [21:51]

• What Betsy really thinks about the process of revision and why slowing down is essential [24:06]

• The other side of her work, acting as a literary agent [25:01]

• How Betsy ended up going viral on TikTok and becoming a book influencer [26:28]

• Betsy's dream for her book, and who she would cast in the movie [32:50]

• Why a writer should never write for an audience [36:32]

Connect with Betsy

Photo Credit: Maryana Karayim

Website: https://betsylerner.com

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@betsylerner

The New York Times Book Review of Shred Sisters

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/30/books/review/shred-sisters-betsy-lerner.html

Connect with Estelle Erasmus

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Kristi Coulter is the author of EXIT INTERVIEW: THE LIFE & DEATH OF MY AMBITIOUS CAREER, out now in paperback. Her previous book, the memoir-in-essays NOTHING GOOD CAN COME FROM THIS, was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. Kristi's work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Paris Review, Elle, Longreads, and many other publications. Her Substack newsletter, Loose Canon, offers personal and irreverent commentary on film and music. She is a former resident at Ragdale and the Mineral School and has taught writing at the University of Washington, University of Michigan, Hugo House, and the Work Room. Kristi lives in Seattle and Los Angeles.

In this episode:

• Picking the perfect title and a trick on how to do it [2:48]

• Why Kristi wrote her book using the present tense and the challenges that imposed [6:27]

• Deciding what to leave in and what to take out [12:42]

• How Kristi incorporated historical context into her book to make a point without preaching to the reader [13:41]

• Incorporating humor in memoir writing and playing with forms [18:34]

• Finding the perfect equation between scene and summary [21:42]

• Making the narrator relatable, not likable [23:29]

• Kristi's advice for aspiring Memoir Writers [27:52]

• The benefits of writing chapters out of sequence [28:05]

• Understanding the meaning of that first "Discovery Draft" [28:28]

• Selling a book on proposal. What you need to know [30:56]

• The art of writing a synopsis [32:36]

• The impact Kristi's book is having on women at Amazon and beyond [33:59]

Connect with Kristi

Instagram: https://instagram.com/kristi.c.coulter

Threads: @kristiccoulter;

Facebook:

https://facebook.com/kristicoulter

Podcast Guests Mentioned in This Episode

#52 Claire Dederer

https://estelleserasmus.com/a-conversation-with-claire-dederer-about-monsters/

#101 Elissa Bassist

https://estelleserasmus.com/101-the-makings-of-a-hysterical-story-featuring-elissa-bassist/

Connect with Estelle Erasmus

​​FREE PITCHING GUIDE: Find out more about this episode at

https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast. You also get a free pitching guide if you sign up for her newsletter.

Sign up for Estelle's Personal Essay Class for Writer's Digest

https://www.writersonlineworkshops.com/courses/writing-the-personal-essay-101-fundamentals

Sign up for Estelle's NYU Classes

https://www.sps.nyu.edu/professional-pathways/faculty/e/1068-estelle-erasmus.html

Get Her Book

Writing That Gets Noticed: Find Your Voice, Become a Better Storyteller, Get Published: https://rb.gy/5ihwp0

Order Her Audiobook:

https://shorturl.at/4uG2P

Sign up for her Substack https://estelleserasmus.substack.com (with craft advice and writing opportunities). Paid subscribers receive opportunities for pitch reviews, plus bonus clips from Freelance Writing Direct guests

Follow Estelle:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/EstelleSErasmus

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@EstelleSErasmus

Twitter: https://twitter.com/EstelleSerasmus