Freelance Writing Direct with Estelle: Conversations with authors, journalists, agents, novelists, memoirists, niche writers, publishers, writing teachers, assigning editors and media experts.
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.
Episodes
What does it mean to truly belong — and how do we find our way back to ourselves after unimaginable loss? In this episode,I talk with memoirist Casey Mulligan Walsh about grief, belonging, resilience, and the journey behind her powerful book The Full Catastrophe.
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Jackie Goldschneider gets real about writing her powerful memoir The Weight of Beautiful, opening up about her lifelong battle with an eating disorder, her journey to recovery, and what it was really like turning her story into a book—on her own terms.
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Why Jackie chose not to use a ghostwriter for her memoir [5:25]
Joëlle Delbourgo is President of Joëlle Delbourgo Associates, a boutique literary agency founded in 1999. She represents a broad range of adult nonfiction and fiction. Her authors include NYT bestselling and award-winning novelist Ben H. Winters; Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Debbie Cenziper and Dale Russakoff; award-winning educator Michele Borba, the late Dr. Susan Forward, memoirists Ariel Burger, Rachel Stolzma...
How do you turn personal experience into a powerful memoir that names names?
Estelle Erasmus talks with Hannah Selinger, author of Cellar Rat, about transitioning from essayist to memoirist while tackling the dark side of the restaurant industry.
AMY WILSON is a writer, podcaster, and performer. She is the author of the memoir When Did I Get Like This? and her latest book Happy to Help. Amy is also the co-host of the Webby-honored parenting podcast What Fresh Hell: Laughing in the Face of Motherhood. She and co-host Margaret Ables have racked up over 11 million lifetime downloads and 800 episodes since the podcast's launch in 2016, and regularly perform live shows for audie...
Nicole Graev Lipson is the author of the memoir in essays Mothers and Other Fictional Characters. Her writing has appeared in The Sun, Virginia Quarterly Review, LA Review of Books, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and Marie Claire, among other venues. Her work has been awarded a Pushcart Prize, shortlisted for a National Magazine Award, and selected for The Best American Essays anthology. She lives outside of Bo...
Bonny Reichert is a National Magazine Award-winning journalist. She has been an editor at Today’s Parent and Chatelaine magazines, and a columnist and regular contributor to The Globe and Mail newspaper. When she turned forty, a now-or-never feeling made her quit her job to enroll in culinary school, and she’s been exploring her relationship with food on the page ever since. Bonny was born in Edmonton, Alberta, and liv...
Nina Badzin is the host of the top 1% charted podcast Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship. As an essayist and freelance writer, she's had numerous pieces published on a wide variety of topics, but she started focusing on friendship in 2014. Nina moved to writing solely about friendship in 2021. Her Substack, "Conversations About Friendship" is a go-to newsletter for friendship advice, and her private Facebook gro...
Jessica Strawser is editor-at-large at Writer’s Digest and the USA Today bestselling author of suspenseful book club novels, including Almost Missed You; Not That I Could Tell (a Book of the Month pick); A Million Reasons Why; The Next Thing You Know (a People Magazine Pick), and her latest, Catch You Later, as well as The Last Caretaker, both instant USA Today bestsellers. She has written for The New York Times, Moder...
Rachel Kramer Bussel (rachelkramerbussel.com) is an essayist, journalist, and editor based in New Jersey. Her writing has been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Glamour, Publishers Weekly, Salon, Slate, TODAY.com, The Village Voice, and many other publications. She's founder and editor of personal essay magazine Open Secrets and organizer of personal storytelling summit Open Secrets Live. Rachel is ...
Siri Carpenter is an award-winning journalist and is co-founder, executive director, and editor-in-chief of The Open Notebook, a non-profit organization widely regarded as a leading source of training and educational materials for journalists who cover science. She is also the editor of the book The Craft of Science Writing. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Science, Discover, Scientific American, Science Ne...
Becca Powers is a USA TODAY best-selling author, renowned keynote speaker, Fortune 500 sales executive, and visionary behind The Dragonfly Effect, which she leads as a transformative movement inspiring positive change and resilience. Through The Dragonfly Effect, Becca empowers high performers to embrace adaptability, growth, and impactful purpose. She has shared her inspiring journey from minimum-wage worker to award-...
Alyson Shelton writes about women across mediums + genres. In the film To Hold The Night she tackles a psychological thriller through fractured realities and self-invention. In her comic Reburn she centers a superpowered and mutli-faceted heroine, and in Eve of Understanding, the award winning feature she wrote and directed, the narrative delves into childhood secrets and their ongoing repercussions. She hosts a weekly...
Athena Dixon is the author of essay collections The Incredible Shrinking Woman and The Loneliness Files and her work appears in publications such as Harper's Bazaar, Shenandoah, Grub Street, Narratively, and Lit Hub among others. She is a Consulting Editor for Fourth Genre and the Nonfiction/Hybrid Editor for Split/Lip Press.
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Christie Tate is an essayist and author who writes creative nonfiction and memoir. She is the author of the New York Times bestseller Group, which was a Reese’s Book Club selection and has been translated into 19 languages. She is also the author of B.F.F.-- A Memoir of Friendship Lost & Found. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and elsew...
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 doz...
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 caree...
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, an...
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 wit...
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 Mi...
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