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#162 Lessons from the People of Publishing Conference

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

Release Date: 10/23/2025

#171 Musings on Writing Through Uncertainty with Abigail Thomas show art #171 Musings on Writing Through Uncertainty with Abigail Thomas

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

Memoir often begins where certainty ends, and that is exactly where Abigail Thomas feels most alive on the page. In this thoughtful conversation between friends, Estelle Erasmus and Abigail explore what it means to write through uncertainty, follow curiosity, and let small surprising moments become the heart of a story. This episode is for writers who crave honesty on the page, who wrestle with self-doubt, and who want practical ways to turn ordinary moments and uncomfortable memories into powerful stories.  In This Episode: How Abby’s writing process starts with curiosity rather than...

info_outline #170 Braiding Cultural Context into Your Memoir with Melissa Fraterrigo show art #170 Braiding Cultural Context into Your Memoir with Melissa Fraterrigo

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

Estelle Erasmus sits down with award-winning author Melissa Fraterrigo, whose latest book, The Perils of Girlhood, is a memoir in essays that examines identity, fear, body image, motherhood, memory, and the cultural touchstones that shaped so many girls growing up in the ‘80s and ‘90s.  Together, Estelle and Melissa explore the moments that define girlhood, from fear and body image to parenting, consent, pop culture, and the stories we carry into adulthood, and how writing about them can open conversations we rarely have out loud. In this episode:  The real fears that follow...

info_outline #169 Finding the Line: How a Linear Structure Brought a Memoir Into Focus with Heather Sweeney show art #169 Finding the Line: How a Linear Structure Brought a Memoir Into Focus with Heather Sweeney

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

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...

info_outline #168 The Making of A Modern Love Essay, “Negotiating the End of Us” with Leslie B. Blanchard show art #168 The Making of A Modern Love Essay, “Negotiating the End of Us” with Leslie B. Blanchard

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

Leslie B. Blanchard joins Freelance Writing Direct for a conversation about developing her Modern Love essay, finding the line that anchored the piece, writing honestly about anticipatory grief, discovering structure through revision, clarifying metaphor, understanding what makes a submission stand out, and learning what the story truly wanted to say.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....

info_outline #167 Fairyland: A Transcendent Father–Daughter Story Finds New Life in Film with Alysia Abbott show art #167 Fairyland: A Transcendent Father–Daughter Story Finds New Life in Film with Alysia Abbott

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

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,...

info_outline #166 How to Write for Electric Literature with Editor-in-Chief Denne Michele Norris (Part 2) show art #166 How to Write for Electric Literature with Editor-in-Chief Denne Michele Norris (Part 2)

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

Electric Literature is where emerging writers become working authors—and in this conversation, I’m taking you behind the scenes with Editor-in-Chief Denne Michele Norris (who I spoke with last week about her debut novel) to unpack exactly what they publish, how they edit, the pitches that stand out, the craft mistakes that make editors stop reading, and the kinds of stories they want to run next. Electric Lit’s mission is to make literature more exciting, relevant, and inclusive. Denne explains how that plays out across their digital journal, including The Commuter, Recommended Reading,...

info_outline #165 Giving Every Character Main Character Energy in Your Novel with Denne Michele Norris Part 1 show art #165 Giving Every Character Main Character Energy in Your Novel with Denne Michele Norris Part 1

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

I loved diving into this conversation with Denne Michele Norris, author, and Editor in Chief of Electric Literature. Her insight into writing every character with depth, presence, and main character energy is both generous and deeply human, and this is just Part 1 of our two part discussion. In this illuminating episode, Denne shares the craft behind her stunning debut, When the Harvest Comes, a sweeping queer love story that explores grief, faith, identity, and the transformative power of embracing difference. Stay tuned. Next week, Denne returns to cover what catches her attention as an...

info_outline #164 Writing the Restorative Memoir: Finding Meaning in the Messy Middle of Recovery with Mallary Tenore Tarpley show art #164 Writing the Restorative Memoir: Finding Meaning in the Messy Middle of Recovery with Mallary Tenore Tarpley

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

What if the truest recovery story isn’t about redemption—but restoration? What if healing means learning to live inside the messy middle?                 Estelle Erasmus talks with journalist and professor Mallary Tenore Tarpley, author of SLIP: Life in the Middle of Eating Disorder Recovery.  Mallary shares how she wrote from the in-between—the liminal space between illness and full recovery—crafting a narrative that honors imperfection and progress. Content note: This episode discusses eating...

info_outline #163 Writing the Unresolved Story: Trying and Telling the Unvarnished Truth Featuring Chloé Caldwell show art #163 Writing the Unresolved Story: Trying and Telling the Unvarnished Truth Featuring Chloé Caldwell

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

What happens when your life unravels up in the middle of writing your book — your marriage ends, fertility treatments stop, your identity shifts, and you have to rewrite the story you thought you were living? In this episode, Estelle Erasmus interviews acclaimed author Chloe Caldwell about her new book, TRYING, a radically honest, formally innovative memoir about fertility, longing, divorce, sexuality, and choosing yourself. Chloe opens up about writing through infertility, divorce, queerness, and identity, and how her real life reshaped the story she thought she was telling. In this...

info_outline #162 Lessons from the People of Publishing Conference show art #162 Lessons from the People of Publishing Conference

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

Ever wonder what’s really happening behind closed doors in the publishing industry? In this solo episode, Estelle Erasmus pulls back the curtain on the People of Publishing Conference, held on September 17, 2025, and hosted by the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA). Featuring top CEOs, editors, and agents, the event revealed key trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping today’s book world. Estelle shares her firsthand insights—including what publishing leaders are prioritizing, how AI is reshaping the industry, and what authors can do to stand out in an evolving...

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Ever wonder what’s really happening behind closed doors in the publishing industry?

In this solo episode, Estelle Erasmus pulls back the curtain on the People of Publishing Conference, held on September 17, 2025, and hosted by the Association of American Literary Agents (AALA). Featuring top CEOs, editors, and agents, the event revealed key trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping today’s book world.

Estelle shares her firsthand insights—including what publishing leaders are prioritizing, how AI is reshaping the industry, and what authors can do to stand out in an evolving landscape. Whether you’re writing your first book or deep in the query trenches, this episode offers invaluable perspective from inside the industry, plus Estelle’s Edge—her signature takeaway for writers.

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/SUYC2sDe51k

In this episode:

  • The big shifts in publishing today [2:25]

  • Why traditional media appearances don’t always sell books [5:05]

  • How the Anthropic and Meta lawsuits are protecting authors’ rights against AI companies using copyrighted work. [6:30]

  • What foreign publishers are buying right now [7:25]

  • What agents want in memoir proposals and how “Memoir Plus” and light research threads can elevate your story. [13:10]

  • AI in publishing: how it’s being used for translation, productivity, and why every author should learn to use it responsibly. [14:57]

  • Estelle’s biggest takeaway [16:15]

 

Connect with AALA/People of Publishing 

Website: https://peopleofpublishing.org/

 

Podcast Episode Mentioned 

#35 Flying High with Storyteller Ann Hood

https://estelleserasmus.com/35-flying-high-with-storyteller-ann-hood/

 

Modern Love Essay Referenced

Negotiating the End of Us by Leslie Blanchard

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/10/style/modern-love-negotiating-the-end-of-us.html

Get More from Estelle:

Register for a free online, lunchtime, Editor-on-Call NYU event on October 29th: Inside Slate an Unfiltered Conversation with Senior Editor, Rebecca Onion.

https://events.nyu.edu/event/368190-editor-on-call-inside-slate-an-unfiltered. 

 

Sign up for her 6 week Zoom NYU Course: Writing About Your Life Through Memoir, Essays and Articles

https://www.sps.nyu.edu/courses/WRIT1-CE9800-writing-about-your-life-through-memoir-essays-and-articles.html

 

New Substack post: Why Every Memoir Needs the “Echo Effect”. https://estelleserasmus.substack.com/p/why-every-memoir-needs-the-echo-effect

🎤 TEDx Talk: How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond
Estelle blends personal storytelling with actionable strategies for standing out—starting with a chaotic moment involving Thomas the Tank Engine.
📺 Watch, comment, and share

📬 Newsletter + FREE Pitching Guide
Find out more about this episode and get Estelle’s free pitching guide when you sign up for her newsletter: https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast

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 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’s served as editor-in-chief of five national magazines.

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