Listen:
This is Part 2 of my conversation with Electric Literature’s Editor-in-Chief, Denne Michele Norris, where we continue exploring exactly what Electric Lit publishes and how writers can stand out. We dig into their editorial approach, the craft mistakes that make editors stop reading, and the kinds of stories they’re hoping to run next.
Denne walks through how Electric Lit’s mission—to make literature exciting, relevant, and inclusive—plays out across The Commuter, Recommended Reading, and Personal Narrative. She also breaks down pay rates, rights, accessibility, word counts, and what makes prose feel clear and inviting.
Using a real (anonymized) submission, she highlights the most common craft issue in personal essays: writers circling instead of landing. We also talk about what types of book lists and cultural criticism Electric Lit’s readers respond to—including pop-culture and TV/film angles from prestige shows to Taylor Swift. She closes by sharing how Electric Lit operates as a nonprofit, along with reflections on her anthology Both And and her father’s influence as a reader.
In This Episode
- What Electric Lit publishes across The Commuter, Recommended Reading, Personal Narrative, and cultural criticism [2:07]
- How rights, word counts, and pay work for contributors at a digital literary journal [4:57]
- The craft mistake that sinks many personal essays and how to avoid opaque writing [6:13]
- What kinds of book lists, pop culture essays, and TV/film criticism Electric Lit’s readers devour [10:27]
- How Electric Lit operates as a nonprofit and how Denne is expanding her own work with an anthology and a new novel [19:15]
Watch on YouTube
About Denne
Denne Michele Norris is the editor in chief of Electric Literature, winner of the Whiting Literary Magazine Prize. She is the first Black, openly trans woman to helm a major literary publication. She co-hosts the critically acclaimed podcast Food 4 Thot and holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College.
Episodes Mentioned
Episode #165 Giving Every Character Main Character Energy in Your Novel with Denne Michele Norris
Episode #128 Crafting Cathartic Personal Essay with Rachel Kramer Bussel of Open Secrets Magazine
Articles/Essays Mentioned
I Was My Mother’s Daughter, and Then I Was Stuck with My Dad (Shrinking TV show reference)
Writing The Story You’ve Sat on For Fifteen Years by Peter Orner
Connect with Denne
Get More from Estelle
NYU (Zoom), 6-week course: Writing About Your Life Through Memoir, Essays & Articles — Register Here.
Private small-group memoir class: January sold out in 4 days; and March in a week. The next 6-week session starts September 2026. To secure your spot, email me freelancewritingdirect@gmail.
NEW Substack Post: How to Pitch Slate: Advice, Ideas and Examples For Writing Essays and Articles From My NYU Editor-on-Call Event:
If you missed my Editor-on-Call session with Slate’s Rebecca Onion, I put together a recap with everything writers need to know—rates, story types, what they’re commissioning, and the pitch mistakes editors see most often.
For my yearly paid subscribers, I’m also offering a limited number of pitch/essay reviews connected to the post. I love being able to support writers this way.
Student Work
Thrilled to see Linda Wolff’s beautiful essay in Business Insider, which began in workshop. Her exploration of her mother’s death is handled with such precision and care. Working with her on this piece also made me think more deeply about the emotional weight that personal objects can hold and how I want to approach my own. This is her essay: When my mom died, sorting through her belongings was overwhelming. I’m determined not to burden my children in the same way.
Rhonda Ray has a compelling new essay in Brevity, “How Searching for Writing Topics Became a Search for Truth and Beauty.” Rhonda workshopped this piece in my recent Zoom class, and it is a powerful example of how following a question on the page can lead to profound insight.
Ellen Acconcia published a smart and timely op-ed, “A Dangerous Nostalgia,” in Eurasia Review. She weaves her personal experience as an expat with a recent poll and a buzzy, culturally resonant term — a strategic combination I highlight as a publishing secret in Writing That Gets Noticed.
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- 📘 Writing That Gets Noticed – Buy the book | Audiobook
- 🎤 Watch Estelle’s TEDx Talk: How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond
- 📰 Subscribe on Substack: https://estelleserasmus.substack.com
Latest posts: “Why Every Memoir Needs the “Echo Effect”, When Writers Are the Ones Blocking the Page: 6 Ways to Move Forward (and An Offer); Stop Counting Your Words. Start Shaping Your Story” and “How to Get Published in Cosmopolitan or Seventeen” - 🎧 More episodes: Freelance Writing Direct 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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