Listen:
In this episode of Freelance Writing Direct, I talk with bestselling author, podcaster, and Zibby Media founder Zibby Owens about her new memoir in essays, Between Chapters: How I Started Over, Took Some Chances, and Found the Plot.
Zibby shares how she sorted through approximately 500 pages of essays and found the structure that could hold stories about divorce, remarriage, motherhood, friendship, grief, Jewish activism, mental health, weight loss, and work. We discuss how she balanced humor with more painful material, why she asked her children for permission before including a hilarious parenting story, and how she approaches writing about the people she loves. Zibby also reflects on childhood shyness, her drive to create, and why it’s never too late to reinvent yourself.
In This Episode
- How Zibby shaped 500 pages of essays into a cohesive collection
- Why she arranged the book to feel like a conversation with a friend
- Balancing funny, poignant, and painful stories
- Writing about children and securing their permission
- Protecting loved ones while writing honestly
- How childhood shyness strengthened her powers of observation
- Finding purpose through work, books, and literary community
- Why reinvention happens one decision at a time
Watch on YouTube
About Zibby Owens
ZIBBY OWENS is the bestselling author and editor of seven books including Between Chapters: How I Started Over, Took Some Chances, and Found the Plot, Blank: A Novel, Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Literature, and On Being Jewish Now: Reflections from Authors and Advocates, which has spent 29 weeks on the USA Today bestseller list. Zibby has interviewed more than 2,000 authors on her award-winning podcast Totally Booked with Zibby and weekly TV show Totally Booked on JBS. In 2021 she founded Zibby Media with the launch of boutique publishing house Zibby Publishing and unique year-round hosted retreats and events for book lovers. In 2023, she opened indie bookstore Zibby’s Bookshop in Santa Monica, CA. A frequent speaker (repped by UTA), moderator, and broadcast guest, Zibby, dubbed “NYC’s Most Powerful Book-fluencer” (Vulture) is known for highlighting the book industry’s most anticipated new releases and emerging authors in “the Zibby-verse” (L.A. Times).
Links
Substack: https://www.zibbyowens.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zibbyowens/
Zibby Media: https://zibbymedia.com
Podcast: Totally Booked: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/totally-booked-with-zibby/id1366633318
Get More From Estelle Erasmus
I’m teaching my eight-week NYU course, Write to Publish: How to Get Your Work in Print and Beyond, live online beginning October 13. You’ll learn how to develop personal and reported essays, find and interview experts, conduct research, create a compelling story arc, pitch online and print publications, and revise your work for maximum impact. We’ll also cover what editors look for in pitches and submissions, and hear directly from them. You’ll leave with polished work and practical skills for getting published. The course is part of NYU’s Storytelling and Professional Writing and Communications certificates, but it can also be taken on its own. Learn more and register here.
Latest Substack post: Detail with a Pulse to Make Your Writing Sing. A great detail doesn’t just describe a scene. It carries emotion, tension, character, or meaning. Here’s how to find the one detail that makes a scene come alive. Plus, paid subscribers can send me up to three paragraphs for feedback. https://estelleserasmus.substack.com/p/detail-with-a-pulse-to-make-your.
Upcoming Writer’s Digest Webinar
What makes someone keep reading a memoir from the very first page?
Join me on October 29 for my live Writer’s Digest webinar, The First Five Pages: Making Your Memoir Impossible to Put Down. I’ll share strategies for crafting an opening that captures readers, agents, and editors from the start.
Meet Estelle at An Event
- AALA’s People of Publishing (NYC), September 30, 2026 (attending as press)
- Women’s Media Group panel (NYC), Memoir Plus: When Personal Stories Contain Multitudes, October 21, 2026
- Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) ( Chicago), March 17-20, 2027
- AAA Jewish Writers’ and Illustrators’ Mifgash, New York, Panel: Beyond the Novel: Short Form Writing, December 6, 2026 (info to come)
Watch
Estelle’s TEDx Talk: How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond
Order My Book
Writing That Gets Noticed — named a Poets & Writers “Best Book for Writers.”
Listen/Watch
Freelance Writing Direct Podcast — 2026 Podcast of the Year, Business (American Writing Awards) https://estelleserasmus.com/podcast
About Estelle
Estelle Erasmus is an award-winning journalist, TEDx speaker, and author of Writing That Gets Noticed. She is the host, founder, and executive producer of Freelance Writing Direct, an adjunct professor at NYU, and the former editor-in-chief of five national magazines with a combined reach of 10 million readers.
Her work has appeared in more than 150 publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, WIRED, PBS/Next Avenue, The Independent, and AARP The Magazine.
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Instagram: @EstelleSErasmus
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Twitter/X: @EstelleSErasmus
Bluesky: @estelleserasmus.bsky.social
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