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Before we get to the episode, I have news: Freelance Writing Direct is a Signal Awards finalist in Education! If the podcast has helped you with your writing, I’d love your vote for the Listener’s Choice Award. Vote here by October 15. Thank you for cheering me on! Let’s win this!
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Lu has also generously offered to give away her book to a lucky reader. Go to my instagram, follow me and comment, “I want this” on my post about this episode.
Now for today’s episode:
What happens when the person selling the story starts questioning the story she’s been sold?
In this episode of Freelance Writing Direct, I talk with Lu Chekowsky, author of Don’t Buy What I’m Selling: On Breaking Up with Advertising and Finally Learning to Love My Whole Fat Self, about advertising, ambition, body image, approval, and the stories we absorb about who we’re supposed to be.
Lu shares how she turned decades inside the advertising industry into a deeply personal book that also examines the culture of selling, beauty, success, and self-worth.
In this episode:
• What advertising teaches us about desire and identity
• The connection between ambition, approval, and self-worth
• Blending memoir with cultural critique
• Writing candidly about body image, grief, and family
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About Lu
Lu Chekowsky [she/they] is a writer and Emmy Award–winning creative director and the author of “Don’t Buy What I’m Selling: On Breaking Up With Advertising and Finally Learning to Love My Whole, Fat Self” [Little, Brown 2026].
In Lu’s most recent job in the advertising industry, she was lead creative director for video at Facebook. Before that, Lu was the SVP of brand creative at Comedy Central, and VP, creative director at MTV. Before working in entertainment, Lu was a creative director and copywriter at Wieden+Kennedy. Lu is a 2023 New York State Council on the Arts / New York Foundation for the Arts Fellow in nonfiction literature, and their writing has been supported by MASS MoCA, Vermont Studio Center, Craigardan, and Tin House. Lu lives in the Hudson Valley.
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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, create a compelling story arc, pitch online and print publications, and revise your work. We’ll also hear directly from visiting editors and authors, and explore a curated list of publication opportunities. 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
Join me on October 29 for The First Five Pages: Making Your Memoir Impossible to Put Down, a live Writer’s Digest webinar about creating an opening that captures readers, agents, and editors from the start. Register here: https://writersdigestuniversity.mykajabi.com/the-first-five-pages
Meet Estelle at An Event
- 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 (I’m on a panel about AI)
- Artists Against Antisemitism Mifgash, New York, NY (info coming)
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Estelle’s TEDx Talk: How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond
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Writing That Gets Noticed — named a Poets & Writers “Best Book for Writers.”
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Freelance Writing Direct Podcast — 2026 Signal Awards Finalist — Education; 2026 Podcast of the Year, Business (American Writing Awards)
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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