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UPDATE: The webinar was fabulous with quizzes, writing exercises, examples and lots of interactivity. If you want to buy the recording, let me know and I’ll send you a ink.
Now for the Episode
What’s sitting in your drafts folder that deserves another look?
In this encore episode of the award-winning Freelance Writing Direct, I revisit one of my favorite strategies: finding new possibilities in writing you’ve already done. I’m sharing it again because writers often focus on the next idea without considering how much material they already have.
Drawing on my experience as a writer and editor, I explain how to give older work a fresh angle, a different format, or a new audience. That essay you put aside or pitch that didn’t land may still have somewhere to go.
In This Episode
- Turn older essays and articles into micro-memoirs, service journalism, or new narratives.
- Revisit rejected pitches with a timely angle.
- Mine personal writing for talks, profiles, and reported pieces.
- Find opportunities with local and regional publications.
- Explore Substack, Medium, and literary journals as places to reach readers.
Related Resources
For another way to earn from previously published work, listen to Episode #18: Repurposing Writing Through Reprints.
Get More From Estelle Erasmus
Latest Substack post: How to Write for Electric Literature, a recap of my NYU Editor-on-Call conversation with Denne Michele Norris.
Upcoming Events
- Artists Against Antisemitism Mifgash, New York, NY: December 6, 2026. I’ll be on the panel “Beyond the Novel: Short Form Writing.” Find out more here.
- AWP Conference & Bookfair, Chicago: March 17–20, 2027. I’ll be on a panel about AI.
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Estelle’s TEDx Talk: How to Get Noticed in Your Writing and Beyond
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Named a Poets & Writers “Best Book for Writers” and a 2025 Reader Views Literary Awards Gold Winner in Writing & Publishing, Classics Division.
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2026 Silver Signal Award winner in Education
2026 Podcast of the Year in 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.
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