In the tradition of Syd Field (Screenplay) and Blake Snyder (Save the Cat!), a Writer’s Digest columnist and NYU professor shows nonfiction writers exactly how to find their voice, write it down, and get noticed by assigning editors
Writing and getting published can be daunting. Countless people write personal essays, articles, and hybrid essay-articles and know they produce great material but can’t figure out how to package it to capture the hard-to-get attention of assigning editors. Writing That Gets Noticed is for them. Author Estelle Erasmus knows from experience that inspiring success stories do happen — Stephanie Land’s viral essay in Vox led to her bestselling memoir, Maid, while Amy Krouse Rosenthal’s New York Times “Modern Love” essay prompted a lucrative film rights bidding war. And Erasmus has several success stories of her own, such as her “How to Bullyproof Your Child” essay for the New York Times, which went viral and led to an appearance on Good Morning America. In real-world, experience-based chapters, Erasmus coaches writers to:
• mine their lives for ideas and incubate those ideas
• hone their singular, personal voice
• choose the perfect format for their story — personal essay, op-ed, feature article, and more
• research publications and editor etiquette
• craft a pitch-perfect pitch
• protect their psyche from rejection
• deliver what they promised after they get the assignment
This, Erasmus says, is the book she always wished she’d had. Her writing students proclaim that working with her is like “publishing on steroids” because they get published fast and furiously. Buckle up!
