Hello there Word Nerds!
Today I’m interviewing the awesome Zachary Petit. Zac is the editor of the National Magazine Award-winning publication PRINT. He is also a freelance journalist, a lifelong literary and design nerd, and a friend. Formerly, he was the senior managing editor of HOW magazine and PRINT, the longtime managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine, and executive editor of the newsstand magazines Writer’s Workbook, Writer’s Yearbook and Writing Basics.
Zac is the author of The Essential Guide to Freelance Writing: How to Write, Work and Thrive On Your Own Terms (which is out now) and co-author of A Year of Writing Prompts: 366 Story Ideas for Honing Your Craft and Eliminating Writer’s Block.
In addition, Zac has written thousands of articles, both as a staff writer and editor, as well as a freelance writer. This means he can speak about freelance writing from both the editor and author perspectives. If you’ve ever wanted to learn about freelance writing, this is the podcast episode for you. Listen up!
In this episode Zac and I discuss:
- Why a writer would want to freelance.
- How and why to adapt your voice when freelancing.
- How to break into freelancing.
- Debunking major myths about freelance writing.
- How to expand your professional network.
- The pros and cons of pitching an idea versus pitching an article on spec.
Plus, Zac’s #1 tip for writers.
About Zachary Petit:
Zachary Petit is the editor of PRINT magazine, which is the major magazine in the design realm. (When I worked in design, PRINT was synonymous with “bible.”) Formerly Zac was the managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine, and later PRINT, and HOW magazines as well. In addition, Zac has an active freelance writing career.
Alongside the thousands of articles he has penned as a staff writer and editor, covering everything from the secret lives of mall Santas to creative legends, his words also regularly appear in National Geographic Kids, and have also popped up in the pages of National Geographic, Melissa Rossi’s What Every American Should Know book series, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency and many other outlets.
Zac’s wonderful book, The Essential Guide to Freelance Writing: How to Write, Work and Thrive On Your Own Terms is out now. I’ve started reading it and boy do I wish I had gotten my hands on this book sooner because already I have learned so much. He is also the co-author of A Year of Writing Prompts: 366 Story Ideas for Honing Your Craft and Eliminating Writer’s Block.
Zac is obsessed with all things writerly (even down to his nerdy tattoos), and is a firm believer that anyone can break into any facet of the writing world—they just need to know the appropriate way in. Once that has been demystified, anything is possible.
To learn more about Zachary Petit, follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter or visit his website.
Link to Episode 77
(Right-click to download.)
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Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome.
