Candid advice from some of the best editors, agents, authors, and publishing pros.
What makes an editor go "HOLY *$%@''? How do you keep an agent hooked? And how do you turn the half-baked idea in your head into something you can actually pitch and sell to The Cut, The New Yorker or a Big Five publisher?
These are the conversations we've had this year at Upod. And they're way too useful to sit unwatched on my hard drive. So, heeeeere they are to guide you through the choppy seas of freelancerdom. Pick the sessions that speak to what you’re working on. Take notes. Start pitching!
Find your next session ↓Any single session.
Any five sessions. Your choice.
Any ten sessions. Mix and match.
Travel writing, personal essays, memoir, pitching, publishing. Dream big. Follow your curiosity. If you're buying packages of 5 or 10 sessions, savings will be applied at checkout.
This is important. After checkout, you’ll receive download links for your access PDFs. Each PDF has a clickable link to its session.
Watch on YouTube at your own pace. Save the PDFs so you can come back. No waiting for me to email you a link.
The featured guests are some of the smartest people working in media right now. Most sessions include participant pitches and feedback. Others are in-depth conversations about craft and the business. The recordings won't win any awards for cinematography but I promise they all offer rare insights into the pitching process, and you won't get this intel anywhere else.
REMEMBER:If you're buying a package of 5 or 10 sessions, savings will be applied at checkout. Thanks, Upod!
Chris Rovzar discusses what Bloomberg Pursuits looks for in travel and luxury stories, how to develop a distinctive angle, approach editors, and turn an idea into a strong pitch. Includes participant pitches, feedback, and audience Q&A.
View session →
Degen Pener explains how travel, culture, design, and luxury stories take shape at Four Seasons Magazine. Includes advice on editorial themes, hotel-brand publications, pitches, and feedback on participant ideas.
View session →
Ashley Day explains how Food & Wine approaches travel coverage, what makes a compelling food story, the value of local expertise and thoughtful reporting, and how to pitch effectively. Includes audience questions and editorial feedback.
View session →
Jackie Caradonio explores opportunities across travel magazines, luxury brands, and hotel publications. She shares practical advice on introductions, networking, assignments, press trips, rates, and developing pitches. Includes audience Q&A.
View session →
Jesse Ashlock discusses travel storytelling, the changing magazine landscape, reporting, distinctive voices, and what editors need from freelance writers. Includes participant questions, story ideas, and feedback.
View session →
Justin Paul explains Virtuoso’s editorial approach, luxury travel features, departments, editorial themes, lead times, and working with travel partners. Includes participant pitches, feedback, and a full audience Q&A.
View session →
Mark Jannot discusses Now Voyager, the appeal of first-person narratives, and what makes a personal essay work. Includes participant pitches, editorial feedback, and audience Q&A.
View session →
Erin Hosier explores how personal experiences become publishable memoirs, with a book-development case study, advice on structure and reader appeal, and feedback on participants’ projects.
View session →
Rheana Murray explains what she looks for in Newsweek’s My Turn essays, including fresh perspectives, dramatic stakes, and compelling pitches. Includes participant ideas and editorial feedback.
View session →
Nancy E. Wolff answers writers’ questions about memoir, privacy, defamation, copyright, permissions, contracts, and writing about real people. Recorded as an educational conference discussion.
View session →
Kerry Cohen discusses the craft and emotional challenges of memoir, writing honestly about yourself and others, finding meaning in lived experience, and continuing through discouragement. Includes audience projects and Q&A.
View session →
Brooke Warner explains traditional, hybrid, and independent paths to publishing memoir, the work of She Writes Press, and how writers can assess proposals, platform, costs, and their publishing goals. Includes audience Q&A.
View session →
Allison Devereaux discusses outward-facing memoir: personal stories that illuminate larger ideas and engage unfamiliar readers. Includes advice on scope, narrative voice, querying, and detailed feedback on participants’ pitches.
View session →
Literary agent Sarah Fuentes discusses book ideas, narrative nonfiction, memoir, queries, proposals, platform, and the publishing market. Includes participant pitches, feedback, and audience Q&A.
View session →
Elena Saavedra Buckley discusses what makes a magazine story, how to develop a specific reporting angle, and how writers can approach editors. Includes participant pitches, editorial feedback, and audience Q&A.
View session →
Daniel A. Gross discusses the work of a New Yorker editor, finding compelling stories, developing pitches, and building relationships with editors. Includes participant pitches, feedback, and audience Q&A.
View session →
Alex Pappademas discusses culture writing, magazine features, distinctive voices, and shaping ideas for GQ. Includes participant pitches, editorial feedback, and audience Q&A.
View session →
Lauren Puckett-Pope discusses personal essays, columns, distinctive perspectives, and pitching The Cut. Includes participant pitches, editorial feedback, and audience Q&A.
View session →
A conversation with Travel + Leisure editor-in-chief Jacqui Gifford, hosted by Upod Academy.
View session →
Watch HuffPost Personal essay editor Emily McCombs, freelancer Andrea Javor, and David Hochman host an American Idol-style pitch clinic.
View session →
A Upod editor so beloved, he goeth by one name. "Noah's" guide to pitching HuffPost's personal essays is one of my all-time favorite.
View session →
A brilliant session on everything you need to know about marketing your book, with Kathleen Schmidt, author of Publishing Confidential.
View session →
Literary agent Lucinda Halpern of Lucinda Literary takes a decidedly hands-on approach to getting books sold. A fascinating conversation.
View session →
Provocative, feisty and riveting. An unmissable Upod Academy session with novelist and essayist Ayelet Waldman.
View session →
I can't think of an agent with more heart and understanding. One of the clearest roadmaps yet on getting your book sold. Must-see Upod Academy session with literary agent Tanya McKinnon.
View session →
Down-to-earth and highly practical exchange with superstar literary agent Iris Blasi of Arc Literary.
View session →
The king of kings in the realm of personal essays. If you want to sell a Modern Love essay, watch this recorded Q&A with Daniel Jones, editor of The New York Times’ Modern Love column.
View session →Access to the individual recorded sessions you select. Again, these are not IMAX quality (it's YouTube's copy of a Zoom extract) but they're incredibly useful. Your download instructions come via PDFs with viewing links, rather than video files. You’ll need an internet connection to click the links and watch on YouTube. Sorry if this is clunky, but again, it's worth it!
Choose any five sessions from this 27-session collection for $100, or any ten for $175, in the same purchase. You'll see package prices applied at checkout.
These are for your eyes only. Please don’t post or share the recordings, links, or PDFs. And respect the ideas people share and pitch in these sessions—their stories are theirs to pursue.
No recording can promise an assignment, representation, or a book deal. The point is to give you better information and useful perspective for the work you do next. Roles, contacts, and editorial needs may have changed since recording.
Email davidhochman@mac.com and tell me what you purchased and what’s happening. I’ll help sort it out.
Thanks for supporting Upod. When something good happens, share it with the Upod community on Facebook, or just let me know. I love hearing what happens after the session ends.
Thumbslam!*
David
*That’s Upodspeak for hitting send on the pitch you’ve been sitting on.