pete croatto – Home of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast

Episode 474: How to Reconfigure the Fireworks with Yi Shun Lai

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Personal News and/or Shoutouts for Pals

Hey CNFers, The Front Runner is officially out. I like to think I don’t ask for much, but now is the time buy a copy or three and, if you read it, you know the drill, need ratings and reviews. I won’t read them because I don’t want to be driven insane, but that’s the world we live in: ratings and reviews. Your call to action to support the book, me, and ye ol’ CNF Pod. If you’re still on the fence, and why would you be, there’s an excerpt of the book over at Lit Hub. Dig it.

I also started what’s proving to be a pretty popular venture called Pitch Club. It’s at welcometopitchclub.substack.com and I have a writer audio annotate a pitch. It’s tactical and it’s practical. It’s going to help you get where you want to go.

“There is this myth that you are a writer only if you are butt in chair, banging away your keyboard for eight hours and then the rest of the time on a fainting couch somewhere, noodling over your ideas. And that kind of imagery does a lot of damage to young writers today.” — Yi Shun Lai

Episode 383: Pete Croatto

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By Brendan O’Meara

It’s always nice when you can have a guest back on the show. We have many repeat offenders here at CNF Pod HQ. Because a writing career is so damn fluid, and a podcast conversation is just a snapshot in time, having a writer back on the show is a chance to talk about that glacial evolution.

And so Pete Croatto (@petecroatto) is back after nearly three years (it’s his third trip to the show) following the publication of his wonderful book From Hang Time to Prime Time. It’s a book about the birth of the modern NBA. It’s a must have for the basketball fan in your life. Is there anything better than unwrapping a hard-cover book on a gift-receiving holiday?

Pete is in the in-between stages. He is/was conflicted about what writing his first meant. Did it mean he would be invited to write the next one? No. Would it be some career-defining apotheosis? Hell, no. Rather, the book merely exists on the continuum on his career as a freelance writer of great sports journalism, but also think pieces on the media, and stuff for trade magazines and copy editing. Gone are the days where you can solely freelance longform journalism and have enough money to … let’s just say live.

So this was a great conversation about that post-book (specifically post-first-book time) and what that means. We talk about the book or various pieces being keys to open doors for ourselves, but also people arriving behind us. The book as business card, and the frustratingly slow nature of gradual improvement and mastery.

I really think you’ll dig it.

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Stay wild, CNFers!

Episode 231: Pete Croatto on Listening, Showing His Work, ‘From Hang Time to Prime Time,’ and Adding that Ding

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By Brendan O’Meara

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Pete Croatto (@petecroatto on Twitter) is here to talk about freelancing, writing, and his new book From Hang Time to Prime Time: Business, Entertainment, and the Birth of the Modern-Day NBA (Atria Books, 2020).

Where’s the juice? Where’s the juice in the enterprise?

The juice is in coming up with an idea and convincing an editor that the idea is worth pursuing, convincing a person, selling a person on that idea. When I get an idea for a story, it’s almost a giddy feeling. It’s a feeling that that you have a secret that no one else knows about, so you want to just tell as many people as you can about that. It’s like gossip, it’s a big piece of juicy gossip, and you want to share it and get it in the right hand.
Pete Croatto from Episode 231 of The Creative Nonfiction Podcast

Episode 29—Pete Croatto, 10 Years a Freelancer (and counting)

Written by Brendan O’Meara

Pete Croatto stopped by #CNF HQ to talk about freelancing. What prompted this? This blog post right here where Pete talks about ten of the things he learned in his first ten years as a freelancer.

There are so many gems in this episode whether you’re just starting out or are a seasoned vet.

I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for listening. Oh, and while I have your attention, be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and subscribe to my monthly newsletter.

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