ABOUT

Zachary Petit is an independent journalist and editor, and a contributing writer for Fast Company. Previously, he served as the content director of the HOW+PRINT brands, editor-in-chief of the National Magazine Award–winning publication PRINT, managing editor of Writer’s Digest magazine, and executive editor of several related newsstand titles. 

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 have appeared in National Geographic, Smithsonian, National Geographic Kids, Mental_Floss, Melissa Rossi’s What Every American Should Know book series, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency and many other outlets. He is also the author of The Essential Guide to Freelance Writing: How to Write, Work and Thrive On Your Own Terms and Treat Ideas Like Cats.

His editing has won multiple first-place wins from the Folio: awards, and his writing has earned numerous first-place accolades from the Society of Professional Journalists. In 2021, his article about Erik Larson for the cover of the 100th anniversary issue of Writer’s Digest magazine won the American Society of Journalists and Authors’ Profile of the Year; in 2024, his Fast Company article on the Folio Society won Best Trade Article of the Year.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, under his editorship PRINT partnered with Poster House and some of the best designers working today on a PSA campaign in New York City. Messages of gratitude, caution and resolve took over the advertising in Times Square, and also appeared on LinkNYC units throughout the city, on billboards, and on newsstand screens in Boston and Chicago. The New York Times, NPR, Creative Review, Fast Company, CBS Evening News and other outlets covered the initiative, and the pieces were subsequently acquired by the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

Petit works above a Victorian bowling alley turned illegal gambling hall turned punk club turned cab company turned brewery, and is currently writing a book about Modest Mouse’s The Moon & Antarctica for the 33 1/3 series.