Today, I’m doing my last task for the year in rounding up my pitching and income stats for the year, to shed light on both my successes and my failures as a freelance writer and journalist.
For the last few months, I’ve shared my journalism pitching stats on my Twitter each month. Doing the monthly round-ups has helped me stay accountable and hit my goal of pitching five times a week, instead of just whenever inspiration strikes. As a result, October through December saw me pitching a lot. Out of my 69 pitches this year, 56 of them have been since October 1st. Even though I only started freelancing in March this year, that’s still a huge uptake in productivity for me.
Here’s what my responses for pitches looks like. Almost all of these are cold pitches, as I started freelancing with few existing connections to editors.
No surprises that there’s a hefty chunk of ‘No replies’. The ‘Maybe’s’ there are editors who liked the idea but tabled it for a later date, often due to budget issues. So I’m still keeping my fingers crossed!
My commissions chunk may be slim, but it’s been steadily increasing over the last few months. I’m learning from every ‘no’ and have had my own fair share of noticing a fatal typo in a pitch after hitting ‘send’. I expect there to be a fresh round of ‘it’s not for us’ come January, but for now I’m looking back on this colourful pie from 2020 with a smile.
Next up: income. Income transparency is the best way to make sure people get paid what they deserve. I only realised I was getting paid bad rates when seeing other people’s rates published online. No matter what area of freelancing you’re in, transparency about pay helps everyone out. Go check out all the wonderful work that Anna Codrea-Rado does for more on this.
On that note, here is my #FreelancePie, inspired by Sian Meades-Williams. I already shared one on my Twitter, but this updated one takes December into account as well (unless any wonderful people pay some invoices between now and the end of the month, but somehow I doubt it).
Marketing work takes up a hefty chunk here, breaking down into mostly social media or website work. Two six month contracts as part-time marketing assistants makes this take up a big chunk of my income pie. This is less copywriting and journalism than I would like, if I’m honest with myself, but I’m also just proud of myself for supporting myself and an overseas move during a global pandemic. Hell, I’m being paid to write everyday! Let’s count that as a win.
All in all, I’ve made £16,292.25 this tax year. Phew! Scary to say a number out loud.
I’m on track to hit £25,000 by the end of the tax year if I continue like I’m going. If I’m honest, I don’t know whether that’s good or bad. I don’t have many concrete financial goals. I seem to chart success more on pitch acceptances, getting to work on exciting projects, and having time outside of work to do things like this newsletter. So long as those things keep happening, I’m happy with this little pie.
On the less bright side of things, I’m still waiting on £590 of outstanding invoices that I don’t have high hopes of being paid during the Christmas period. I don’t have much to say on this other than it sucks and please pay your freelancers, especially during times like these. You will instantly become their favourite client, guaranteed.
This newsletter has been less about a specific fail and more about me just being transparent about how my career has gone this year. I hope that this transparency helps other people get a grip on their own pay.
I’m always happy to answer questions about rates, working out what to charge, and other freelancer income questions, so feel free to drop me a DM on Twitter or reply to this email. I may be slow over the holiday break, but I’ll definitely get back to you eventually!
If you took the time to read all of this so close to the holiday break, then thank you! Wishing a very Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it and a Happy New Year to everyone! See you in 2021 <3
If you’ve got a past freelancing fail that you feel like the world should know about, this is your opportunity to share it with the class. It can be anonymous if you prefer and it also does not have to have a shining lesson of redemption. Sometimes, we just do stupid things - and that’s okay!
Fancy messing up my freelance pie by adding a last-minute bit of income? Buy me a Ko-Fi to show your appreciation for this newsletter. Thank you for reading!