my year in review

2024 by the numbers

Thank you for being here! I am a full-time freelance writer. Paid subscriptions allow me to dedicate more time to this work, as well as to pay an editor to help me with this newsletter.

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For years now I have done an end-of-year round-up on Twitter laying bare the numbers of freelancing. I am continuing that trend here, with the addition of my newsletter numbers as well. I believe that this kind of transparency is helpful to other writers, and it also helps me gauge my success. Let’s get into it.

My biggest personal accomplishment:

I got married and we moved into a new home together (it was featured on Apartment Therapy)!

My biggest professional accomplishments:

After coming out of several years of burnout post-book, post-divorce, post-custody case, I was able to cover all my bills without needing to borrow money from my partner. I realize that I am lucky to have a partner who can support me financially when I need it, but this feels worth mentioning because my divorce financially ruined me in ways I have never publicly discussed. As I explained in last year’s end-of-year roundup, my partner supported me for the first part of last year so I could try to recover from my years-long burnout. It feels good to be coming out the other side of that a bit.

I also:

• had a story featured as a “notable” in The Year’s Best Sports Writing 2024,

• announced that you can pre-order Play It Forward: How Women Are Changing Sports to Change the World, a forthcoming book from Togethxr that features three essays from me

• won the “Excellence in Online Journalism Award” from NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists for the “Let Them Play” package at SELF

Four stories I’m most proud of publishing this year:

• The coverage of Caitlin Clark is reinforcing the trope of the queer villain, Andscape

• How the World of Competitive Climbing Was Rocked by Transphobia, The Nation

• The World’s Ultimate Frisbee Community Is Revolting Against Its Leaders Over Gaza, The Nation

• Let’s Hear It for the Dolls: A Day Shooting Hoops With Brooklyn’s Trans Basketball League, SELF

And now, a closer look at the numbers:

Freelance work:

• Total stories published¹: 31

• Total assignments received²: 18

• Total pitches sent: 82

• Number of rejections: 63

• Highest rate: $3,500 ($1/word) for this piece at SELF

• Lowest rate: $350 for this piece at Vogue

• Total billed for 2024: $25,795

One thing worth noting here is how badly freelance rates plummeted even in just the last year. In 2023, I published 20 pieces and billed for $24,825. This year, I published 11 more stories and only billed for about $1,000 more.

Out of Your League:

The newsletter got a few upgrades this year! The new design and logos are courtesy of A. Andrews. I also brought on an editor, Louis Bien, for essays and analysis. Paying subscribers made that possible, so thank you!

Now onto the numbers: