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.
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:
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Out of Your League to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.