Hello friends, and welcome to the final week of Intro to Freelancing Month! And what a month it’s been, from the basics of getting started to becoming the kind of freelancer that editors text assignments to. I truly hope you’ve gotten something out of this month’s editions.

So! Today we’re tackling the single most common question I’ve gotten in the years I’ve been running FWT: What do I do if I don’t have a lot of clips/clips in major outlets/impressive bylines/etc.?

In working directly with thousands of freelancers, both here and in my previous jobs, I’ve spent more time talking writers down from this ledge of anxiety than on any other topic. And not for nothing! This is a perfectly valid thought! We all have this anxiety! It plays into our collective impostor syndrome — as we all know, a regular feature of the freelance life — and sometimes it makes us intimidate ourselves out of pitching those major publications.

Friends, let me put you at ease: Clips definitely matter, but less than you probably think. Let’s get into it.

In a word: yes. In many words ... here’s what you may not realize about editors and clips.