Hello friends!
Okay so first, no, I don’t literally mean we should just stop pitching stories. I think every person who reads this newsletter got into journalism to tell stories. It’s what journalists do! Don’t get me wrong! That’s my whole thing, too!
BUT. But. I also mean it a little bit?
Let’s talk about money and career scope. I’ve been thinking about these two things — broadly different ideas, sure, but inherently intertwined — for a while because they’ve come up in a bunch of different conversations this summer. Three chats in particular get at what I’ve been hearing:
Last month, I was talking with a journalist who was laid off last year and has been focusing solely on news writing in his new freelance life. Money, of course, came up, and his mind was completely blown when I said I’ve made the equivalent of nearly $6/word on copywriting work — and how even that pales in comparison to what consulting pays. (That said, get in while you still can; who knows when AI will close one or both of those doors on us.)
Earlier this summer, I was catching up with a friend who’s a 15-ish-year veteran freelancer, and she was lamenting that her pitching hit rate is lower than it’s ever been. She didn’t want to stop, but she was starting to wonder if it’s even worth her time anymore when she could be doing a lot of other journalism or journalism-adjacent work she’s interested in.
What was scheduled as a coaching call a few weeks back turned into more of a therapy session, as this person kind of unloaded about how the grind of the pitching process was really wearing them down. One thing they said stuck with me. I’m paraphrasing here, but the gist was: “I didn’t get into journalism to write unanswered emails to a dozen editors every month.” We talked through some new strategies to try, but tbh this wasn’t the most uplifting convo I’ve had.
Freelancing is tough! In a perfect world, any freelancer who wanted to could make their entire income from news writing. (Shoutout the ’90s.) But for a good portion of independent journalists, that’s more dream than reality. And for others still, that may not even be the business they want to build! (Hi, it’s me, I’m among those others.) What if pitching stories wasn’t the centerpiece of a freelancer’s career? Again, I don’t mean to say we should stop — forgive me for my hyperbole — but I do mean that, if it feels right for your business, maybe think through all of the other things you could be doing that you like and that could boost your income.
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