Last week I shared a chart showing the sources of my 2010 freelance writing income. Today I’m showing the types of writing projects I completed last year. This chart is based on the percent of income from each type, rather than the number of projects or articles:
Writing articles for consumer magazines – 5%
Teaching & ebook sales – 4%
Ghostwriting articles & blog posts for other people – 19%
Writing articles for niche publications (trade magazines, teen/tween magazines, etc.) – 6%
Copywriting for newsletters, catalogues & deal descriptions – 36%
Copywriting for websites – 12%
Writing articles for blogs & websites – 18%
I divided copywriting and article writing into a few different sections to show the variety of projects and markets. You’ll notice that my biggest chunk of income comes from copywriting, rather than writing articles. Much of this copywriting income came from writing product descriptions for catalogues and ecommerce sites, which reminds me of writing haikus about scented candles or designer handbags.
I suspect that while copywriting accounted for a bigger chunk of income, the division between time was actually more equal, because I had a few high-paying copywriting projects that didn’t require as much time but served as anchor projects. Magazines or website assignments tend to be more time-intensive, because they often involve queries, interviews, and rewrites. But they challenge me in a way that copywriting does not, so I plan to keep writing articles. In fact, one of my goals for 2011 is to focus more on writing articles about the people and organizations that inspire me.
What about you? What types of writing projects did you complete in 2010 and where do you plan to focus in 2011?
Susan, out of curiosity, how does this compare to your numbers in previous years? For me, the numbers would easily boil down to a majority of copywriting– but I haven't spent time this year pitching to editors at all. I am curious to read others' responses to this, and also curious to hear, is copywriting always an anchor for you? (Makes perfect sense to me, by the way. But I do wonder, when I see the same names again and again in certain glossies, "Are they writing brochure copy, too, or do those days end at some point?" LOL). You can see my point, anyway.
Thanks for sharing these figures. So interesting to see!
@Lindsey: I haven't run the numbers on previous years, but I think they'd be similar. This was the first year I had an ebook, but that only accounted for a small percentage of my income. Copywriting tends to pay better and doesn't require continual pitching, so while the types of copywriting I did in 2009 and 2008 might have been different, it still accounted for a decent chunk of income. Lots of successful freelancers I know do both, even after years of success with magazines. Just look at Linda Formichelli or Kelly James-Enger.
Like Lindsey, I also haven't done any pitching to mag editors in the past year. My wine tour article came out at the end of the summer (I think), and I have an article running in Bella in the spring, but that's about it.
The bulk of my income has come from my permalance gig at YourTango, and an e-book I co-wrote with Ian Kerner.
Other sources of income include my (now-defunct) sex column, odd copywriting and editing projects, coaching stuff, and singing at funeral masses. Lordy that's a weird mix. I'd love to get back to pitching mags again.
This is a very useful pie chart, and very helpful to me as someone who has just launched a full-time freelance writing business.
I'd be curious to see your thoughts on how much of your time is spent searching for work — queries, marketing, etc. — and if that percentage has declined over time as work begins to find you.
These are interesting percentages. I don't make any money writing at the moment. But my main goal for 2011 is just to write regularly on my blog. Usually I only write when I'm working on a book or a lengthy project like that, but maybe regular writing will be more helpful than writing only when the muse descends. Here's hoping.
What a great idea to keep track of these things! It's like creating your own annual report. You've inspired me to do the same….
Great post, Susan. Copywriting is always my anchor as well. I have found that besides my monthly magazine column that pitching magazines seems to be a gigantic waste of time. It's better to spend that time networking since that's how you'll really get the assignment.
How do you get involved in copywriting as a profession?
@sparklemag: I did some copywriting as my day job before I went full-time freelance. Most of those projects were either the result of networking or applying for gigs through craigslist, idealist.org, and other sites.
Sparklemag and Susan, I've always wondered if there is a technique to using sites like Craigslist. For example, if you live in a small city, you might not find that many opportunities are posted under the "writing/editing" category. What about visiting other locations? After all, if the work you are looking for can be done long distance, does it matter?
Fiction was the highest earner, then scriptwriting, then teaching, speechwriting, articles, copy writing, editing (mostly because I accepted very few assignments), and royalties.
Jumping in to answer Lexisjen, most of the successful craigslist ads I answered, that landed well-paying jobs, were scattered all over the place. I haven't answered anything in the past few months, since I moved to MA, because I'm so booked, but when I lived in NY, the bulk of the well-paid jobs I got from them were in MA, Philadelphia, LA, and Chicago. There was also a scattering in Montreal and Toronto, and even a handful in Vancouver. I looked in cities that interest me, where I think they might have writing needs I can fill, and that's where I searched.
I also did thorough research on the company once we started talking, and made sure I had strong contracts in place.
@Lexisjen: Like Devon said, you don't have to limit yourself to your immediate geographic area. I subscribe to the emails from FreelanceDaily.net, so they search many different CL editions and aggregate the writing jobs in one place for me.
Thanks Devon and Susan. So far, I've been limiting myself to my immediate area which has not worked out very well. Good to know that it's acceptable to look elsewhere.