My Top 5 Published Pieces This Year
Recently, my therapist urged me to start a gratitude journal-a diary of things I am happy and grateful for in my life. Looking back, my life around this time last year was in a state of upheaval and flux. After an even tougher year that saw me go through several jobs that just didn’t stick, I decided in October of 2018 to stop working for companies and try it on my own. Doing this required an insane amount of downsizing, which led me to move out of Shanghai China (land of skyscrapers and uncontrolled rent,) to Chiang Mai, Thailand, a place way more laid back, and did I mention cheaper?
I was able to live on much less in Thailand, which is great because as a new freelancer, I wasn’t making much. I think I had maybe two clients that provided me with work and pay regularly. Of course, the work was severely underpaid and overworked, which got old quick. In between trying to navigate the waters of freelancing, I did have my conversational English online teaching to fall back on. Things went on like this for much of the first half of the year. Little by little though I got more bylines and different opportunities for assignments, which of course came with better pay as well. By this past October I had secured my first $1 per word assignment, wrote a piece for a popular glossy, did more B2B and marketing writing than ever before, and also began doing more editing work in general.
If there’s anything I’m grateful for, it’s the opportunity to make a living from doing something I love and am good at. Here are five of my favorite published pieces from 2019.
Black History from the Year You Were Born
The perfect birthday present to myself, I lucked into this assignment after seeing an editor’s call in a writing group I’m a part of. I loved this piece, and that I got to do something giving props to the vast brilliance and achievements of Black-American during the last 100 years. I had almost complete creative control, and while this piece required a lot of research, I learned a lot and am so proud of myself and my history. This piece I just had to do the writing, which consisted of 2-3 sentences of a black history fact, one for each year of the last 100 years.
Going “viral” with The Huffington Post
In May I learned just how influential and far-reaching mainstream media outlets can be. This personal essay, I had been shopping around different outlets for a good six months hit the internet in a big way last May. I’m pretty sure before HuffPo picked it up it had been rejected at least twice. Upon its publication people near and far read it and had something to say in nearly every comment section. So much of personal essay is about putting yourself out there, something like an emotional nude.
I wondered if I had gone too far. Been too emotional? Too entitled? Too insecure? Too honest? This piece received very strong reactions, both positive and negative. For the people that connected with it, I’m glad I wrote it. For others, it gave me a good glimpse into how people speak about one another when they can hide behind a keyboard.
More Editing Work
When I first started freelancing and deciding on a few niches to work in, health and wellness was one of them. I began the year doing updates and re-writes on health articles for Livestrong. I was able to build upon that experience, and over the last few months have been working with Healthline as an update editor.
Speaking of Healthline, I also had the opportunity to write a personal essay for their sister site, Greatist. Not only has writing about my personal life proven helpful to many women but it’s also therapeutic for me in a way. My piece for the Greatist explores how stereotypes about black people and mental illness kept me unhealthy for far too long.
Bust Magazine- Destination Diversity
My love runs deep for Bust Magazine. I began reading issues as a teenager at my local public library, eventually graduating to my own subscription as an adult. After graduating from college, I even interned in the office for three months. Since then I’ve written numerous pieces for them, including one of my latest pieces, a round-up of travel vloggers of color.
ZORA- These Brown Beauties of Travel Are Shaking Up the Tourist Industry
This year I did a ton more reported work that allowed me to dust off the old reporter chops (like this one,) and write about things, people, and initiatives that move me. Also, my first $1 per word assignment.
Oh, Yeah! Some Facts….
This year in addition to reported pieces and personal essays I also did a whole lot of unglamorous work too. Think audio transcriptions, interviews, sensitivity readings, SEO update articles, online teaching and more.
Pay Ranged From: $50-$1000/per piece with most between $200-400. Rates per word ranged from about 0.10 cents per word to $1/per word. Hope this demystifies some of those “How do you make a living as a writer,” questions.
