✍️ The 3 Biggest Lessons I've Learned as a Working Writer This Year
Say it with me: 👏 caffeine 👏 is 👏 NOT 👏 a 👏 food 👏 group!
Sometimes, being a working writer looks like this:
Being whisked away to Vienna, Austria for a freelance memoir ghostwriting project
Thriving, happy, living my best life (aka: eating brunch)
Staying in super cute Airbnbs
Other times, being a working writer looks more like this:
Fighting for my life in Seoul after pulling 3 straight all-nighters just to binge read the entire ACOTAR book series (these books changed my life, ngl)
Wrote 10,000 words in a day of what would become the Inca Trail story in my book The Nomad Detective: Volume One while ~ absolutely ~ overdoing it on the caffeine and making coffee a major food group (bad)
Pitching editors on personal essays and feeling like I was emailing into the void and not hearing back (but a few months later I would find out I got a major one accepted from a pitch I sent during this time!)
Being a writer means that you’re sometimes a rockstar, other times you’re just a slave to your wordcount goals and the process of pitching clients and/or publications on what you can write for them.
But in the grand scheme of things? Writing has changed my life and allowed me to travel the world, building a six-figure income for myself in the process.
In today’s Sunday newsletter, I’ll share the 3 biggest lessons I’ve learned this year as a published author and a freelance memoir ghostwriter.
✍️ New Writing Job Board Comes Out Tomorrow!
If you missed the last issue of my writing job board, check it out at the link below:
Anyone who says that writing/freelancing opportunities are slow right now is not living in the same universe I am! I’ve always found that the end of the year is a great time to land some fun projects and pitch some cool publications.
If you’re newer to freelancing, just know you may need to put yourself out there consistently before you start to land amazing gigs. The more you build up your portfolio and perfect your cover letter pitch, the more likely you are to land cool opportunities.
If you’re an expert freelancer, it never hurts to redo your branding and put together a nice PDF portfolio of all of your samples, organized by different types of projects. It makes it easier for clients to peruse.
Also, personal branding done right can really pay off. A few years ago I spent several thousand dollars on a website redesign, a professional photoshoot, and a complete reimagining of how I present my portfolio. The following year I doubled my income. I have a whole section about personal branding in my book Six-Figure Freelance Writer.
Questions? You can always email me, just hit “reply.”
Also, there was not one but two (!!) amazing featured writing jobs on my writing job board this week:
Application info and details are in the posts above!
🫖 Sunday Tea: The 3 Biggest Lessons I've Learned as a Working Writer This Year
This year I’ve written multiple books, kept my autoimmune condition fully in remission (yeah!!!), published my first short story collection The Nomad Detective: Volume I, circumnavigated the globe and visited places like Japan and Turkey for the first time, and became a Substack bestselling publication!
Whew. Not a bad 2024.
But as with any year, I learned quite a bit.
Here are the 3 lessons I learned this year when it comes to thriving as a working writer:
Lesson #1: Don’t Reject Yourself First
At the beginning of the year, I wanted to get another personal essay published. I came across a pitch call on X and saw how my story could resonate with their readers.
But would my story be flashy enough? Special enough?
I almost kept scrolling, but decided to pitch. I heard nothing for months… and then the editor emailed me back and wanted to run my personal essay!
I’ve written a few personal essays this year, and for one opportunity I was paid nearly $2/word.
They’re healing and fun to write — I’ve always loved this genre, and one of my first personal essays was about coming out as bisexual in the Los Angeles Times — but I wouldn’t have gotten my pitches accepted if I hadn’t applied.
That’s why it’s important to put yourself out there, even if you might get rejected by someone else. The key here is to not reject yourself before the world has a chance to hand you your dream opportunity!
Good things lie on the other side of your comfort zone, as they say.
Want to find some places to pitch your personal essays? Almost every week I share personal essay pitch calls in my Monday writing job board along with other great freelance writing work.
Lesson #2: Writing is Physical, Not Just Mental
This was the year that I really got consistent at the gym.
In creating a consistent 4-5x/week gym habit, I’ve discovered that writing is as much a physical process as a mental one.
Meaning? If your body aches and you’re constantly fatigued, it will be harder to write well.
However, if you’re feeding your body healthy things and getting to the gym regularly, the creative process will flow much easier.
Getting in my 45-minute stairmaster workouts at the Crunch gym in Chelsea, Manhattan 3 times per week helped me write nearly 80,000 words in November, so it works, friends!
Lesson #3: Value Your Time and Invest Accordingly
I’ve written before about how I charge $750/hour as a freelance writer and memoir ghostwriter, but this year I also learned the power of investing my time into my own projects.
Before I became a Substack Bestseller this year (which I can’t thank all of my paid subscribers enough for helping me achieve!) it wasn’t clear if all the hours per week I spend running this newsletter was going to pay off.
But after investing my time in building this newsletter for the past 2 years, I finally found the right ingredients that made this part of my writing career a success.
I also began investing my time in writing my fiction in a big way. That’s yet to (really) pay off for me financially, but I’m so proud of the reception that my short story collection The Nomad Detective: Volume I has gotten (volume II will be out in 2025!) and I can’t wait for you to read my upcoming romantasy novel The Ash Trials as well.
Part of the (thrill? risk?) of being a writer is that you have to constantly place bets on yourself. Where should you spend your time or energy? Fiction? Nonfiction? Freelancing? Pitching articles? Building your Substack? All of the above?
I love the book Essentialism, and it makes the case that all of us should explore until we find something we love to do. Then, we have to turn our attention from a lamp into a laser to really get the results we desire. Focus is everything.
Next year, I’m excited to become even more of an essentialist, so I’ll keep you posted on how that goes.
🗞️ Writing News: Brands Are Coming for Substack
I absolutely adore reading Emily Sundberg’s Feed Me newsletter, and she ran a great piece about how media companies are starting to set their eyes on consolidation in 2025.
What does that mean for newsletters on Substack? Some media companies are buying newsletters outright on here.
Writing a newsletter is a great business for authors and writers of all kinds, but it takes time. I’ve been at this for nearly 2 years (it’s been so much fun so far, though!) and this Substack has gone through QUITE an evolution.
Shout-out to the OGs who have been here since my newsletter was called “Diary of an Author” and my main focus was on writers vs. AI.
📚 Author Corner: You Need Less Education and More Action to Write Your Book
I love learning about the craft of writing.
Some level of storytelling training is great. I got my BFA in screenwriting at USC and still pull from what I learned there whenever I’m writing something.
But the truth is, you probably don’t need to read another book on craft. You probably need to sit down and just write the damn thing.
A good example: I’ve never written any sort of fantasy novel before. Sci-fi, sure, but fantasy is new to me. For my upcoming romantasy book The Ash Trials, I’ve learned the most by reading other romantasy books and then just trying stuff in my own book.
There’s nuance to this, of course.
Each genre has its own required scenes and expectations, and there are clear things you can do to find inspiration beyond just reading in your genre:
If you’re a sci-fi writer, it helps to read books about science-y things.
If you’re a fantasy writer, you may want to read some books rooted in mythology or philosophy.
If you’re a finance writer, you may want to go outside and have some fun for once.
But generally, it’s better to start before you’re ready. The only “perfect” time to start your book is now.
✨ Wellness for Writers: I’m Back in Your Inboxes to Spread Holiday Cheer (Hot Chocolate Propaganda)
Have I written about hot chocolate before on this newsletter?
Yes.
Will I do so again?
Also, yes.
I’ve noticed a funny thing since I quit caffeine months ago and switched to drinking ginger tea and hot chocolate in the mornings/afternoons.
Not only am I more calm, chill, and less anxious — my workouts have also become drastically more effective.
I’m chasing after that “going to fight in a fantasy war” body (iykyk) and hit my lowest body fat percentage in two years eating a similar diet and working out consistently. I’m not saying hot chocolate is the *only* thing that’s changed, swapping coffee for hot chocolate is a very big thing that’s changed over the past six months.
My theory based on limited Internet research is that coffee depletes nutrients and spikes cortisol which can cause inflammation and make your body hold on to body fat with a vengeance.
Now that I’m as cool as a cucumber, my nervous system is more regulated and I just feel a whole lot better. More energy, better focus, less cravings, etc.
If you get a high-quality cocoa powder (Ghiradelli is known to be one of the best that you can get at your local grocery store because they have low heavy metals) then you’re also giving your body flavanols, which according to Harvard Health:
“Flavanols in cocoa have been studied for many years. They have been shown to help lower blood pressure, improve blood flow to the brain and heart, prevent blood clots, and fight cell damage.” - Harvard Health
They also help improve insulin resistance, which can be a barrier for some people who are trying to lose weight.
So if you swap out your morning cup of coffee for a cup of hot chocolate, you may be surprised by the benefits.
My hot chocolate recipe (now that I’ve perfected it) is this:
1 tbsp Ghiradelli cocoa powder
1-2 tsp sugar
1/4 cup - 1/2 cup cashew milk (my favorite brand at the moment is Elmhurst, which you can buy in bulk on Amazon and contains just cashews and water and no weird ingredients!) - you can froth this milk in a milk frother to make it extra creamy
To make my hot chocolate, I just boil some water, toss in the cocoa powder and sugar, and then mix in the cashew milk (either frothed or cold, the boiling water heats it right up.)
Also, as my partner Kyle likes to point out, there is a teensy tiny bit of caffeine in cocoa powder. So, you get a little ghost of a fix from coffees past — but not so much that you upset your body in a way that I found matcha and caffeinated teas still did.
Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor and you should do your own research/listen to your own white coat expert!!
📸 Photo of the Week: Juice Shots and Palm Trees
This is my writing view as I slam ginger + turmeric juice shots and get over this nasty cold I’ve had for the last week.
It’s me vs. my wordcount right now as I’m working on my draft for my upcoming romantasy novel The Ash Trials. I’m enjoying the sunny, warm 70-degree desert “winter.”
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Sending creativity and good writing vibes your way,
-Amy
The lesson on not rejecting yourself first...wow did that a few times today without even realizing it until you pointed it out.
"Ghost of a fix from coffees past" made me laugh! Love hearing about all your current projects. Excited for The Ash Trials! The cover design is beautiful!