2024 Writing Report
My writing year in review including acceptances and rejections, a Substack report, and more
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Hello and welcome to my 2024 writing report!
I’ve been doing these annual reflections on how my year in writing went for several years now — first on Medium and now on Substack.
Before we get to my annual breakdown, I want to mention that the One Funny Line Challenge where we write one funny line a day will be back in January. You can get more details on it here. If you want to get the daily emails when it starts, you need to adjust your preferences to opt in to that section here.
Okay, now onto the report…
Submitting report
I submitted fewer freelance/humor pieces this year than I have in the past because I spent more time writing this Substack and focusing on other writing projects (like book ideas). I think I’m following a trend with a lot of writers who are freelancing less as publications are continually cutting back.
But I still enjoy freelancing, so I think in 2025 I will aim to submit a bit more, although I am trying to be much more thoughtful about why I’m doing it—e.g., to break into a pub, for the payday, to help grow my Substack, or because I just can’t stop myself from writing something.
Between my teaching job and parenting, I continue to have limited time, so I feel like I need to pick and choose what to prioritize.
Here are some quick stats on my submitting year:
I sent 21 pitches/submissions this year and I may end up sending a couple more pitches/submissions before the end of the year. (Several of these were submitting the same piece to multiple places so I didn’t write 21 separate pieces!)
I got 5 acceptances and 16 rejections or non-responses. I had pieces run in McSweeney’s, Slate, Jane Austen’s Wastebasket, Frazzled, and one travel piece for AAA will run next year.
In terms of the types of pieces I was submitting/pitching, it looks like it included 4 satire pieces, 4 essays, and 1 travel pitch. Some of these were seasonal things I wrote the previous year that I was trying to look for homes for and I often do have success holding pieces when I run out of time. (And I of course thought of two new holiday satire ideas this week that I think I need to wait until next year to try to write/submit, so it goes.)
I have not been writing as much short satire lately in part because I was feeling like I wanted to focus on other writing projects. I’m sure I’ll continue to do more in 2025, but it’s just a balancing act of what to focus on.
Social media report
The current landscape for social media feels tricky because with the Twitter meltdown, people have gone to different places and I’m still deciding where to spend my time.
I (like a lot of other humor writers I know) have been duplicating jokes across different platforms because who knows when a platform is going to implode! This is not necessarily super time-consuming but it does split my focus which is not ideal.
I’m also very aware that social media can be a time suck that takes away from other writing I want to do, so I’m just generally trying to spend less time on it/be intentional with it. A lot of what was in this piece on Culture Study resonated with me.
I also have started to not link to social media handles in my freelancing bios (RIP all those Twitter links that are in existing bios out there!). I’ve been linking to my website and/or Substack instead.
Caveats, aside this is where I’ve been spending time on social:
Threads: It feels Twitter-like and since I am more of a words person than a visual or video person I have been posting there a bit. It does feel like a place you can get jokes seen but it seems to suppress links, so I don’t feel like it’s great for sharing things like Substack posts and published pieces.
Blue Sky: I’ve just started checking it more despite having had an account since 2023. One big plus to this platform is that it does not seem to suppress links as much as others, so it can be a good place to share links to your published stuff.
Instagram: It feels a bit quieter on the main grid there these days but I do still really like Instagram stories so will post on Insta at times.
Substack Notes: This is one of my favorite places to hang out on social media currently. It does not require me to be on it all the time and posts can be seen a lot longer than on other platforms. I do think Notes has helped some people find my Substack too.
Places I’m not really hanging out:
Twitter/X: I didn’t delete it all together but I set it to private and will probably mostly only lurk there for things like freelance opportunities. I just don’t want to be posting there anymore.
LinkedIn: I think this is actually a good option for some people, but I just don’t find that I want to hang out there. It does seem like there are freelance opportunities that pop up there now though.
TikTok: I think this can be good for platform/promotion if you want to spend time on it, but I am just not a video-first person. That said I may try to experiment with it a bit more in 2025 (assuming it doesn’t get completely shut down).
Facebook: I don’t really post to the main feed or my author page here very much but I do continue to find some of the private Facebook writer groups useful. I’m usually only logging in to read those currently.
I’m curious where others are at with this, so feel free to weigh in in the poll or in comments.
Substack report
One of the bright spots in my writing year has been Substack. I now have over 2000 subscribers (thanks for being here!) and enjoy that I can set my own pace and content and I really like the Substack community. So I will continue to make it a writing priority in 2025 and will probably try out some different types of posts in the new year.
Since I know some of you reading this are also Substackers, these are the things that I think most helped contribute to my growth this year:
Posting on Notes. I had a few notes take off and I think this did help with subscriber bumps.
Recommendations: My stats tell me a good chunk of my subscribers are coming via recommendations for other Substacks, so thanks to those of you recommending me!
Google: I have a few posts that have gotten good SEO traction and those have led to new subscribers.
Shoutouts/freelancing: I try to include a link to my Substack in relevant freelance/humor publications and that does lead some people to find me. Getting shout-outs from other writers on their Substacks or other places has also helped.
And these look like my 3 most popular posts of the year in terms of views:
Finance report
I have a full-time teaching job and write on the side for some additional income (and because I enjoy it). Making a little extra money from writing helps me not feel like I have to maintain a really heavy teaching load (and *fingers crossed* perhaps early retirement?) But it’s definitely a small portion of my overall income.
In any event, here is a rough breakdown of writing-related income percentages for the year:
In the past, freelancing had made up a bigger chunk and Substack a smaller one. I do like the control Substack gives me and so I’m okay trading some freelance income for Substack income.
This year I thought I would try to do more one-off teaching and possibly even try some coaching, but I felt like my time was just too stretched with other things to do a lot of it. I think this may be something I’ll be able to do more of in the future, but for now, I don’t want it to eat up the time I have to do my own writing.
One pleasant income surprise this year was making a little extra money on some boosted articles on Medium. Since humor writing does not often pay much, Medium still feels like a viable option for some humor pieces (with some caveats).
I have been writing on Medium since 2016 but have never devoted a lot of time to it. The partner program you can potentially get paid through has changed over time and will likely change again in the future. While I don’t plan to go all in there, I’ll probably try to publish a few more pieces in the publications there in 2025.
I’m curious what others think about Medium currently, so I’m including these bonus polls:
Final Thoughts
Going into the new year I have some things I want to focus on including this Substack, a picture book idea I’m excited about, a few half-written pieces I need to finish, and talking to more writer friends in real life since I’m experiencing some Zoom fatigue.
A local writing group I’m in that had met pre-pandemic started up again and we are only meeting once a quarter but that feels like the right thing for me this year. Setting quarterly writing goals also worked well for me this year so I’m going to do that again in 2025.
Finally, thank you to anyone who has read, shared, or supported my Subsack this year, I appreciate you!
Thanks for reading Humor Me, a newsletter featuring funny stuff and writing tips. In case you’re new here — I’m a humor writer and freelancer whose work has appeared in New Yorker Shouts, McSweeney’s, Real Simple, and more.
I’m also the author of a humorous advice book for introverted parents that would make a great gift for the new or expecting parent in your life. Find out more about me at julievick.com.
If you enjoy this Substack and want to offer one-time support for my writing, you can do that here:
I really appreciated this reflection
Thanks, Julie, this was really interesting!