Earlier this year, I published a newsletter that detailed exactly how I'm making money right now. I listed out all my current revenue streams and what percentage of my income they bring in for my work as a freelance writer. I shared as much as I could about the inner workings of my business of one. Well, that post was so popular that I'm now making it a regular feature!

Every quarter, I’ll send out a breakdown of the last three months worth of income. My income reports include everything I think that’s helpful to know, from how I get the work to what it's like to do it. I also include the exact amount I made, including profit after costs - that part is only available to paying readers.

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One of the reasons I like writing about work is because it gives us a sharp lens on money, power and people. Our jobs are a powerful force in our lives, profoundly impacting our sense of identity, our relationships and our well-being.

That’s why my income reports also include a “Financial Feelings Analysis”, where I share my emotional reaction to my earning. We like to think that business isn’t personal, but it is - money makes us feel many conflicting emotions so I want to capture that in my financial statements as much as possible.

Now, talking about money on the internet is fraught. Before we get into it, here’s my usual disclaimer:

1. This is how I make my money

2. I’m sharing this because I think you might find it helpful (or maybe you’re just nosey, I’m also fine with that)

3. I’m not a financial advisor

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Okay! Here’s how much money I made from April through June of this year.

📈 Active revenue streams

1. Client work 🤝 (97%)

Same as last quarter, I made nearly all of my income in Q2 from clients. This is regular work I do with companies on a retainer basis. (As little has changed here, see the previous report for more details. And a reminder that paying subscribers can AMA about this or anything else in my income report.)

What has changed since last quarter is the proportion of income I made from client work. It’s up from 90% to 97%. You’ll see further down that’s partly due to some outstanding invoices, but it’s essentially my full-time income.

People have differing views on what it means for a writer to work for a company and do their writing “on the side”. I used to bristle at the idea; I didn’t feel like a “real” journalist if I couldn’t support myself from it. I’ve since gotten over myself. The news industry, as a whole, cannot support itself financially with its own journalism. So why was I expecting to be able to do it in my media business of one?

Also, more importantly, I love working for my clients. The regular income allows me to do better creative work. I don’t buy the myth of the struggling artist, I do my best work when I know my bills are paid. And it’s not just because of the regular income, it’s also the actual work I’m doing. There are so many transferable skills I have from over a decade working in the media industry that I’m able to put to good use in other sectors. Plus, the clients I work with are kind, supportive and respectful – not something I can always say about my fellow journalism colleagues. 

2. Newsletter 💌 (2%)

This quarter, my newsletter made a little bit of money!

I don't write my newsletter to make money from it, but it would be disingenuous to pretend that being able to make an income from it doesn't help. It's not enough to ditch my other revenue streams, but it still feels so good to be able to earn directly from my writing, without having to ask for someone else’s permission first.

📌 A roundup of newsletter highlights from the last few months:

Why does productivity feel more valuable than pleasure? Anna Codrea-Rado · Jul 21 Read full story

The anticipatory grief of losing a pet Anna Codrea-Rado · Aug 1 Read full story

Reflecting on my four years on Substack Anna Codrea-Rado · Jun 16 Read full story

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3. Public speaking 🗣️ (1%)

My smallest revenue stream this quarter was public speaking. I got paid for an event I did in Q1, a podcast for the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) about freelancing, which you can listen to here. I also spoke on a couple of virtual panels for one of my regular clients.

🔍 Work I did in Q2 but haven’t been paid for yet 

I do my accounting on a cash basis – which means I only record income once it hits my bank account. The other way to do it is accrual, which means you count the income when you invoice for it. 

What that means for my income report is that there’s some work I did in Q2 that I’m still waiting to get paid for:

4. Journalism ✍️

I wrote about my fear of flying for the Guardian this spring. I also wrote a fun piece for Insider about how I use chatbots to keep me company as a freelance writer.  

Counting last quarter’s feature on Annie Mac, that means that in six months, I’ve only written three features. I know there are plenty of freelancers who write three features a week, but I just can’t do it. No, actually, that’s not true, I can do it, I just don’t want to.

I feel more financially stable making my income elsewhere (please note which revenue stream hasn’t paid me yet…) and frankly, I feel like my work is better for it. I’m writing less for traditional outlets, but the pieces I do write mean something to me, are fun to work on and the editor pushes me to be a better writer.

There’s no right way to freelance, especially as a creative. This is how I do it because it works for me. My hope with these income reports is to be able to show there’s more than one way to build a sustainable freelance writing business.

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5. Content marketing 👩‍💻

I distinguish between “client work” and “content marketing” in my revenue streams. Client work is recurring, usually on a retainer basis or a similar financial arrangement. Content marketing is a one-off project working with a client or agency on a piece of branded content.

I might be doing content marketing for a retainer client, but content marketing isn’t always client work. I’m probably overly complicating this, but it makes sense for me and how I look at my income. Also, I think this janky explanation nicely reflects how we carry quirks and hangups over into our businesses.

Anyway, this is all to say that I did a piece of content marketing for a branded content studio this quarter and they haven’t paid the invoice yet because they have lengthy payment terms. 🙃  

📉 Dormant revenue streams

Book 📚

I didn’t make any money from my book royalties this quarter. It’s worth noting that I haven’t “earned out”, which means the sales from my book haven’t surpassed the size of my advance so I don’t get direct royalties from it.

I do make secondary royalties when I get a payment from the ALCS or affiliate payments through Amazon or Bookshop.org – but I didn’t earn either of those this quarter.

This would be a good time for me to mention that I wrote a book about freelancing! You’re The Business is a practical handbook for anyone who works for themselves and contains everything I know (plus insight from some other superstar solo-employed) about freelancing.

Buy the book

Podcast 🎙️

I talked about this in the last report, but still no podcast this quarter :(

Ok, so how much cash did I make this quarter?