Dancing into 2019

I really needed 2018 to be better than 2017 on the professional front – and I am thrilled to say it did not disappoint.

I gleefully left my (short-lived) communications job in London at the end of March, and moved with my small family just outside Paris, as my husband was offered a really exciting opportunity.

I didn’t take up work until September, because finding an apartment in France, as well as reliable daycare pour notre petit, took a lot of legwork and emotional strength. France is not kidding about bureaucracy. Or ludicrous three-months-up-front initial deposits for an apartment. But I digress.

I accomplished two major things this year:

First: I moved to the Paris region, a long-time dream of mine. Like most things in life, it didn’t exactly come about by endlessly banging on doors, but in a series of opportunities that opened up. We happily took the leap, eager to do whatever we could to escape from Brexit hell.

So now, whenever I want to see Montmartre, I pop on a short train. If there’s a museum exhibit or an author talk in central Paris, I’m right there. I want to spend an hour or two soaking in the beauty of Saint Eustache or just meandering along the Seine? I’m there in a jiffy. It’s glorious.

It also means I’m in the perfect spot to strengthen my (let’s face it) flagging French (point of clarification: I understand it just fine. I read it without an issue. I write it without too much difficulty. But I trip up when speaking, so I need to work on that).

The other thing I’ve accomplished is that I officially went full-time freelance.

Granted, I didn’t have much of a choice. My visa doesn’t allow me to work for a French company (we’re working on it), so that’s how it is. And though we can live decently on one paycheck, I am far too ridden with anxiety to be comfortable with that.

So I’m back to reporting, and I fucking love it. There’s so much to enjoy – digging up new and interesting story angles, interviewing fascinating people, delving into the science-tech-social issues that I enjoy.

I’m also very, very aware how lucky I am to still be in this game. When I look around at American media, it’s so easy to be dismayed by the male- and Ivy-dominated mastheads of pretty much every major publication you can name. I didn’t come from money (and therefore, didn’t have the Ivy experience). But I’ve stuck around, and I’m going to make damned sure I never let my sense of Ivy-less inferiority keep me from pitching to top magazines in 2019. (Because the world needs more working-class journalists. Full stop.)

I’m very pleased with how the last few months have gone. I’ve had some headaches, sure, but many more successes. I’ve been named a regular contributor (now on the masthead!!) at Mining Magazine. I’ve been asked to be an editor at another publication I write for. An editor (not one I usually work with) at CIM Magazine approached me for an assignment last week. I took one-on-one pitch writing course, and I learned so much from it. Earlier this year, I wrote a blog post which went pretty viral, and even got a mention in POLITICO Europe. I’ve got pieces due for two new publications in the New Year, and 6-8 solid pitches to send out in January.

So I’m very, very excited about what 2019 is looking like.

Here’s what I’ve learned after four months of full-time freelancing:

Anchor clients are critical. If you’re someone who, like me, panics about money, then having an anchor client will do wonders for your stomach. Having a reliable and sizable payment coming in every month does a lot to bolster my self-esteem, not to mention my bank balance, and takes a lot of worry out of the freelance process. It’s OK if I don’t land X number of assignments in one month because the anchor payment will be there, and everything else is just gravy.
But to make everything else feel like gravy:

Reducing expenses is necessary. We cut a lot of costs just by moving from the London area to the Paris region. Our daycare costs decreased by 50%, and my commuting costs went down 86%. Matt’s commuting costs went from the cost of the car + gas + the emotional toll of being in traffic, to zero (he walks to work). We’ve also gone pretty minimalist, benefiting from hand-me-downs for little Magnus, cutting down our wardrobes, and significantly shrinking our discretionary spending (as much for budget reasons as for environmental ones).

So instead of barely scraping by on two (rather high) salaries as we were in the UK, we’re living very comfortably on one salary, while using the other for trips and savings.

Reaching out to new editors is a great way to get more bylines. I know, I know. Seems bleeping obvious. But it’s one thing to know that, and another thing to do that. I’ve been getting bolder in the last two months, and I’ve got 2 new commissions to show for it.

Chocolate does not replace meals. And that’s all I’m going to say about that.