Yearly Wrap-Up: Freelancing

Hello, dear readers! And welcome to the first in what will be a series of newsletters for December, as part of my end-of-the-year wrap-up. I know not everyone is as into looking at the past year and reflecting upon it as I am, but I eat that shit up. It’s one of my favorite rituals, spending part of December reflecting on my past year and then preparing my intentions for the year to come.

So, the months of Deecmber and January will be more newsletter-heavy than usual (3-4 posts each, over the usual 1-2). I appreciate everyone giving me that space to reflect on the year in a way I love. 🖤

For this year, the wrap-ups you can expect are:

• Freelancing Wrap-Up: the first year (that’s this one!)

• Reading Wrap-Up: I am nowhere close to hitting my yearly reading goal, but I still want to talk about the books I read!

• Video Game Wrap-Up: I played a LOT of video games this year and I’m so excited to talk about it.

• Yearly Wrap-Up: an excuse to talk about the year as a whole, personally

So, let’s dive into stats, reflections, sap and more in the first newsletter of the month: how it went diving into full-time freelancing this year for the first time.

Freelancing: The Stats

If you just want too many stats than you know what to do with, this is the place for you! In 2025, I left my job in academia by the end of January, spent February rotting in burnout recovery, and then officially started working in March 2025. In the past 10 months, I have:

• Worked on 42 different projects from 23 different authors.

• Out of 23 individual authors, 3 were repeat authors from previous years, 20 were new-to-me authors I worked with for the first time (and out of those 20 authors, 7 authors rebooked me either this year or next).

• Across these projects, I edited 4.5 million words.

• My “slowest” months, I worked with “only” two authors, while I had two months where I worked with five authors each month, averaging 2-4 authors a month.

• I made $27,000 and paid $8,000 in taxes, bringing in a net profit of $19,000.

• I worked on 11 developmental edits, 16 copy or line edits, 7 proofreads, 3 beta reads, 2 1st Impression Packages, and 3 custom packages.

• I got 3 projects from the Editorial Freelance Association job lists, 2 from Generous Press (a trad pub publishing imprint you should be following), 5 from referrals from other editors, and at least 10 from promo on socials (Threads, BlueSky and Twitch), leading to outreach on my website.

• Six of my projects came from my annual June queer discount sale! 🌈

• Over 80% of my authors are self-publishing authors. 🎉

Holy shit. I knew I had a busy year but seeing it all written out like that is fucking incredible. 4.5 MILLION WORDS???? 42 different projects!? 23 different authors!?!

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

I am so floored. And so, so, so grateful. I hit some goals I set for myself (book out for the year! work with a trad publisher! get to work on a historical romance!) that still feel unreal. I’m just a pile of tears (more gushing below).

Of course, it hasn’t all been success! I’ve had plenty of work (from lengthy emails to hours-long-work on sample edits) that ended up with me not being signed by an author. Over 90% of the jobs I applied to through the EFA, I got no responses. I’ve had months where I didn’t earn enough that we had to skip groceries for the week to try and make whatever food we still had from before last. I’ve had offers to be added to larger rosters of freelancers from establised companies only to get ghosted. And, of course, plenty of imposter syndrome and doubt have plagued me as constant companions all my life, which hasn’t changed with this new adventure (yet).

It’s been a year of ups and downs, but it’s one of the happiest I’ve ever been professionally. And for that, I am forever, eternally grateful.

The Authors

Obviously, this could not have been possible without my authors. I am so beyond grateful for each and every one of you. This was a huge risk for me to take, despite building this business for over a decade and actively working with clients for the past six years before I went full-time. I never in my wildest dreams believed I could make this work, instead grasping for it with desperation to get out of an awful work situation.

So, I want to highlight my authors whose books are already out or forthcoming, plus where you can find them and how you can support them, because each and every single one of them deserve it.

(Yes I’m biased but I don’t care.)

• A Tempest of Ravens by E.A. Bard (beta read)

• Stratagem of Fated Winds by Minyue Fu (copyedited)

• The Wish of a Dragon by JD Rivers (copyedited and proofread)

• Floodwaters by Wren Rivers (beta read)

• The Eye of the Lion by Rachael Bell-Irving (copyedited with M. Parker Editing)

• A Tale of Two Sparrows by Vanessa Fowler (line edited)

• The Winding Way by Bricker P. Vale (proofread)

• Secrets and Summonings by E.K. Earle (line edited)

• A Change of Pace by J.A. Stevens (proofread), forthcoming 2026

• A Treachery of Shadows by Sean Van Damme (developmental and copyedited), forthcoming 2026

• Sunderroot by Christina Juhlin (copyedited), forthcoming 2026

What a fucking banger of a line-up. 😍

I have so many other authors who are currently in revisions, in the trenches or in different stages of publication, so I don’t have their books to encourage you to add to your TBRs and carts (yet!). But once I do, you’d better bet I’ll be telling you all about them and their works!

Please, please, please, if you are reader or you know a reader, it would mean so much if you could add these books to your TBR, purchase copies for yourself or your loved ones as gifts, or shared them on socials. My authors mean so much to me and all I want is for them to succeed. Publishing is a fucking HARD business, though. Word of mouth is everything. And it’d be a special gift to me, in particular, if you supported these badass writers this holiday season.

(To make it easy, I even created a handy Bookshop link for those who have published via Bookshop, which includes my past authors’ works, too, and is updated regularly!)

Please note this is an affiliate link and I make a small commission if you purchase any books from this list, at no extra cost to you! I use any commissions from this to fund my indie book collection!

The Emotions

Honestly I’m a bit overwhelmed just writing this post. I have so many emotions this year regarding this business and, though it’s been incredibly successful, it hasn’t been all rainbows.

There have been a ton of healthcare coverage stress and affording taxes struggles (which is higher than what it should be, since they were based on my income from my university last year, so next year’s taxes should be more in-line with what I actually earn), as I switched from corporate to freelance. I made the decision to raise my rates in 2026 for the first time since starting this business in 2019, and that was a stressful decision I weighed for over six months before finally committing to it.

I continue to struggle with imposter syndrome and fears that I’m a fraud, despite my wealth of experience, knowledge, great testimonials, and training. It’s something I’ll continue to work on, alongside continuing to grow as an editor. I’m excited to take some classes from EFA next year to refresh some knowledge in some areas and expand in others!

Overall, though, alongside the stress and success, I am just so immensely grateful. This year has been a really hard year for almost everyone I know (myself included). Yet escaping toxic academia and being able to succeed in this business, doing work that fulfills me so utterly, that also allows me to care for myself as an AuDHD disabled queer woman, has been so freeing and validating in so, so many ways. It’s changed my entire life, in numerous ways for the better.

And it’s all because of you.

Everyone who has ever hyped me up, believed in me, shared my posts; all my authors, fellow editors, publishing imprints; you all make it possible. Words are not enough to express my gratitude.

And we’re just getting started. 🖤

The Horizon

I have big goals for 2026! Since 2025 was more of a transitional year of finding my feet, I hope 2026 can be the year where I really solidify myself and my space as an editor, a freelancer and an author, so that, by 2027, I feel anchored, secure and safe. I have a newsletter coming in early January that details all of my goals in relation to freelancing and this business. I’m so excited to see what 2026 has in store!

Authors, if you’d like to join the ranks of my authors above, book with me for 2026! I cannot wait to work with your stories.

Until next,
Nicole 🖤

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