Meredith Sell

2023 Freelance Year in Review

This is my third annual “Freelance Year in Review” post. I write these posts to offer my clients a peek behind the curtain — and insight on the direction I’m aiming for in the new year.

Need writing or editorial support? Check out my services and reach out. I’m currently lining up projects for early 2024.

Highlights of 2023

  • Worked on my first ever narrative podcast project with the Denver Museum of Nature & Science’s Institute for Science & Policy.
  • Wrote newsletter content for History Colorado’s Weekly Digest.
  • Pitched an artist profile to a new-to-me publication — and landed an additional assignment with them.
  • Used slow periods to spend more time on personal projects and pursue new client relationships.
  • Launched my Substack, Women’s Barbell Club.

The Narrative

No two years of freelancing are the same, and that goes for 2023. Even though it’s been as profitable on paper as 2022, it’s felt decidedly more fraught. Throughout the year, I’ve had clients who served as steady sources of work (and income) email me with the bad news that they don’t have the budget to keep working with me or the project they wanted to assign me was put on hold.

This year has required me to be flexible and resilient, to continue reaching out to potential clients (and even past clients) despite a lot of verbal or silent rejection.

The good part: Because of the lack of steadiness, I’ve been able to work on projects that I otherwise wouldn’t have been available for. I’ve forged relationships with new clients and seen existing client relationships take new shape when I’ve raised my hand to say, “I’m available.”

Three particular clients uniquely shaped my year:

1. History Colorado
This spring, I reached out to a contact I had at History Colorado whom I’d worked with briefly on a story last year. He responded almost right away to tell me they had an immediate need for someone to help with the Weekly Digest, their email newsletter. I’d been wanting to do more newsletter work for a while, so I was on board right away. I ended up planning and writing the bulk of the Digest content over the next two months while a member of their staff was on leave.

“Meredith is an extremely effective communicator and a great writer. She intuitively understands her audiences and her clients’ needs, and is great at adapting on the fly.”

~Sam Bock, Publications Director at History Colorado

2. Monique Meyer and the School of Graphic Design
Over the summer, I onboarded Monique Meyer for an extended project: writing the entire website copy for her future online School of Graphic Design. The website is still being built, but the experience was a reminder of how much I enjoy working on projects from the ground up. The process resulted in more than just web copy — our conversations helped Monique clarify exactly what her school is about and what she’s aiming to offer her students.

“I wanted someone who could reject ideas and have healthy conversation in this daunting project because I don’t know it all. I truly needed a professional to tell me what works best and kindly nudge me in the right direction. Meredith was that professional. She took my swirly, here-and-there ideas and turned them into powerful copy that delivers the necessary message.”

~Monique Meyer, Founder of the School of Graphic Design

3. Clearing the Air, from the Institute for Science & Policy
I originally interviewed to serve as the scriptwriter for this narrative podcast in the spring, but was passed up for another writer. Then, in August, the Institute reached back out to me with the request to help them write episodes 4 through 8 of their narrative podcast, Clearing the Air. The topic, air quality in Colorado, is one I’ve written about before, and by that point, I’d listened to both of the Institute’s previous Laws of Notion podcast seasons. I appreciated their nuanced, human-first approach to storytelling and I wanted to contribute, so I gave them my immediate “yes”. Every week for the next two-ish months, I was head-down on a script. I enjoyed the collaborative process and the chance to talk story structure in our weekly meetings.

“Meredith is the utmost professional, an amazing collaborator, and an adept writer. She stepped in at the 11th hour on a major podcast project and helped us create a stronger, richer, more compelling story. The work we often do is emotional, complicated, and nuanced, and Meredith seamlessly rose to the challenge of working with diverse stories with an open mind and integrity.“

~Kristan Uhlenbrock, Director of the Institute for Science & Policy

Since closing out the podcast project, my workload has been a lot lighter. I’ve had ongoing blog assignments and a few editing projects, but nothing all-consuming. My hope for next year: more immersive storytelling projects that require my full attention.

2023 Projects I’m Proud Of

Storytelling

Blogs and other content

Independent projects

This year, I launched Women’s Barbell Club, a semi-monthly email newsletter all about women, strength, and fitness culture. Here are a few of my favorite pieces so far:

Goals for 2024

  • Work on more storytelling projects, whether with companies, nonprofits, or publications.
  • Land 1-2 newsletter writing/management gigs.
  • Rebuild my editing client base.
  • Publish Women’s Barbell Club consistently every month.
  • Continue leaning into environmental writing work for content clients and pursue more creative projects.
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