Finally: I’m up to date with posting links in this space, pretty well caught up with work, and have knocked out weekend-consuming social obligations. Now I can write this post. As you might surmise from following this space or my Twitter feed, last year was pretty amazing in terms of work, start to finish. Here’s a quick look at some of the fantastic opportunities that came my way throughout a very heavy calendar year of full-time freelancing:
- Began an editing contract at Mac|Life. After nearly two years of regular writing at Mac|Life, they asked me to help fill in for a few months as a contract/external editor, which started in October and runs through the end of this month. In this role, I’m in charge of essentially all of the non-news iOS app coverage for both print and web, including reviews, plus I assign and edit Mac game reviews. I’m working on my fourth issue right now as an editor, and I’m really hopeful that it won’t be the last in this role. Nothing’s been discussed yet, but I think there’s been a positive outcome on both ends of this situation, so I’ll definitely be pushing for something. Fingers crossed and all that.
- Ample print work. By my count, my work appeared in 72 total magazine issues in 2011, including monthly issues dated for this year, quarterly issues, and the daily issues from E3 (more on that later). My biggest month was the September 2011 print month, in which my work appeared in seven different publications. It’s truly a thrill to be writing this much for print at a time when the industry remains in flux and opportunities are sadly thinning out here and there. I grew up reading video game magazines, and it’s easily one of the biggest reasons why I pursued this career. Getting to a point where magazine work arguably makes up the majority of my monthly/yearly work is hugely fulfilling.
- New publications. Writing for UK print stalwart Edge was a huge highlight of the year, as I contributed a pair of articles each to two issues, and am currently working on something for a future issue. Additionally, I started writing for Paste and Complex.com this year, and did a couple pieces each for IGN.com and The Daily. Having the opportunity to cover E3 this year for the E3 Show Daily was an amazing experience, as well, as I wrote three of the six cover stories from the three issues and contributed several other smaller pieces within the books. As a freelancer, having my expenses covered for a show like that was pretty unreal, and everything about the arrangement was wonderful. I’m really hopeful that I’ll have a chance to do it again this year.
- The PAX Panel! I paid my way to my first Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle in August to speak on a panel about freelance writing with four of my editors and three fellow freelance comrades, which proved an initially terrifying, but eventually rad experience. And while it wasn’t planned as a work trip, I was able to string together enough last-minute assignments to earn back my investment on the trip. I’m now planning on making it an annual trip going forward (and expect to be at PAX East in April), as I now see the work potential of the event. And it’s always great to be around my colleagues and pals in the industry. While I’m on the topic of travel, I also covered Nintendo’s 3DS event in New York in January, Capcom’s Captivate conference in Miami in April, and the Fantastic Arcade indie fest in Austin in September.
- Big features. Early in the year, Mac|Life contracted me to write a couple cover stories for its quarterly Mac|Life Essentials issues, and over the course of the year, I had a chance to contribute bits to cover stories for Mac|Life (monthly), Nintendo Power, and PlayStation: The Official Magazine. Beyond that, I wrote a huge behind-the-scenes feature on Tony Hawk Ride and Tony Hawk Shred for the final print issue of 1UP Presents in the fall, as well as a big feature on improving Kickstarter indie game development campaigns for Gamasutra around the same time. And though I wrote it in 2010, my first article for Kill Screen debuted in the Intimacy issue last spring.
- Huge reviews. By my quick count, I wrote nearly 100 scored reviews for various publications in 2011, along with many more quicker, un-scored appraisals of iPad games for GamesRadar. I reviewed a fair amount of meager junk during the year (which is fine), but I also had a chance to tackle some huge releases for print and web, including Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, Fight Night Champion, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Star Fox 64 3D, and Child of Eden. Well, Child of Eden was huge for me, at least…
Not everything in the year was rainbows and sunshine, though. In April, IGN decided to shut down What They Play, the parent-focused site that I contributed copious amounts of writing to for more than three years. My work for What They Play made up about 30% of my income in 2010, so it’s incredibly fortunate that I was able to make up that gap elsewhere. And much more recently, IDG unbelievably shuttered GamePro after a failed attempt to transform the monthly magazine into a quarterly; rather than keep up the well-trafficked website, the whole thing was closed down. It wasn’t a huge part of my regular workflow, but I’d been writing there for nearly three years and of course read GamePro as a kid, so it meant a lot to me. And they undoubtedly gave me some of my biggest review opportunities over the years, including most recently Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. A couple other opportunities faded out during the year, but at least those have a potential chance to rebound.
It’ll be interesting to see how the next few months unfold, especially with the editing gig set to end in just a couple weeks. I’m hopeful that it’ll continue in some form, but whatever the case, its presence or absence will help shape how the rest of my workload looks. However it shakes out, I have a trio of work goals I’m hoping to make progress on within the year:
1. Write for local Chicago publications. I’d like to write for a paper or another local periodical in some respect, so I’m hoping to make some headway there in the next few months. Beyond that, I’d simply like to do more writing on Chicago-centric topics. I actually pitched three stories in that vein on Friday, so we’ll see how that goes.
2. Write about designer toys. I love urban vinyl and that culture, and I’d love to start inching into that territory with interviews and other original reported coverage. I tried pitching one of my non-gaming-centric publications on coverage last year, but it didn’t yield any work. However, I just sent out a pitch to a print magazine in that industry that I’m really hopeful and confident about, so we’ll see how it goes.
3. Explore a book project. One of these days, I’m going to write a non-fiction book. I don’t know exactly what that’ll entail or how to go about doing that once I have an idea that I think is both interesting and marketable, but I want to be in a better position to pursue that project by the end of the year. I’d love to do a deep dive into a company’s past or something else based on extensive reporting. With my first two goals, there’s a tangible outcome I’d like to fulfill by the end of the year. On this one, I just want to be in a better position to potentially make something happen by the time next year rolls around.
And that’s that. I’m pretty ready for another interesting year.
