How I stopped losing track of my freelance writing career
The system I use to track pitches, projects, invoices, and everything in between.
Working as a freelance writer is tough right now. No question about it. I know you’re feeling the same.
Let me guess: you’re juggling some form of pitching, client outreach, invoicing, expenses, some actual work and… about 40 open tabs? 50? It’s not uncommon for me to open so many that my laptop sounds like it’s trying to take off.
Finding a tool that actually matches how writers work has been a total pain. Some of them are expensive. They’re almost always confusing, and take so much time and energy to learn that you just switch off.
So instead of trying to find the perfect tool, I built one.
Finnygook (which you can try for free) is the business OS I made for writers like me, and hundreds of you are already using it. It started as a solution to my chaotic workspace, and it turns out a lot of you find it useful in exactly the same way.
Here’s how it fits into my actual week.
Pitching and following up
I’m still pitching freelance features and doing cold client outreach throughout the week. It’s part of how I work, and honestly, it keeps me sharp. How can I run a newsletter about freelance writing if I’m not actually freelance writing, after all?
I use Finnygook’s pitches section to log every outreach and track where each one sits.
I didn’t want this outreach to just sit in a web app you have to check constantly, which is why its daily digest email are so helpful. Every morning, I get a list of pitches and client outreach I need to chase.
More than 50% of my commissions come from work I’ve followed up on. That’s not a stat I looked up; it’s just true from my own experience. The follow-up reminder has been huge in actually helping me.
If you’re not following up (I always send two: one after a week, one after two weeks) then you’re probably leaving money on the table. Yes, you’ll get rejected a lot. But you only need to push for one commission to make a real difference.
Projects and tasks
With a million different things on the go, it’s very easy to lose track of what needs doing next. I use Finnygook to create projects, link to individual tasks, and set email reminders and sync straight to my Google Calendar.
It sounds simple. Because it is simple.
You track everything that needs doing, and get reminded when things are due, or when you’re falling behind.
I can stay organized and on top of everything I need for editors and clients, and tasks have stopped slipping through the cracks. (Pitch tracking is free on Finnygook, by the way.)
As someone who is neurodivergent, and constantly losing track of notebooks and sticky notes, this has been a real game changer for me.
Expenses and invoicing
I’m also tracking work-based expenses in Finnygook, which helps me keep on top of what I do and don’t need (like a useless LinkedIn Premium account, which I definitely didn't need to be spending money on each month).
Invoicing is probably my favorite feature, and the way it works makes it feel obvious. I’ve uploaded my billing and payment details, and get Finnygook to create an invoice in seconds… which I then send straight to my clients via the app.
I don’t even have to download it (though I can if I need to).
I use separate accounting software too, and the two work well alongside each other. Between them, I feel in control of the money side in a way I genuinely didn’t before.
Events and reminders
I am, by my own admission, notorious for missing webinars. Just ask literally anyone who’s run something I’ve signed up for.
I’ll sign up with good intentions and then completely forget they exist. Since I started setting events in Finnygook and getting same-day reminders pushed to my calendar, I actually show up to things. The ones worth showing up to, anyway.
Why is it working for me?
Well, being neurodivergent comes with its own difficulties. But even aside from that, I know we writers love a tool we can use to help us stay on top of everything.
Finnygook creates a system that tells me what’s next without making me think too hard about it. So far it’s replaced: three different apps, a document and a spreadsheet I constantly forgot to update, and a lot of mental energy I was wasting keeping track of things that I shouldn’t have to.
Users keep telling me the same thing: it answers the question “what needs doing next?” That’s what I built it to do. Turns out that’s what a lot of writers needed too.
If any of this sounds familiar, you can try Finnygook for free here. If you want the full setup, use code FWN at checkout for 50% off your first three months.