Across the industry, the maths is getting harder to ignore. Newsrooms are shrinking. Editorial budgets are tightening. Experienced journalists are leaving. Freelancers are absorbing more of the financial risk involved in developing stories, while editors themselves are often working with fewer resources and an overwhelming number of pitches competing for limited commissioning budgets.

Before an editor ever sees a finished pitch, a freelancer has already spent hours - if not months - researching, finding sources, making calls, travelling, building access and figuring out whether there is even a story worth pursuing.

It's clients, particularly long-term ones you've built relationships with, who tell you, "We've got lots of work coming your way," "We'll definitely work together again," or "We'll get something over the line soon."