A Really Good Year

2024 has been my most successful and my most prolific year as a freelancer. In fact it’s the most I’ve earned since 2018, when I was still on the editorial staff at Good Beer Hunting . Coincidentally, I’ve also turned in more work this year than in those previous—96 commissions and counting, beating my previous best of 83. Don’t get me wrong it’s not big money, but I’ve worked hard for that extra cheddar this year. More importantly than anything it's a living I cherish. I’ve also broken what I consider to be the awards hoodoo that caused me so much unnecessary stress in the past. My book, Manchester’s Best Beer Pubs and Bars picked up three awards—two silvers from the British Guild of Beer Writers and a gold from the North American Guild of Beer writers. I also picked up a further three nominations for my feature writing, and Pellicle , the crown jewel in my professional life, attained several more. Most significantly among these was a nomination for magazine of the year from the Briti

by Matthew Curtis · source ↗