by Sheree Crawford

 

Writing can pay.

No seriously. Ok, so the average author earns less than the Living Wage (hell, they sometimes earn less than the Minimum Wage), but the great thing about writing is that it’s a versatile skill that can be applied to so many situations. A few conversations with followers about just how hard it can be to make money as a writer spurred this article; these are 5 ways to make money as a writer that are open to everyone.

 

Sell Short Stories

The short story is on the rise once more, and if you can be bothered to go through the process of self-publishing you could start making money pretty quickly. You can find a much longer run down of how to do this here, but a basic synopsis goes like this; write it, polish it, format it, publish it. Kindle does big business when it comes to short stories, and plenty of people love them because they are “bite-sized”.

The most popular genres are, unsurprisingly, Romance, Erotica, and Horror, but there’s no reason to avoid all other genres and follow the crowd. If you want to maximise interest you should consider working on a series at a time, thereby giving the readers characters they can become invested in. Consider making each instalment free for the first week or so to bring people in, and be sure to sell them as a collection once you have a few under your belt.

 

SEO and Content Writing 

Sites like PeoplePerHour.com allow you to apply for short term, small projects to supplement your income. Things like producting search engine optimised articles for websites are common and easy to come by (some clients will even be looking for someone do to the work on an ongoing basis), but be ready to fight for the juicy jobs because such sites are swamped. Ideally you should be looking to find clients who will return to you again and again if you want a stable income.

Pitch content hungry websites directly, or approach popular blogs to see if they need someone to do the heavy lifting for them.

 

Rewriting and Polishing

Not everyone can write and so, if you’re good, there’s decent money to be made in rewriting or “polishing” other peoples C.V.s, cover letters, university and job applications, or even their bios and website content. This is much like proofreading, but in this case you’re being paid to identify and made changes to language, structure, and even content rather than just grammar and structure.

 

Proofreading

If you can write well enough to sell your work you can proofread; proofreading can be big business for those willing to endure the tedious and often tiring nature of the work. Other writers will pay to have people proofread their works, but most often you will find it’s post-graduate students who want someone to go over their thesis with a fine-toothed comb that will be your main clients. Consider leaving flyers or your business card around College and University campuses.

 

Write Articles

The Magazine market is tough, but it’s not impossible to crack. The key is finding your niche; magazines are specialised publications aimed at people who, very often, know their stuff. The quickest way to get into this is to start with something that you love, e.g. are you a model train lover, a yoga & fitness guru, or a fashionista. If you have a pre-existing hobby you should make the most of it and start looking into magazines that cover this area.

Case each prospective magazine to see what they publish and ask yourself what you can add to this. You could start with an article which responds to one already published; it may not be bought, but it should catch the editors eye. It’s all about getting and keeping that attention!

The truth is that if you want to make money writing you have to work at it as hard as you would at any 9-5 job.

 

 

 

Guest post contributed by Sheree Crawford. Sheree is a UK based content writer and ghostwriter and often writes about the art of writing.