Getting paid to jot down might sound straightforward, however the actuality is a bit more difficult. Freelance writing might be laborious to interrupt into, and the pay might be low (or nonexistent) for freshmen.
The trick is to get your first few articles or inventive items revealed after which use them to attain larger shoppers and higher pay. And even when long-term freelancing isn’t your objective, constructing a portfolio that showcases your revealed work can bolster your profession as a author or subject-matter professional.
Nonetheless, publishing these first few items is usually the toughest a part of your writing journey. To assist, we’ve compiled a number of locations the place you will get paid to jot down now. We’ve additionally included tried-and-true strategies to will let you develop as a author and, ideally, make more cash writing within the long-term.
Get Paid to Write for Flat-Price Web sites, Blogs and Extra
In case you’re new to freelance writing, one of many first issues you might discover is how opaque the entire course of is. Web sites, blogs and publications usually depend on armies of freelancers, however their contributor pointers and pay are sometimes nowhere to be discovered.
As an alternative of diving straight into negotiations with editors about assignments and pay, first attempt to discover a website or publication that has an easy course of for contributors in order that you realize precisely what they’re on the lookout for and the way a lot they’re paying. (We’ll cowl pitching and negotiating additional beneath.)
Able to earn cash writing on-line? Listed below are 20 websites to attempt pitching:
1. Copyhackers
Copyhackers is a content material firm based mostly in Canada. It supplies instructional supplies to assist new copywriters in addition to paid alternatives for writers to publish prolonged articles on Copyhackers’ weblog.
Its submission guidelines are clear: You ought to be properly versed within the matter that you simply’re pitching. And it is best to anticipate to be writing weblog posts which are 2,000 phrases or extra “except it’s extraordinarily splendidly amazingly readable studying.”
Pay: $300 to $1,000 per weblog put up
Classes/Subjects: Promoting, branding, UX (Consumer Expertise) or advertising and marketing ideas; freelance way of life or recommendation; entrepreneurship
2. Listverse
As its title implies, Listverse makes a speciality of listicles aka record posts. These are extremely clickable posts the place every principal level is a part of a numbered record (kind of just like the article you’re studying proper now!).
The contributor guidelines point out which you can write articles associated to “any matter you want” as long as it’s attention-grabbing, well-researched and within the type of an inventory of at the very least 10.
To slim that down ever so barely, the web site is damaged into a number of subjects: weird, leisure, common information, way of life, science, society and extra. Your articles ought to roughly pertain to these areas.
Word: Listverse will solely pay freelance writers through PayPal.
Pay: $100 per record put up
Classes/Subjects: Weird, leisure, common information, way of life, science, society and extra.
3. Narratively
To grasp what kind of articles Narratively publishes, look no additional than its tagline: “Human tales, boldly informed.” All sections of the web site are open to submissions. Simply make sure that your story is longform, gripping and has robust narrative components.
For an in-depth breakdown of the completely different sections and story sorts, learn Narratively’s submission guidelines. You’ll want a Submittable account to ship in your draft.
Pay: $300 to $400 per article
Classes/Subjects: Private essays and reported articles with a story, human-interest strategy
4. Reader’s Digest
Reader’s Digest wants no introduction. However what you in all probability didn’t know is that it presents one of many funnest and low-risk methods to receives a commission to jot down.
However as a substitute of swinging straight for the massive leagues with a front-cover characteristic story, you possibly can submit jokes and micro-stories to Reader’s Digest, which can publish them on-line and within the print journal. In case your submission is chosen, you’ll get $100 a pop. (That’s among the many highest per-word charges within the business.)
Remember to comply with the suitable pointers for jokes and 100-word true stories.
Pay: $100
Classes/Subjects: Jokes or true private tales (100 phrases or fewer)
5. Unemploymentville
In keeping with its web site, Unemploymentville is “a spot for anybody who has felt the sting of being out of labor.”
It additionally occurs to be a spot you possibly can write visitor weblog posts in case you have attention-grabbing small-business concepts, useful job-searching strategies or private tales about coping with job loss.
Pay: $25 to $75 per weblog put up
Classes/Subjects: Unemployment, job looking, private essays associated to discovering work
6. Author’s Digest
Author’s Digest is a century-old journal devoted to publishing “all the pieces writers want to remain impressed, to enhance their craft, to know the distinctive challenges of publishing right now, and to get their work seen.”
In keeping with the submission guidelines, Author’s Digest accepts submissions for a wide range of sections of the journal, and it sometimes accepts chilly pitches for visitor posts on-line.
Pay: 30 to 50 cents per phrase (print); or $50 to $100 (on-line)
Classes/Subjects: Private essays, memoirs manuscripts and have tales of curiosity to the writing group
![hands working on a laptop at home](https://cdn.thepennyhoarder.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/05002148/Write-Articles.jpg)
Get Paid to Write Utilizing Freelance Web sites
To diversify your earnings as a contract author, you can too join freelance marketplaces, typically known as content material mills. For a majority of these freelance web sites, there’s usually some sort of screening course of concerned earlier than you begin working with shoppers.
Generally the businesses will feed freelance gigs to you, and you may settle for or decline them. Different occasions shoppers will attain out to you personally via {the marketplace}’s messaging system. Cost varies by market, however it’s at all times funneled via {the marketplace} as a substitute of coming straight from the shopper.
Freelance marketplaces are a low-risk method to check the waters as a contract author, however they aren’t probably the most profitable long-term choice.
7. CopyPress
CopyPress is a content-marketing company that gives its personal content material administration system that freelancers can use to attach with tasks from CopyPress’ shoppers.
Whereas it presents some freelance gigs for designers, builders and influencers, content material writing and modifying is CopyPress’ bread and butter.
Sign up for free and start your training.
Pay: About 6 to 10 cents per phrase (author); 1 to 2 cents per phrase (editor)
Classes/Subjects: Varies by undertaking
8. Fiverr
Began in 2010, Fiverr is a freelance-service market that has grown to turn into nearly synonymous with freelancing. You’ll be able to supply nearly any skilled service possible on the location, however freelance writing companies are particularly well-liked.
You must create a freelancer profile to start out bidding on and accepting freelance gigs.
And opposite to its title, you might be allowed to cost no matter quantity you need — not simply $5. Nonetheless, Fiverr takes 20% of the lower.
Pay: Your charge minus 20%
Classes/Subjects: Varies by undertaking
9. iWriter
With iWriter, you possibly can earn a set charge for each article. The speed largely relies on your star score, which you obtain based mostly on a trial article and subsequent tasks with shoppers.
In keeping with the location’s FAQ part, you earn 65% of the price that clients pay for typical assignments, which can translate into very low charges as you’re beginning out.
For instance, the bottom tier of project is 150 phrases and would earn you 91 cents. Turning into an “elite plus” author (4.85 score or increased) will drastically enhance your earnings. Full a writer application to get began.
Pay: 91 cents to $282.75 per undertaking
Classes/Subjects: Varies by undertaking
10. nDash
Based in 2014 as a one-person operation, nDash now boasts a community of greater than 10,000 freelance writers, which it connects with its shoppers, a few of whom are family model names.
To get began with nDash, you need to sign up, create a free profile that highlights your experience and previous expertise, and arrange an account with Stripe to be able to receives a commission.
You’ll be capable to set your charges based mostly on undertaking kind (weblog, whitepaper, e-mail, article, and many others.). nDash doesn’t take a lower of pay like different marketplaces. It prices its shoppers as a substitute.
Pay: 100% of your set charge ($150 to $450 on common, in line with nDash)
Classes/Subjects: Varies by undertaking
11. Textbroker
Launched in 2007, Textbroker stakes its declare as the primary on-line content material market.
To get began with Textbroker, it is advisable first register for free after which write a trial article, which Textbroker editors will assign a score. Your score out of your trial article will decide how a lot cash you’ll earn per phrase.
After this registration course of, you possibly can fill out an writer profile to draw shoppers and use it to pitch them straight.
Pay: 0.7 to five cents per phrase
Classes/Subjects: Varies by undertaking
12. Upwork
Previously Elance-oDesk, Upwork is one other large on-line freelance market. It caters to all types of industries, together with and particularly writing companies.
Earlier than you settle for gigs, you’ll have to register for free and set up a freelancer profile. With Upwork, you set your individual charges and discover work by pitching shoppers straight, accepting work from shoppers who reached out to you or by bidding on tasks that shoppers posted.
Whereas Upwork is free to enroll, it prices you a fee based on your lifetime earnings with a shopper, between 5% and 20% of your set charge.
Pay: Set charge minus 5% to twenty%
Classes/Subjects: Varies by undertaking
![A woman types on a keyboard as her pages fly around her in this photo illustration.](https://cdn.thepennyhoarder.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/08161305/poetry_get_paid-final-1024x683.jpg)
Get Paid to Write Poetry, Fiction and Different Inventive Works
To receives a commission to jot down inventive work, neglect nearly all the pieces you realize about freelance writing. Getting your inventive writing revealed is a completely completely different beast, and only a few individuals make a residing writing poetry or fiction alone.
Nonetheless, seeing your title in a literary journal generally is a gratifying expertise, and that have is barely heightened if you receives a commission on your inventive masterpiece.
Not all inventive writing publishers pay. Actually, it’s widespread to see “submission charges,” that means you are paying them to evaluate your work. In these circumstances, publication isn’t assured. You wish to keep away from these eventualities solely if you’re simply getting began.
Beneath, we’ve included a number of publications that don’t cost any such charges and pays you a modest sum in addition.
13. The Antioch Evaluation
The Antioch Evaluation, based in 1941, is run by college and employees of Antioch Faculty, a small non-public establishment in Ohio.
The writer’s guidelines state that the journal publishes nonfiction essays, fiction and poetry. Submissions have to be mailed in. Revealed supplies are paid a charge of $20 per web page.
(Word: The Antioch Evaluation is presently on hiatus because it offers with the consequences of the pandemic. Examine for updates earlier than mailing your submissions.)
Pay: $20 per printed web page
Classes/Subjects: Nonfiction essays, poetry and fiction
14. Blue Mountain Arts
In case your poetry has a extra lyrical, feel-good vibe, take into account writing for greeting playing cards. (Literary journals are notoriously snobbish towards this sort of writing.)
Blue Mountain Arts, a greeting card and present firm, runs a biannual poetry contest. It accepts submissions on-line and by mail.
First place receives $350. Second place receives $200. And third place receives $100. Profitable poems are revealed in greeting playing cards and on-line. Outdoors of the poetry contest, you might also submit seasonal poems that follow these guidelines.
Pay: $100 to $350 per poem
Classes/Subjects: Really feel-good poetry associated to particular events
15. Deaf Poets Society
The Deaf Poets Society is a small on-line journal that seeks to uplift the voices of deaf and disabled artists.
In keeping with the submission guidelines, you might submit each artwork and poetry through e-mail. Every accepted piece pays $15.
Pay: $15
Classes/Subjects: Poetry (and paintings)
16. Rattle
Rattle is an internet and print journal that publishes solely poetry, and it presents poets weekly alternatives to receives a commission to jot down.
Whereas the print journal publishes quarterly, Rattle additionally holds a weekly “Poets Reply” contest on-line that asks poets to jot down a couple of present occasion that has occurred inside the previous week.
Pay for acceptance into the print subject is $200 per poem, and on-line publication pays $100 per poem. Reference the appropriate submission guidelines earlier than sending in your work.
Pay: $100 to $200 per poem
Classes/Subjects: Poetry
17. The Threepenny Evaluation
A quarterly literary journal, The Threepenny Evaluation publishes nonfiction essays, memoirs and critiques, fiction tales and poetry in print.
Relying on the kind of piece, you possibly can anticipate between $200 and $400 per revealed work.
In keeping with the writer guidelines, The Threepenny Evaluation doesn’t settle for e-mail submissions and doesn’t settle for any submissions between Might 1 and Dec. 31.
Pay: $200 to $400
Classes/Subjects: Opinions, criticisms, memoirs and different nonfiction works; poetry and fiction
18. Poetry Nook
Poetry Nook is a web site and discussion board for poets and poetry lovers. It’s operated by the literary journal Plum White Press.
Every week, Poetry Nook holds a free-entry poetry contest (for 350 weeks and counting). A number of winners and honorable mentions could also be chosen. Winners obtain a $20 fee through PayPal, and honorable mentions obtain $10.
Poetry Nook’s competitors is a good way for budding poets to receives a commission to jot down. There are not any theme or size necessities for the poems, it’s “natural impression and memorability that issues,” in line with the entry pointers.
Make sure you’re getting into the proper contest, because the hyperlink adjustments every week. You’ll find the most recent contest on Poetry Nook’s homepage.
Pay: $10 to $20 per poem
Classes/Subjects: Poetry
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Different Methods to Get Paid to Write
There’s way more to writing than freelance web sites and open-calls for submissions. As soon as you’re feeling snug (and maybe after you have got just a few profitable tasks below your belt), you can begin to implement some longer-term methods to construct your status as a profitable author.
They may not be as clear lower because the choices above, however they’re nonetheless essential.
Pitch to Your Favourite Publications
Pitching unsolicited article concepts is a tough and imprecise course of. However pitching is an important talent for freelance writers, particularly freelance journalists and content material writers. There are untold alternatives to get revealed by your favourite alt-weekly, native newspaper, journal or on-line publication, they usually’re not often (if ever) marketed.
In our insider information to pitching your article concepts, we lay out precisely methods to discover the suitable individual to pitch and what to incorporate in your pitch e-mail.
Listed below are some key takeaways:
- Pitch the proper editor or your e-mail won’t ever get learn.
- Have a deep understanding of what the publication has already revealed on the subject.
- Craft a brief and candy e-mail that exhibits a busy editor that No. 1, your pitch is a good suggestion and No. 2 that you’re one of the best individual to jot down it.
Discovering an editor’s e-mail might be troublesome. Scour the publication’s masthead or employees web page and use instruments like Hunter.io to guess and confirm particular editors’ e-mail addresses.
Even when the editor likes your thought, the work doesn’t cease there. You then have to be prepared to barter your pay — one other imprecise and casual course of. Our information will enable you to determine precisely out how a lot to cost on your freelance work.
Begin Your Personal Weblog
In case you’re fascinated about freelance writing or launching a contract writing enterprise, chances are high you both already created a weblog otherwise you’re contemplating it. Running a blog is extremely well-liked amongst writing hobbyists, and it’s one of many first steps many new freelance writers take once they wish to receives a commission to jot down.
The reality is, running a blog is hard to monetize. It’s definitely not a fast method to receives a commission to jot down, but it surely’s not out of date both. It can take sustained effort to turn into a profitable blogger. Fortunately, we now have a plethora of assets that can assist you.
First, you’ll have to discover ways to begin a weblog, in the event you haven’t already. This contains:
- Selecting a writing area of interest
- Choosing a catchy area title and discovering an online host on your website
- Constructing a user-friendly weblog
As soon as the fundamentals are arrange, you’ll wish to make a devoted plan to monetize your weblog. Profitable monetization methods usually embrace:
- Writing informative and authoritative weblog posts which are optimized for search engines like google and yahoo
- Writing for different blogs and publications that will let you hyperlink again to your individual website
- Signing up for affiliate partnerships with manufacturers associated to the subject you cowl, to be able to earn a fee on sponsored hyperlinks in your weblog posts
- Permitting ads in your pages, normally through Google AdSense, to be able to receives a commission when individuals go to your web page and work together with the adverts
Because of the time funding of running a blog, we suggest that you simply concurrently write for a number of the publications talked about above so that you simply get some cash coming in when you construct your web site. And don’t fret if it doesn’t take off. On the very least, your weblog can double as a portfolio website that can assist you land different shoppers and gigs.
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Launch a Profession as a Author
The freelance writing enterprise isn’t for everybody. There are a whole lot of unpaid hours and late nights concerned in getting issues arrange. (And that’s not mentioning extra tax burdens and lack of advantages.)
The excellent news is which you can break right into a profession in writing by quickly freelancing to construct up a portfolio. Then you need to use that portfolio to land a full-time job with well being bennies and paid day without work.
What writing jobs are on the market? Loads — and other than the apparent journalist and writer jobs, too.
In all places you look, there are phrases. Phrases on ebook covers. Phrases in your car’s guide that educate you what that dang squiggly exclamation level image in your dashboard means. Phrases that entice you to purchase stuff.
You get the thought. There’s an individual (or possibly even a staff of individuals) behind all of these phrases, they usually’re getting paid. Their titles embrace copywriter, UX author, product author, technical author, content material advertising and marketing author and extra.
Much more excellent news: All these jobs had been already distant pleasant earlier than the pandemic. Actually, writing jobs are among the many mostly listed openings in The PNW’s Work-From-House Jobs Portal.
So whether or not or not freelancing was your finish objective, the revealed clips you rack up alongside the way in which might help you construct a formidable portfolio, set up your self as an professional on a sure matter and even launch your profession as a full-time author. The choices are countless.
Continuously Requested Questions (FAQs) About Writing for Cash
Listed below are solutions to a number of the most often requested questions on getting paid to jot down.
Who Will Pay Me to Write?
Loads of individuals and publications pays you to jot down articles, weblog posts and extra. In case you’re freelancing, all of it relies on how you discover your shopper.
For instance, in the event you’re utilizing a contract web site like Upwork, the pay will come from Upwork — circuitously from the shopper, since Upwork operates like a matchmaker.
In case you’re submitting your article or inventive writing on to a publication, it should pay you normally by direct deposit, verify, PayPal or another established fee technique.
Loads of corporations additionally rent writers as workers. Promoting businesses, on-line publications and advertising and marketing corporations are among the many hottest kinds of corporations that straight rent writers.
The place Can I Submit Writing for Cash?
The best locations to submit writing for cash are publications which have clearly said submission pointers. Some web sites, together with content material mills, on-line magazines and literary journals might settle for submissions year-round and have their charges publicly displayed. We cowl a number of such locations to submit your writing on this article.
Alternatively, you possibly can chilly pitch magazines, newspapers and a few blogs together with your story thought after which negotiate your pay in the event that they like your thought.
How Can I Make Cash Writing On-line?
Running a blog and freelance web sites like Fiverr and Upwork are among the many hottest choices for earning profits on-line by writing. However they’re not at all times the quickest and most profitable choices.
Along with these well-liked strategies, you must also take into account writing articles for blogs in addition to extra conventional kinds of publications like magazines, newspapers and literary journals — all of that are very prone to publish on-line.
Nobody technique is a money cow, however in the event you mix them, it’s very doable to make a residing writing.
The place Do I Discover Freelance Writing Jobs?
Discovering freelance writing gigs is far simpler in the event you diversify your sources. Along with pitching publications straight and signing up for freelance web sites, it is best to arrange e-mail alerts for a job board or two.
Mediabistro, The PNW Work-From-House Jobs Portal, FlexJobs and typically even the usual job boards like Certainly and Glassdoor might be helpful instruments in looking down high quality writing jobs.
And as a substitute of ready for the gig to be posted on a job board, you possibly can go on to the supply. Huge on-line publishers similar to DotDash (which owns Verywell, Investopedia, The Spruce and several other different on-line publications) and Vox Media (which owns The Verge, Vox, Eater, Polygon and others) put up freelance author openings on their very own job boards on a regular basis.
How Do I Begin a Writing Profession?
Turning into an expert author isn’t at all times a linear course of. And it usually, paradoxically, requires you to have beforehand revealed articles and supplies to qualify.
Writing careers don’t at all times begin by getting a level in journalism or English, both (although a associated diploma definitely helps). Plenty of writers discover success by falling in love with writing later in life, selecting to freelance and slowly build up experience and a portfolio earlier than lastly making use of for a full-time job as a bonafide author or journalist.
One factor is for certain, whether or not by credentials or beforehand revealed work, you should be capable to exhibit your writing expertise to land a job.
Adam Hardy is a former employees author for The PNW who makes a speciality of tales on the gig financial system.