Summary

The article outlines five diverse strategies for writers to earn money, including freelance writing, ebook creation, traditional book publishing, blogging, and guest blogging.

Abstract

The article provides guidance for writers seeking to monetize their skills through various avenues. It emphasizes the importance of stepping out of one's comfort zone and being persistent in the face of challenges. The strategies discussed include leveraging social media to attract freelance writing opportunities, writing and self-publishing ebooks, exploring traditional publishing routes, creating and maintaining a personal blog, and contributing to other blogs as a guest writer. The author shares personal experiences and encourages writers to be proactive in their approach to making money through writing.

Opinions

The author advocates for a proactive approach to writing, suggesting that writers must actively seek opportunities rather than waiting for them to come.
Social media presence is considered crucial for freelance writers to be discovered by potential clients or recruiters.
Persistence and patience are key, as the process of securing freelance work or getting published can be time-consuming and competitive.
Self-publishing is presented as a viable alternative to traditional publishing, offering writers more control over their work and its promotion.
The author acknowledges the potential of guest blogging for exposure and networking, though it may not always result in direct income.
Writing an ebook is seen as a flexible endeavor with no strict length requirements, allowing writers to convey their message succinctly or in depth as desired.
The article suggests that while creating a blog can be enjoyable, it also requires a significant investment of time and effort, akin to a second job.
The author expresses skepticism about small publishers based on personal experience, questioning their effectiveness in book promotion and sales.
The article concludes with a call to action, inviting readers to consider and share additional methods for writers to earn money.

5 Powerful Ways You Can Make Money as a Writer

Stepping out of your comfort zone could lead to your success

If you’re a writer, you want to find ways to make money other than your main income stream. A lot of writers talk the talk and only a few walk the walk when it comes to writing. I try to talk the talk as much as possible. So I’m going to talk about other ways I have written and made some money in the past.

Anything you want to do that’s new is not going to be easy. Most likely you’ll have to get out of your comfort zone to try something new.

I encourage you if you want to try one of these, you need to be serious. Remember why you started and stay focused since you’ll come across a few little setbacks along the way. Writing can make you a little bit of money in the beginning and you have to either get lucky or figure out the algorithm for your writing platform.

Don’t expect to get through all of these suggestions in a day. Some will take you longer to figure out. Others may take you longer to hear from the other person. So some patience is required.

Freelance writing

I came into the freelance world of writing by accident. I wasn’t looking to write for a company but they found me. There have been a few instances where companies or recruiters have found me on the internet. So if you don’t tell people what you do online, then you’ll never get an offer.

On my social media pages, I share that I’m a writer in my headline on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. So you might say I’m everywhere. Tik Tok is popular but I haven’t figured that platform out yet, so maybe one day you’ll see me there as well. But with President Trump’s plan to ban Tik Tok, it’s probably good I’m not there.

Recently, I have come across a few writing websites and submitted my name to write for them. Now it’s a waiting game but it’s also a numbers’ game as well. If you really want to get hired as a freelance writer, you need to send in your proposal, application, or email more often than you think. You’re probably not the only writer requesting to write for someone. So this is where the numbers’ game comes into play.

You need to send out more requests than you first thought. Don’t rely on that one application you sent in. You need to find a few more freelance jobs that are out there and apply to them as well. It’s better to have more requests than the one or two that you’re hoping on.

Write an ebook

I have written two ebooks before. They did okay and I’ll probably write about them one day. The ebook can be as short or as long as you want them to be to get your point across.

When it comes to length, there isn’t a set standard. I have written a 40 page and a 100-page ebook. There really isn’t a set standard but it depends on what you want to offer your reader.

The key is you have to block out the time to write your ebook. The ebook won’t magically appear when you want it.

Then you have to find a platform to share your ebook on. Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing is a popular one, as well as ejunkie. I have published on ejunkie before. It was cheap to set up and I controlled my ebook rather than the publisher. There are several other publishing platforms out there. You can find them by searching online. I’m sure I’ll give Amazon a try one day.

Publish a book

If you want a traditional book published, you can find a publisher to help you out. I have asked around and decided not to use a publisher because I couldn’t get direct answers from them. These were small publishers and I was worried if they couldn’t answer my questions, then I wondered how would my book sale go?

When you work with a publisher especially as a new writer, you have to put some money down. Writing a book costs money for a publisher to put the book together. The publisher will get your ISBN book number and any marketing the company does.

Because of these requirements and issues, I decided to self-publish my ebooks. Maybe I just haven’t found a publisher who would really go above and beyond to promote my book. I’m sure these publishers are out there.

Create your own blog

If you’re already writing on a platform, maybe creating your own blog is the next step. I have created a few blogs before but eventually let them die. I created them to primarily have fun with them.

The first blog I created was when my son was playing teeball or t-ball. At the time no one had a teeball blog. There were some websites that people had created but they were outdated and no longer in use. I created the blog in 2011 and had it for two years.

So I was learned about WordPress, plugins, themes, and autoresponders. If you want to start a blog, it can be very time consuming and almost like a second job. Maybe that’s why I decided not to start a blog this year as I was thinking about blogging.

Guest blog

The last one is not guaranteed to bring in extra income. Some websites will pay you while others may simply allow you to write on their website to get more links to your primary blog. There are pros and cons to these depending on what your ultimate goal is. Do you want to attract more subscribers to your website or are you looking to make more money from writing?

Many blogs will welcome you to write for them as long as you follow their requirements. Usually, they’ll allow you to write on a topic that you both agree upon and then allow you to link your website. This all depends on the website you write for but this is generally what I’ve seen.

Guest blogging can be fun. You’re most likely writing for a different audience than you’re used to. You may get a lot of views or you may not. There isn’t a way to accurately tell. I’m sure you may get a few more viewers to your own website who may also follow you.

Writing is an art as well as a science. There isn’t a master plan you can follow. There are different ideas writers share but you have to pick and choose what works best for you. One tip a person shares may not work for you. Sometimes you need to experiment and see if a new idea will work for you or not.

With the internet, there are a lot of ways you can make money as a writer. A few will require learning what the platform requires. Others may require more time you need to set aside as you pursue the other writing assignment.

What other ways can you think of for a writer to make money?