Summary

A novice writer with a background in accountancy shares their unexpected journey of securing two paid writing contracts within their first year of writing, without prior experience or formal sales pitches.

Abstract

The author, with no professional writing background, surprisingly received two lucrative writing contracts. Initially writing for personal enjoyment on Medium, they invested in a writing course to improve their craft. This led to gaining visibility on social media platforms like Twitter, which attracted the attention of a brand offering a ghostwriting opportunity at $125 per hour. Subsequently, a magazine editor, impressed by the author's email course, offered$ 475 for a featured article. The author emphasizes three key lessons: the importance of showcasing expertise in a niche area, the inherent value of well-honed writing skills, and the necessity of overcoming imposter syndrome by embracing opportunities and accumulating positive feedback as evidence of one's capabilities.

Opinions

The author believes that engaging with potential clients in their area of interest, rather than in creator-centric bubbles, is crucial for obtaining writing opportunities.
They suggest that writers should focus on improving their skills through reading, applying feedback, and consistent practice, which will make their work highly valuable.
The author advocates for a proactive approach to defeating imposter syndrome by collecting tangible evidence of one's writing success, such as positive reader comments or increased follower counts.
They recommend saying 'yes' to opportunities as a strategy to gain experience and confidence, even when doubtful of one's own abilities.
The author promotes their free email course as a tool for writers to enhance their writing skills and improve their craft.

How I Gained 2 Writing Contracts In My 1st Year (3 Tips For New Writers)

How I was offered money to write without selling myself

I didn’t want to earn money writing.

I’ve got a good 9–5 and thought writing would be fun. I’ve a degree in accountancy and no experience of writing. But bizarrely I’ve been offered two writing contracts. I didn’t apply for them. I was approached and paid to write.

My crazy experience contains 3 gems for you. Including how to get offered money to write. But first let me explain what happened.

How I got a ghostwriting contract

Writing online was harder than I thought.

I wasn’t getting much interest in my stuff. So I joined Twitter/X to publicize it. X was hard too though. Now I was failing on two platforms! So I splashed out $295 on a writing course.

It showed me where I was going wrong and how to fix it. I started to grow. After 5 months I was up to 450 X followers.

Then it happened.

I got a message from a brand I admire. I’d commented on a few of their posts. They asked if I was interested in ghostwriting their content. They wanted to pay me $125/hour. I didn’t believe it was real until the money landed in my bank account.

But then things got even crazier.

How I got a magazine contract

Medium writers impress X creators.

One Xer was astonished I’d written 120,000 words this year. He suggested I bundle up articles and sell them on Gumroad. This ignited an idea to convert 5 articles into an email course. I used it as a lead magnet for my newsletter. 300 sign-ups in 24 hours shocked me.

But the real shock was still to come.

I got a message from a magazine editor. She’d completed my course and liked my writing style. So she wondered if I’d write an article for her magazine. What???? I was going to be published. In a real magazine. With glossy photos! She wanted it to be the main feature across 4 pages. And offered to pay $475.

What was going on?

I started on Medium for a bit of fun. I had 20 reads in my 1st month. Ten months later I’m being paid to write for a national magazine.

There’s 3 valuable lessons here for writers:

1. How to get offered money to write

I hate sales.

There’s a lot of it on X. Advice on sending 1000 pushy DM’s every day selling your services. I find that soul-destroying. But there’s another way.

Assuming you’ve done the hard graft of writing a lot and diligently improved your skills. Your next step is to get out of the creator bubble. Too many live in a narrow online world with other writers. But that’s not where the work is.

Here’s what you need to do:

Pick an area you know something about. (I’m a property investor so my writing offers came from property businesses).
Brush up your knowledge if necessary
Go where those people hang out (physically or online)
Make intelligent comments on their social profiles

What happens when they need a writer? How many writers with topic knowledge do they know? Probably none except you. Trust me. They’ll pay you well because they understand the value of good writing.

As your relationship develops you can offer advice on their blogs or social posts. And even make a direct offer to do work for them.

Many businesses are desperate to improve their online writing.

They’ll love you if you help them.

2. Your skills are valuable

I was so nervous when I sent in my magazine submission.

I feared I was about to be exposed. I’d only written on Medium. I wasn’t a proper writer. I even explained this to the editor. After reading my piece she replied ‘This is brilliant Derek. No changes required.’

The point is not I’m brilliant. It’s you’re are better than you think. If you’ve done the following then you are highly skilled:

read books on how to write well
apply these ideas to your writing
study what top writers do
ask others for feedback
and write loads

Do this you’ll become good.

And your skills will have huge value.

3. Defeating imposter syndrome

Most writers struggle with imposter syndrome.

Are we worth reading? I nearly said no to both of these opportunities. Who am I to write for a national magazine? This is my first year writing. I felt like a fake.

But I’ve a simple strategy for opportunities that come my way. No matter how I feel. My default is yes. Something good always comes from them. Every if it’s only learning from failure.

I’ve not found positive thinking helpful in defeating imposter syndrome. What works is concrete evidence. A positive comment from a reader. A new follower. The number of words written. These can’t be argued with. So I remind myself of them often.

Due to my brave yes. I now have 2 new pieces of evidence.

So keep writing. Keep improving. And good things will happen.

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