Writing - How Do You Make Money?

How do you make money from writing?

You have to decide the areas you are willing to compromise in. Very few people write what they want and sell it. Even established authors have to give their regular readers more of the same genre.

So, choose EITHER 1 OR 2

1. Do you want to be totally free to choose what you write?
2. Do you want to have a good chance of making money?

OPTION 1 - Writing what you want

A lot of people have a dream of having a book published, but they have no idea where to start.

The Internet is a great source of help for these aspiring writers. There are forums, help groups and websites designed to help writers to develop their talent and find their niches. No longer does the writer spend a fortune sending proof copies to every publisher they can find. Nowadays he or she can find lists of publishers, both traditional and Internet based, who are looking for materials.

There are sites where you can post your story and get paid every time someone downloads or reads it. There are programs that will help you turn your poems or stories into e-books that can be sold on ClickBank, allowing readers to use their credit cards, without you going to the expense of getting a Merchant Account.

You can download e-books that guide you step by step through the brainstorming and writing process. The software will help you to structure your characters and story line.

There are other sites where a mentor will guide your writing development. Some of these mentoring sites are even free.

There are publishers who print your book on demand, if they get an order they print one off. This means that they are not investing capital in producing thousands of books for which there is no proven market.

You can pay to have your book published privately, and this option is cheaper than it ever used to be, but if your writing is good, you will find a way to have it published without paying a cent.

OPTION 2 - Making money from what you write

There are hundreds of thousands of e-zine and website owners on the Internet who are positively crying out for content. They need content in order to increase their search engine popularity and make more money from advertising. There are lots of websites where freelance writers bid to write content for these Internet publishers.

If you value your writing then compete on quality only. There are many people willing to work for peanuts in the world. These people, in low wage economies, need less money than you do. Their English is often poor and the articles that they write are appalling in terms of content, spelling and grammar. You cannot compete on price, so do not even think about it.

You can also write articles and submit them to print magazines. Read a few magazines and find the sort of work they are looking for. Submit articles on similar subjects and in a similar style to those you read. Payment ranges from $50 to $500, depending on the publication and article length. If you are planning a long article, that you are hoping to be well paid for, then you are better off submitting a proposal to the magazine, before you start writing. This will save a lot of heart-ache.

Wanda Cortez makes her living by writing on the Internet. She has two teenagers. More info here.