How To Make Money Using Your Writing Skills

So, you want to be a writer. And you’re hoping to be of the not-starving variety. You’ve been told by all of your friends that writers don’t make any money. You’ve heard that you’ll be underpaid and overworked. There are certainly writers for whom that is true. And yet, you read stories all the time about people who have quit their jobs to pursue writing careers and have found success. In this article, we short listed few website from which you can make money using your writing skills quickly.

Why the dichotomy? Why do some people so adamantly believe that writers cannot make money online, while others know for certain that it’s possible to not only survive, but also thrive on a writer’s salary? Perhaps the answer lies in their definition of “writing.” If you want to become the next J.K. Rowling or Stephanie Meyer, you will need a lot of talent, and a lot of luck. But to make money from writing, to make money just using your writing skills, is not so much of a skill as it is a science. There are a myriad of websites that will pay you to write for them. Companies need people to write their sales copy, and bloggers always need additional writers. This list will show you where to make money using your writing skills.

1. UpWork:

Upwork (formerly Elance) is a website for freelancers and clients to find each other. There are tremendous opportunities for writers. You could get contracted to write blogs, web copy, or ghostwrite novels. If you also enjoy editing, you can work with authors to improve their manuscripts. Freelancers bid on the jobs, which can sometimes drive down the pay. But if you learn how to use the site, you can make a good living from freelancing alone. Spend a little time researching the best ways to make money on UpWork. There are absolutely tricks to the trade.

2: Fiverr:

Writers can sign up on Fiverr to offer writing services at $5 a piece. You decide how much you will write for the $5. For instance, you might write-up to 250 words for $5, or you might write one resume for $5. $5 doesn’t seem like much, but after you have enough positive reviews, you can decrease the amount of work you do for the same $5, or you can offer premium services like a 24-hour turnaround, or up to 15 pages of writing for $40.

3: TopTenz:

Top Tenz pays $50 per article for anything they post. Payments are submitted the same day the article is accepted, and processed via PayPal. It’s a pretty typical top ten website. Topics include pop culture, history, politics, etc. While it’s not difficult to have an article selected, they website does have very strict formatting guidelines. Be sure to read their formatting manual before submitting your article. Improperly formatted articles will not be considered.

4: Craigslist:

New job listings pop up every day on Craigslist. There’s a category specifically for writers and editors. You can sign up for jobs that allow you to work from home, or find opportunities to write from an office. You can find everything from blogging to editing children’s Kindergarten applications. Pay will vary depending on the person posting the job. Always use caution and common sense when responding to ads on Craigslist.

5: Listverse:

List Verse is a website with a collection of truly bizarre, shocking, or unusual lists. The pay is good – $100 per article. But it’s not easy to have an article featured on List Verse. They are highly selective and only buy articles that you can’t find anywhere else online. Examples include, “10 Ghosts and Legends of the Ohio River Valley,” and, “10 people Who Provide Incredibly Unusual Services.”

6. The Daily Heckle:

The Daily Heckle pays writers to write 1500 word articles. The pay is roughly $10-$12 per article. It’s fairly easy to become a writer for the site. You just fill out their basic application, including a writing sample, and wait to hear if you’ve been accepted. The articles are sarcastic and humorous, and usually in the “Top Ten,” category. The moderators post their desired articles all the time, and writers reply with an “outline” of how they would approach the job. Whoever has the best outline gets the job.

7: EssayMama:

You can join Essay Mama’s team of writers to produce school essays, business documents, blogs, or web copy. The company also offers editing and proofreading services for their clients. Work is frequently academic and technical in nature.

Making money as a writer doesn’t come naturally. It’s not an intuitive process or anything you learn in school. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty of opportunities out there. You just need to know where to look. This list is by no means exhaustive. You can certainly find many other ways to make money using your writing skills. But hopefully something on this list peaked your interest. Choose one of these website, and start there. Get comfortable with the guidelines and requirements of that website, and then move onto the next. Over time, you’ll learn which tools work best for you. Before you know it, you’ll be able to tell all the doubters that you can make money as a writer, and you know the ways to do it!