Would you like to earn extra money through your writing? Have you been writing for a living and now all of the work has disappeared? Are you thinking about going out and getting a—uhg—real job?
Don’t panic and cave in. Don’t give up your passion for writing. Instead, click your creativity up a notch, increase your reach, step outside your comfort zone and go out after the writing work you want.
1: Write political campaign material. Elections can be lucrative for writers. Candidates rely on accomplished writers to sway voters. I’ve earned some good money writing campaign material for school board candidates and local union election contenders. It’s easy to get involved. Simply choose your candidate or cause and apply for a writing job.
2: Produce radio copy. Before it’s spoken, it has to be written—at least that’s true of ad copy for radio. If you can write concise copy for products, this might be a lucrative sideline for you. The fee is around $50/hour.
3: Start a newsletter business. I know someone who writes newsletters for half dozen businesses and organizations. Potential annual earnings per newsletter are $2,000 to $6,000.
4: Become a teacher. It took me years to figure out that my writing experience was a valuable commodity. Perhaps yours is, too. Teach classes through a local art center, a community college, a senior center or online and get paid anywhere from $100 to $1,000 per course.
5: Produce fundraising material for businesses and organizations. Fundraising takes a special knack. If you can write convincing, straightforward copy designed to touch people’s hearts and their pocketbooks, you can probably get work in this field. Fees vary.
6: Do technical writing. If you can explain in writing how to use a toaster, maybe there’s a place for you as a technical writer. To learn more about this field and to find jobs in this market, read Susan Bilheimer’s book, “How to Become a Technical Writer.” http://www.techwritingmkt.com
7: Work with other writers. Earn extra money ghostwriting books or doing editing, proofreading, typesetting or indexing. Help a writer develop his/her book proposal, write a query letter or design promotional material for his/her books. You can earn anywhere from $300 to $15,000 per project.
8: Expand your writing services. Have you ever visited a Web site that was disorganized and littered with misspelled words? Contact the webmaster and offer to rewrite the text. Do you sometimes find mistakes on brochures you receive in the mail? Go to the heads of these companies/organizations, point out the mistakes and offer your services.
9: Propose a commemorative book to a company, utility or organization to celebrate a local hallmark anniversary or event. I once wrote a booklet featuring the history of our largest local water district and earned $3,000 for my efforts.
10: Ask for writing work. When you experience a slow time, contact your favorite editors and ask for assignments. Maybe one of their writers can’t make deadline and they need a fast turnaround. Perhaps they have an idea and need a writer.
In order to find and land writing jobs such as these, you must be proactive. Here’s what I suggest:
Subscribe to online writing-oriented newsletters and join online writing organizations that offer job listings for writers. The SPAWN Market Update (which I write each month) generally includes links to dozens (sometimes thousands) of writing job opportunities. Join SPAWN for $45/year and receive at least three times that amount back in useful resources during your first month of membership. http://www.spawn.org
Network constantly. Networking has served me extremely well. A few years ago, for example, a writer friend suggested I contact an editor she knows about writing for their technical magazine. I ended up writing a dozen articles for this magazine during a twelve-month period.
If writing is your passion and your livelihood, it’s imperative that you write where the money is. Let this list be a starting place that launches your lucrative writing career.
For additional money-making and book promotion tips for writers, visit this blog often. And be sure to check out our archives. Use the search function to locate the types of information you desire.
Patricia Fry is a full-time freelance writer, editorial consultant and the author of 29 books. Several of her books are on writing/publishing. Visit her website at http://www.matilijapress.com. Contact her for a consultation, to sign up for one of her courses or with any of your publishing/writing-related questions. PLFry620@yahoo.com.