What do we, as artists, think about making money for doing our craft? This question will make a lot of you cringe. Why should we get paid for doing something we love? Well, simply put, if the work you do brings the world joy, there is value in that, and your voice is needed.
When I quit my day job nearly a decade ago to take the leap and do all things writing, to say it was scary would be an understatement. My amazing husband braced for me to become a “starving artist”, but I was determined to make it work, because the alternative was to go back to working corporate, and every part of me screamed that writing was the right path. I’d built businesses before, and this would be no exception. A decade later, through ups, downs, a pandemic, and many creative solutions, I make a living in the writing world.
Growing up, nobody ever told me that writing could be a job. If you’ve heard this messaging too, but love writing and wonder whether you could ever make the leap, here’s some ideas. For even more ideas, and helpful links to more information, you can download my 20 Ways to Make Money as a Writer.
Obviously, you can write and sell books…
This is where most of us start our journey, and how we think about the business side of being a writer. “I’ll write a great book, and sell millions.” And while it’s true that starting by writing the best book you are humanly capable of (many drafts are required!) few books have ever earned a writer mansions or yachts just by existing. It’s all the other activities on this list that will help your book stand out and get noticed. Building a following of readers isn’t magic, it takes time and energy.
Once your book is the best you can possibly make it, and it’s been published, you can get it out into the world in eBook, paperback, hardcover, special editions, and or audiobook. These books can be distributed online, in bookstores, or by you, in person, at bookstores, at markets, or other live events that you plan or attend, where your readers gather.
Writing your books takes the most time and energy of any of the items on this list, so once it’s done, don’t skip the steps needed to get your books out there! Last fall, I shared 30 Ways to Promote your books right here on the Writers Helping Writers blog, so go check that out if you’re looking for ideas. Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi also have a great article sharing tips on how they’ve sold more than a million copies of their books.
Promotion is a requirement. But here’s some ways to get paid while you promote your books!
Publishing your book starts a conversation with the world, even if you didn’t set out to start it. Writing is always personal, and whether you’re writing about lessons you’ve learned or taught in business, sharing your own memoir, or writing a fictionalized story about fairies, the voice and humanity that you bring to your books is always uniquely you. If you’re willing to join this conversation, many organizations will host you to come and share your story, and many writers will be interested in the process of how you got there.
Depending on your experience and comfort level dealing with the public, there are many opportunities to share your journey and expertise to support your book, including:
School Visits
If your book is appropriate for school aged children/teens, or the subject matter is applicable, consider visiting schools or going on tour to several schools over a week or month. Schools are always looking for ways to bring artists and new ideas to inspire students, and typically have budgets set aside for bringing guests in each year. It can be incredibly rewarding to speak with the handful of students who are already avid readers and writers, and who have a million questions, but I also love meeting students who haven’t read much yet, and might get inspired to give it a try.
Writer in Residence
Many people claim they want to write a book. Very few ever start. Once you’ve actually finished and published your book, you are part of an elite few that saw the process through. Pay it forward by helping other writers through taking a turn as a Writer in Residence—a typically paid position where you meet with up and coming writers, giving advice and sharing your own experience. Keep your eyes open for these positions, which can be offered at schools, writing organizations, and writers retreats, such as the Novel Bookcamp, where I’ll be a Writer in Residence this June!
Presenting at Writers/Readers Conferences
Writer’s conferences are a great place to share your journey with readers and other writers. Look to see what writer’s conferences exist in your community, cities you’d love to visit, or take place online for your genre. Most conferences have a way to pitch ideas you’d like to talk about that’s stated on their websites, typically many months prior to the conference. Depending on the conference format, they may be looking for writers to join panel topics, be interviewed in front of an audience, conduct workshops, or present on a topic that’s of interest to readers or writers.
Public Speaking
Beyond the writing community itself, readers and the general public are always looking for inspiration. If your book’s topic is of wide interest, and you don’t mind having an audience, you can speak at events for many different organizations, either as a talk in a conference room, or as a keynote inspirational speaker on a stage in front of hundreds. Seasoned keynote speakers can command thousands of dollars for each appearance.
Appearing in front of audiences is a great way to spread the word about your books, and typically the organization that hires you will either buy a bulk purchase of your books for the audience, or give you the opportunity to sell books at their events. But please, resist the urge to do these events for free—serious organizations have budget for bringing in professional speakers, and as writers, we all deserve to be paid for our time and expertise. Writers giving away their time for free undercuts other writers’ ability to command a reasonable fee for their years of experience.
If you’ve read this far and you’re thinking But Suzy… I became a writer because I like working alone, and the thought of being out in the public makes me never want to write a word again, I hear you! You absolutely don’t need to be a public speaker to make money as a writer. Here are some ideas you can do from the privacy of your home office.
Write and Submit Flash Fiction, Poetry, or Short Stories to Paid Markets
Try your hand at shorter pieces that don’t require a novel level of commitment. Liz J. Bradley, who works with me, is a whiz at this strategy, and in 2025 decided to put herself out there to try to achieve 100 rejections, which she celebrated because it meant she was getting somewhere. She also enjoyed 11 sales of her poetry and shorts stories, and shared how she did this on my podcast recently. Listen to how she did this HERE.
Write Articles for Magazines
Online and print magazines are always looking for content. Write about writing, or a topic you’re passionate about, and send it in to magazines who pay for content.
Ghost Writing
Ghost writing is when you write content for a book or a blog and it’s published under someone else’s name. Ghost writers command top dollar for this work, and don’t have to wait to see if the book is a success before getting paid. A word of caution, because I’ve seen many writers go down this path—writing a book with someone else’s ideas is at least as much work as writing a book with your own ideas. It still takes tremendous amounts of time and energy, so if you consider this path, be sure that you’re passionate enough about the topic that you enjoy the work, and that you will be paid enough to make your time and effort worth the work, or you may resent taking it on.
Copywriter
Copywriters write content for businesses, websites, media, or other organizations which is typically customer facing and persuasive. Copywriters might produce articles, newsletters, emails, blogs, website copy, or any number of things for companies. If you’re writing, you’re a writer, and you might love using your pen or keyboard in your day job, so check the job boards for a freelance, part time, or full time role like this.
There are also many jobs in the writing industry that support writers that you might find fulfilling. While my business combines many of the above sources of income with some I’m about to share, I find that working in the arts, and immersing myself with creative people has fueled my own creativity. Because of this, I only hire writers in my business, whether the job is administrative, customer service, or bookkeeping, so that other writers can experience making a living immersed in an industry they love. Plus, writers are the best and I enjoy working with them so much!
You can make a career out of editing, book coaching, agenting, publishing, public relations for writers, teaching writing, or bring your unique skills to an organization that supports writers, all while exploring your own writing goals.
As creatives, we get to be creative about building our businesses. But make no mistake, as a writer, whether it’s a side gig or your main focus, you’re running your own business. You’re an entrepreneur, and within your business, you will complete activities like those on this list that will make you money, you’ll undergo activities (like drafting your next novel) that might make you money one day, and you’ll also do activities that will never make you money, like filing your taxes or organizing a creative space in your home to write your opus. But every activity you undertake will add up to a creative life that will be as unique as you are.
As you build your unique creative life, enjoy the ride, and don’t be afraid to get paid for your efforts along the way.
8 Comments.
Very educative and resourceful, thank you for sharing. My advice to some of us that contribute to magazines for free is that , you should make them to seek advertisements to enable them to pay you for your services.
Great ideas, Suzy! I encourage writers to think beyond writing, too. If their books leverage certain knowledge, skills, or hobbies, maybe there are paid opportunities for speaking, workshops, and other events, too. 🙂
Yes! It’s such an amazing thing to be able to work with so many creative folk each day!
These are all good ideas to make yourself known as a writer, but not to get paid – almost everything you listed is done pro bono in my country. Copy writer is the only one paid.
I am submitting regularly articles and short stories to literary magazines, I am doing school visits when I find an opportunity to do it, I am speaking at various literary events. All these are volunteering activities.
Oh interesting, where do you live? I work in Canada and the USA, and am part of professional organizations that advocate for writers getting paid, and discourage volunteering in these positions, because when writers volunteer in these roles, it erodes other authors’ ability to command fair compensation. At times, I’ve been asked to do things for free, but once I explain my position, organizations find a way to make it happen. The only exception would be for events where I am presenting to peers, I don’t always get paid to share my experitse in that situation, which is fine because I learn so much from them as well! Thank you for sharing your experience!
I live in Romania.
I am also a member of the Romanian Writers League and of the National Union of Romanian Journalists (cultural press branch). They cannot discourage volunteering, because otherwise, with the existing low budgets, there would be no cultural/ literary magazines at all and no cultural activities. (And when the whole staff of the magazine, from editor-in-chief/ director to the lowest collaborator, all of them do not get paid, it somehow evens out, it is not discriminatory… but it requires a lot of passion for writing, while having other professions to live from.) Most writers are teachers, some doctors, engineers, economists like me, journalists working for the few paid newspapers and magazines, administrative or corporate clerks…
These are some ideas I hadn’t thought of. Thanks for sharing. I already do the short stories and submit them to magazines and anthologies associated with conferences. I had several stories selected for publication last year. I earned $300 for a first-place finish in one competition, but most of them were in the $50 – $100 range. I earned almost $1,000 last year from my writing endeavors, so I feel blessed. If you had told me five years ago I would be making money doing something I love, I would have thought you were nuts. As my father used to say – Where there’s a will, there’s a way. I had the desire and found a way. Now, with some of the other possibilities listed in this article, I have additional methods to increase my writing income. Thanks again for sharing.
Hi Henry,
Congratulations on all your writing success so far! That’s great news, thank you for sharing. Don’t forget that many short stories can be sold again for reprint, check the terms of your original sale, but many allow reprints after a few months. Cheers!