How to Be a Paid Writer

Writing can be an enjoyable hobby, and can allow you to express yourself through the written word. However, you do not have to write solely as a hobby -- you can sell your work to a variety of entrepreneurs and companies to build a profitable writing business. As a paid writer, you can enjoy flexible working hours, determine your own income and write about the topics that interest you. Simple strategies can help you start a successful, fulfilling writing business.

Instructions

1. Sign up for an account on a freelancing website such as iFreelance, Elance or Get A Freelancer. These sites allow you to bid on writing gigs submitted by a variety of clients. Successfully completing writing projects raises your credibility on these sites, which can make higher-paying clients interested in awarding you future projects.

2. Submit article pitches to magazines. Most magazines print submission guidelines in each issue, giving you the information you need to mail or email your pitches. Start with small regional magazines to build your clip portfolio, which can make your pitches more attractive to larger, higher-paying magazines.

3. Find blogs in your area or interest or expertise and contact the blog owners to offer to write blog posts for a fee. If you are new to blog post writing, you may want to complete your first assignments for free or a discounted rate to build your online writing portfolio.

4. Send article pitches to local newspapers, including free weekly papers. Focus on story ideas that are relevant to readers in your area. As you build your newspaper clip portfolio, you can begin sending story pitches to larger area newspapers, as well as newspapers in other cities.

5. Write a book proposal for a book publisher -- most publisher websites contain submission guidelines to help you tailor your proposal to meet the publisher's requirements. After a publisher accepts your proposal, write the book and send the manuscript to the publisher. After the publisher prints the book, you will typically receive royalties on sales of your published work.

6. Write articles for revenue-sharing websites such as Squidoo, HubPages and Helium. These sites place sponsored ads on article pages, and pay you a portion of the revenue they derive from these ads.

Tips & Warnings

• Build a blog or website to showcase your highest-quality online articles, newspaper clips and magazine articles. This can allow prospective clients to view your past work, which can assure them that you have the writing skills necessary to complete future assignments.

• Save at least 25 percent of your earnings to pay taxes. Clients, magazines, book publishers and newspapers typically do not withhold taxes when submitting payment to you -- you are responsible for reporting your writing income and paying taxes to the Internal Revenue Service, as well as state and local tax authorities.

References

• "Get Paid to Write!"; Thomas A. Williams; 2004
• "Write and Get Paid for It"; Terry Prone; 2010
• "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Published, Fourth Edition"; Sheree Bykofsky, et al.; 2006