How to Make Money as a Writer

February 22, 2024

IN THIS ISSUE

From the Editor’s Desk: Sign up for our live events!
On The Wordling: How I sold 100 articles in my first year freelancing
News & Views: What’s working for six-figure writers right now?

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Hey everyone,

I’m really excited about today’s issue because I have a few really cool announcements for you that I hope you’ll love. So let me just get straight to it.

Firstly, and most importantly, I’ve been working relentlessly on Wordling Plus, and thanks to the support of our early members, we’ve been able to add a ton of great content to the membership, including some of my bestselling courses (such as 30 Days, 30 Queries, which has launched 1,000+ journalism careers in itself.)

Your support has allowed me to work on the membership and paid for my time while I’ve done so. Now I’m ready to take it to Phase 2, which means… drumroll please… I’m adding live events! Yes, starting March, we’ll have weekly live events in the Wordling Plus membership. In addition to Coffee & Cocktails (a regular networking ritual we’ve had in my previous groups), I’m also adding monthly group coaching and live masterclasses.

You can see the current schedule of March events here.

This brings me to the second announcement which is that, yes, all this new stuff means we’ll be increasing our prices. The monthly membership remains the same at $99, but on March 1, we’ll be raising the price of the annual membership from $499 to $990. If Wordling Plus speaks to you and you’d like 7 months free, sign up for the annual membership before March 1.

And finally, I’ve saved the best for last. We now have an affiliate program for Wordling Plus! Basically, if you have an audience of writers or friends who are writers or know writers who might benefit from our membership, refer them to us and we’ll give you 50% of their lifetime fees. You’re not misreading that! For as long as the person you’ve referred stays in Wordling Plus, you get paid 50% of their membership fee each month or each year. (It’s the best affiliate deal for writers that exists. I know because I’ve checked.)

We had a big debate about whether to limit affiliate partnerships only to people with a certain level of audience or members only. If the numbers become unmanageable, that may have to be the case. But for now, I want to be as democratic as possible.

I know that there are a ton of writers, including many here, who have large audiences but no product. If that’s you and you believe in what we’re doing, we’d love to partner with you. You can find all the details here.

Okay, so that’s it from me for this week. Don’t forget—annual membership price doubles on March 1. Sign up here.

I can’t wait to see you there!

Enjoy the issue!

Natasha Khullar Relph
Editor, The Wordling

ON THE WORDLING

How I Sold 100 Articles During My First Year of Freelancing

The 13 steps that resulted in 100 paid writing credits in my first year as a freelance writer.

When I first started freelancing, I had never written anything for publication, I had no experience (I was still in college), I had no contacts, and I certainly had no clue. But during that first year, I had over 100 bylines, some in national magazines, others in small websites that no one had ever heard of.

How did I do it? Here’s the lowdown.

ON WORDLING PLUS

ICYMI: We’ve been keeping things pocket-friendly at $499 (annual subscription) for the past six months, thanks to all you amazing folks who’ve signed up for Wordling Plus. Your support fueled our setup in our early days and we couldn’t be more grateful.

Now, as we step up our game with live events and group coaching, we need to tweak our pricing a bit. Starting March 1, on our six-month milestone, there will be a change in our annual pricing to $990 a year. But, drumroll, you can still hop in at the original rate before the switch.

Your backing has brought us to this point, and we’re on the brink of something big. Join us for the ride, secure your spot at the current rate, and let’s keep this Wordling Plus journey rolling! 🚀

Here’s your link to join.

Thanks a bunch for supporting us over these last six months!

NEWS & VIEWS:

How to make money as a writer

In last week’s newsletter, I talked about what you need to have in place in order to take advantage of the creator economy. Today, let’s talk about some ways.

Before we begin, however, let me just preface this by saying two things:

1. I believe it’s still valuable to write for publications. I’ve been saying this for over a decade now and it’s more true than ever: Being able to say I’ve written for TIME and The New York Times made me far more money than writing for those publications. Beyond that, however, having those clips gives you prestige, and it helps build your audience. I’m currently working with three separate clients on launching Substack newsletters. Pitching publications is key for all three in order to write the stories they love, build credibility, and attract a like-minded audience.

2. If you want to make a real living as a writer, content marketing writing, influencer marketing, and ghostwriting are the current best ways to do so. AI will replace a lot of shitty content, which will make it even more valuable for businesses to hire excellent writers with actual reporting skills. There is currently a short term “let’s fire all freelancers and replace them” mentality with certain clients, but I don’t believe that will be the case long term. Instead, writers will be asked to do reporting, find the stories, and create AI-assisted content, which is something you should learn how to do. (We’ll be running a live workshop on this in Wordling Plus in April. You can sign up here.)

Okay, so beyond that, how can you leverage your audience to make an income? A few ways:

1. Paid newsletters

There are always ebbs and flows with membership models (trust me, having run many memberships, I know!) but if you’re a good writer and know how to build a large audience, this can be an excellent way to make a regular, recurring income. I particularly advise authors to create paid newsletters, since it creates a symbiotic relationship between your writing and marketing (readers who love your Substack will inevitably buy your books.)

2. Ghostwriting

Books, articles, opinion pieces, influencer posts on LinkedIn, basically anything. There’s been a lot said about ghostwriting books in recent months, but not enough about ghostwriting articles and social media posts. There’s money to be made there. A lot of it.

3. Niche writing

The freelancers who are currently making the most money (up to $20k a month in some cases) have specialization in a niche subject, such as tech writing or medical writing. The last retainer I signed was with a real estate client for $3k a month. The more specialized the knowledge, the higher the pay.

4. Indie publishing

If you want to make a regular, recurring income from your books, indie publishing is the best way to do it. While traditional publishing can give you a lump sum advance, most authors I know who are actually making a sustainable income from books are now indie and selling direct. There is a learning curve, though, and a (small) initial investment will be required.

5. Partnerships

I’ll say this again: Build your audience. If you have an audience, a lot of avenues open up to you. You can sell your own books. Write a paid newsletter. You don’t even need your own products. You can sign up for affiliate programs and sell other people’s products.

For example, ours! Yes, that’s right, we’ve found a way for writers to make a full-time income through our partner program. By recommending Wordling Plus to your friends and writing colleagues, you can make thousands of dollars each month in recurring, truly passive income. Hit this link to learn more.

ALSO SEE

While other media outlets may be struggling and cutting back, Slate has reported positive numbers, telling Semafor that 2023 was the most profitable year in the company’s 27-year history.

Raw Story has reported on a neo-Nazi hate network “grooming children for a race war,” and reporter Jordan Green talks about how the group repeatedly threatened him in an attempt to stop his reporting.

Finally, two copyright infringement lawsuits against OpenAI—one led by comedian Sarah Silverman and the other by novelist Paul Tremblay—have been partially dismissed in court.

GLOBAL REPORT

INDIA: “The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has asked news magazine The Caravan to take down its story on the torture of civilians by the Indian Army in the heavily militarised Jammu and Kashmir within 24 hours under section 69 A (Power to issue directions for blocking for public access of any information through any computer resource) of the Information Technology Act.”

MEXICO: “The theft of the personal data of hundreds of journalists in Mexico, including addresses and copies of voter ID cards and passports, has raised fresh safety concerns in one of the most dangerous countries in the world for media professionals… Officials said the personal data of at least 263 journalists, whom they did not publicly identify, was illegally accessed and released.”

IRAQ: The 4th Iraq International Book Fair is underway. “Organised by the General Federation of Writers and Authors of Iraq and the Association of Publishers and Booksellers in Iraq, it is reported that more than 350 publishing houses from 16 countries will be participating. Palestine is the theme this year.”

CURRENT MOOD

Photo by Chandan Chaurasia on Unsplash

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Don’t try to be different. Just be good. To be good is different enough.”