To make money as a writer or author, you need to know the ways that are time-efficient, legit, and pay well.
As a professional writer and creative soul, I know what works in 2022 and how to get it to work.
This list is intended to provide you with the best ways to make money as a writer and side hustle or business ideas that complement the writer’s lifestyle.
I will be making regular updates with more helpful content, so be sure to pin this post to your interest board.
With all that being said, let’s get into the list!
This post contains affiliate links. Please read the terms of use for more info.
How to make money as a writer in 2022 & beyond
Contrary to the broke writer stereotype, there are good ways to make money as a writer right now.
Whether you want to make a living writing or earn money on the side, I’ve curated this list to cover all of your bases.
Freelance writing
One of the top ways to make money writing (and writing careers for that matter) is to freelance write from home or anywhere.
Demand for freelance writers is also growing with no signs of stopping. This affords you the opportunity to use your writing passion as a good way to support yourself.
Freelance writing as a beginner
So, how much exactly are Freelance Writers making in 2022? Certainly, $25-$35 per hour is realistic if you’re a beginner, but there are plenty of freelance writers making well into six figures yearly after getting experience!
If you’re new to freelancing writing, thinking about starting, or want to maximize your earning potential, I highly recommend joining Freelance Writers Den.
Simply put, they will give you everything you need to succeed as a freelance writer on day 1.
This includes:
- Countless hours of courses and boot camps on freelance training
- An awesome community full of experts and experienced freelancers to guide you in the right direction
- Effective templates and examples for pitching to prospective clients
- Opportunities to get your writing reviewed for actionable feedback in improving
- 7-day no questions asked money-back guarantee
As a career writer myself, all of this simply makes starting your freelance writing journey on “The Den” a no-brainer.
Click here to join Freelance Writers Den
How to get freelance writing jobs and gigs online fast
Now if you already have some experience and want to jump straight into finding freelance Jobs online, I recommend signing up with Writers Work. For a small $47 you get a platform that connects you directly with ideal clients and employers in need of writers, curates the best writing gigs from online jobs boards, and offers career training and writing tools.
With Writers Work, peace of mind is guaranteed.
You either get legit, good-paying freelance writing gigs, or you can activate their 30-day full, no-hassle refund. It’s definitely worth trying out.
Click here to start working as a Freelance Writer with Writers Work
Create slogans from home and online
It’s true. You can get paid to write out slogans or taglines. I should know, since I create new words & quotes myself!
It’s no secret that slogans are key for customer brand recognition. This is why businesses and influencers are willing $100s and even $1000s in passive income for your creative slogans.
You can learn all about the process at SloganSeller. They make the whole process straightforward. Plus, you get access to the following:
- Cash-prize opportunities
- Video tutorials
- Step-by-step guides
- On-demand support
- And more!
Click here to take SloganSeller’s awesome course on making money creating slogans
Start a successful blog
Blogging is arguably my favorite way to make money online in 2022. It has afforded me the opportunity to work from home and truly make money as a writer.
Here are some of my favorite reasons why I strongly advocate for starting a blog right now:
- Your blog also serves as the virtual home as it links to everything. This can be your writing services, portfolio, products, and social community
- You don’t have to worry about view-killing algorithm changes, shadow-banning, account deletion, or anything like that such is the case on social media. Your blog belongs to you (and so does any revenue generated from it)
- The plethora of ways to make money (most of which is passive income): ads, sponsorships, affiliate marketing, e-commerce, course sales, freelance services, and more
- A foundation for sharing the ideas that you love and connecting with others
How to start a blog fast (Quick Guide)
Set a clear intention for your blog.
Determine what you’re writing about, who you’re writing for, and your revenue goals (monthly, yearly). Then, choose a name that reflects this or at the very least is easy to remember. Try to keep your blog name between 6-14 letters.
Lay the foundation
Your blog needs to be hosted on a server, or it won’t show up on the internet. I recommend going with Hostgator. They are the host I use for Vowlenu and my other websites, they’re affordable, have fast load times, are highly reviewed, and their customer service is excellent. Click here to get hosting from Hostgator at a 66% off discount.
Upon choosing a hosting plan, you will need to choose your domain name. The domain name is essentially the string of text people put in to get to your blog (ex: www.vowlenu.com). Your domain name should be the same name as your blog name.
The next thing you need to do is build your blog using the free WordPress platform. Installing WordPress only takes about a minute or two, and it’s easy-to-use. You will find the WordPress installation option in your Hostgator dashboard.
Build it
Now that you have installed WordPress, you need to choose a theme. I recommend choosing a lightweight and fast theme such as Astra for optimal reader experience and SEO. To choose a theme, go to Appearance -> Themes then search for Astra or whichever theme you’d like. Click install, and you’ll be set in under a minute.
Next, let me give you a few best practices for your WordPress settings.
- Go to Settings -> Permalinks and choose “Post Name.”
- Go to Settings -> Media and increase the size of your images as desired.
After installing your theme and optimize your settings, you need to improve the functionality and versatility of your blog with essential plugins. The ones I recommend are: Updraftplus, Yoast SEO, Imagify, Wordfence, Antispam Bee, Google Analytics by MonsterInsights, WP Rocket, and WP Forms.
Start writing
Now you are all set and can begin writing your first post. All you have to do is go to the “Posts” section on your WordPress menu to start.
But before you begin writing blog posts, I highly recommend creating Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, and About Me pages.
Copywriting
If you’re a writer who’s also into marketing, advertising, sales, and social media posting, take a look at becoming a copywriter. It’s a modern way to make money as a writer for sure.
So what do copywriters typically do?
A copywriter creates copy, text used for promotional or marketing activities, for businesses, content creators, and influencers. Essentially, you can think of it like doing sales but in written form.
To be an effective copywriter, you will need to be good at writing persuasive copy. To put it another way, use words to influence the decision-making and action-taking of prospects.
Copywriters tend to write in the following formats:
- Video scripts
- Marketing e-mails
- Headlines
- Social media posts
- Landing pages
- Print advertisements
- Product descriptions
Still here?
Becoming a copywriter can be tricky since there are so many paths you can go down with it. This is why I recommend using the Skillshare platform. They have a lot of great courses that aren’t too long. Plus, you can try Skillshare free for 2 weeks.
Here are some of my favorite copywriting courses on Skillshare:
Copywriting for Etsy and Beyond
Screenwriting
Do you love to write out character ideas, story ideas, scenes, or dialogues?
Screenwriters create a coherent foundational document known as the script or screenplay for video games and film. The screenplay is full of character expressions, dialogue, movement as well as the plot and setting.
Sounds like fun, right? I know it does to me!
You can go about your screenwriting career in a few ways:
- Getting a screenwriting job
- Creating screenplays and submitting them to companies like HBO, Netflix, Disney, etc. to be adapted into a show
- Selling your screenplay to a studio or individual
If you’re a beginner in the world of screenwriting, I recommend taking a Masterclass course.
The particular Masterclass course I recommend is by Aaron Sorkin, a world-renowned television & film screenwriter. He was the screenwriter behind hits such as A Few Good Men, The West Wing, and The Social Network. Not many screenwriters of his level are offering step-by-step advice, (and certainly at this price level).
Transcribe audio files
Transcription is not only a good gig for a writer, but it’s one of the most important jobs in history. If there weren’t people in our past to record important events, we would know very little about them, especially important details.
Think about it.
So what exactly is transcription?
Transcription is the task of listening for essential speech in audio or video files and writing it out into a text or digital document.
To be effective at transcription, you will need to be a good listener and a fast writer or typer.
If you’re new to transcription, here is a free mini-course to get you up to speed.
Publish your writing on Wattpad Paid Stories
Did you know that Wattpad recently opened a program that pays writers?
That’s right. Wattpad now lets writers get rewarded for their writing under their Paid Stories program.
How this works is by having readers purchase “Coins” which they can use to tip writers for their written work by chapter or story. A percentage of these Coins can be redeemed by writers for real cash.
Read more about Wattpad Paid Stories here.
Best Side hustles for Writers
Let’s face it. Writing doesn’t always pay the bills, especially if you’re not able to make a living writing yet.
The good news is that you have other interests and skills that you can use to finance your writing career as you develop it.
Here are the best side hustle ideas to make money that compliment your writer lifestyle:
Become a proofreader
Are you good at findign errorrs in text? (I’m sure you saw what I did there).
Then, you should try being a proofreader on the side! It’s one of the top ways to make money as a writer online or from home.
After all, you’re basically getting paid to read! And, in more technical terms, a proofreader checks the final draft of written material to make sure grammar, punctuation, spelling, tense, and readability are great.
How to start making money as a proofreader
Now that you’re ready to make money online proofreading, I’m going to show you how to get a head start.
For the best proofreading opportunities, you’re going to need to get some training under your belt
Don’t worry.
Getting yourself trained up doesn’t take long at all.
Let me tell you about the go-to expert in the proofreading space, Caitlin Pyle. In one year, she earned $43,000 proofreading from home part-time. She ended up getting so good at it, she decided to help others earn a part-time and even full-time income just through online proofreading alone.
Caitlin is a complete lifesaver for anyone new to online proofreading as a career. For a limited time, she is offering a free online workshop that will explain the ins and outs of proofreading and how it can be a great career choice for you.
Click here to watch her free workshop on proofreading from home.
One more thing.
I’m going to let you in on a secret to give yourself an advantage with proofreading.
Download the free Grammarly app!
Grammarly is an Artificial intelligence tool that automatically checks writing for spelling and grammatical mistakes. Adding it to your phone, favorite web browser or word processor only takes seconds and is super simple!
Download Grammarly for free with this link.
Upload your writing to video-sharing platforms
A modern way to make money with your creative writing is to upload it to social media websites. Video is more popular than ever and there are no signs of a slowdown.
As both a writer and author, I can tell you that the days of just writing and hoping people will find it are quickly evaporating.
Whether it’s to market your writing, sell books, or build your following, you need to be leveraging video in some way. An additional perk “videofying” your writing is that you can also monetize those videos through ads and sponsorship opportunities!
The best video sharing platforms to upload your creative writing to in 2022 (ranked):
- YouTube + YouTube Shorts
- TikTok
- (good starting hashtags to check out: #booktok #writingtok #poetrytok #writertok #authortok)
- Pinterest (upload regular pins and videos as idea pins)
- Alternative websites (Vimeo, Rumble, etc.)
- Twitch (This is a niche dependent play)
If you’re not used to doing video as a writer (I’ve been there) and don’t know where to begin, I’ve put together a list of example ideas to inspire your video-writer strategy:
- Upload your stories or poems to YouTube, narrating them (or having them narrated), and use AI to automatically pair them with story-accurate royalty-free videos with Pictory.
- Leverage or recreate hot TikTok trends that relate to your writing
- Record short videos of your writing on a computer screen (or book) and make it a part of a series
- Use Canva to make images with your writing in them and combine those images into a video
Fill out surveys from home or online
Are you new to making money online (or maybe a little bored, lol)?
Perhaps the world of online money is intimidating to you. I know that feeling.
You should try taking online surveys. They’re fast, super simple, and will make you a little extra money to pay bills or even buy new clothes for yourself.
All considered, my personal favorite survey site is definitely Surveyjunkie.
Why?
It’s one of the most reputable survey websites out there with the highest pay per survey. The highest I’ve seen is $50 for a 2-hour survey. You can cash out with them via PayPal within 24 hours. Sign up for SurveyJunkie here
To sign up, all you need to do is create a free account and fill out a few details like your name and e-mail address. Then, you’ll be on your way in a matter of minutes to earning real cash.
Now, don’t expect to get rich or even make a living off surveys. Treat them like a fun thing to do in your spare time to make extra money.
I made my first money online by taking surveys, so there’s no shame in trying them out if you’re new or just want to kill time.
Click here to try out online surveys and start making extra money
Tutor other writers
Since you’re a writer, you have valuable writing expertise that others would like to know. What’s nice about tutoring is that you can take on as many or few clients as you can handle.
You can start by opening up your own tutoring business or getting a job as a tutor.
For online tutoring jobs for writers, I recommend using Flexjobs or posting your tutoring services on a website like Upwork.
Create an online course on writing
Similar to tutoring, you can leverage your writing expertise to make passive income through an online course.
With an online course, you have a digital asset that helps more people than you could as a 1-on-1 tutor. It’s also a nice supplement to offer.
Looking for a platform to create and sell your first online course?
I recommend Teachable.
Teachable is ideal for beginners for a number of reasons:
- Fast, easy setup, course creation, and sale execution (no technical knowledge required)
- Free and paid plans are available
- Beginner-friendly and scalable as you grow your online course business
- Plenty of resources and guides to make sure your online course creation is simplified
- Unlimited courses, students, coaching services, (and instant payouts)
- Strong name recognition and popularity (10 million+ students currently enrolled in courses)
Ready to launch your first online course fast? Click here to try Teachable.
Enter Writing Contests for Money & Awards
Did you know writing contests are a good way to make money on the side as a writer?
Right now, there are legit contests that are awarding writers like us for awesome stories & other written content.
Another great thing about writing contests is that they can give you more exposure and help build your reputation. This ultimately leads you to more writing opportunities and book sales as an author.
Check out this list for an up-to-date list of writing contests to enter.
Write list posts
By now you’ve seen “Top 10” posts, on social media, YouTube, etc. Did you know that you can make a little money on the side by writing these out for certain websites?
It’s true.
The best website for getting paid to write lists is Listverse. They usually pay $100 per accepted list post.
However. If you’re looking to make real money with your lists in the long run, you can always start a blog and post it there.
Conclusion: Now it’s your turn
Well, that’s all the modern and best ways to make money as a writer.
It is my intention that this post helps you support your writing lifestyle and find new ways to express what you love through text.
Which way to make money as a writer do you intend to implement? Let me know in a comment below. I’d love to hear your feedback.
