Is anyone out there making a living as a writer? If so, how?

[brubaker]

I steal your thoughts that you post freely on C-D etc. and sell them back to you in my online magazine.
You see the article title and think, "Hey! That really speaks to me!"

[TouchOfWhimsy]

Who knew this was such a controversial topic? Yikes!

I make a decent bit of money writing. I consider myself a freelance writer, and I write articles for websites. Most of my my writing is done for a specific company, but I occasionally have private clients as well. Thankfully, I don't have to pay bills with the money that I make... it's all for savings, vacations, paying off our car early, etc. So I have no idea if I'm just a writer, or a "writer," or a Writer... but whatever. We're going on vacation in March on my dime, and we're also paying off our car a year early because I write. Have whatever take on it you'd like... either way, I'm going to keep on writing and earning money! LOL

[cpg35223]

Originally Posted by beanandpumpkin

Who knew this was such a controversial topic? Yikes!

I make a decent bit of money writing. I consider myself a freelance writer, and I write articles for websites. Most of my my writing is done for a specific company, but I occasionally have private clients as well. Thankfully, I don't have to pay bills with the money that I make... it's all for savings, vacations, paying off our car early, etc. So I have no idea if I'm just a writer, or a "writer," or a Writer... but whatever. We're going on vacation in March on my dime, and we're also paying off our car a year early because I write. Have whatever take on it you'd like... either way, I'm going to keep on writing and earning money! LOL

Well, then, right on.

Hey, if you're making $100 or $100,000 a year off your scribbling, your making a living as a writer. It may not be your primary source of revenue, but it is one nonetheless.

[ChrisC]

Originally Posted by Nala8

Is anyone out there making a living as a writer? If so, how?


Is it possible to make a decent living as a writer?

Not yet, but the last royalty statement was looking MUCH better!

I can’t really tell you how to do it. I don’t know. I just write. I have written stories since I was able to spell. I’ve always written for myself, and I never have really cared who else (or if anyone) reads my stuff. Just a pastime that I enjoyed. I have similar experience with visual art and music (although I was a professional musician for a time).

It went on this way until I was in my mid thirties. A friend read something I wrote and really liked it. Because of that, I became more interested in letting others read my material. I then decided to ‘legitimize’ my ‘writerhood’ by getting a second bachelor’s degree in English (creative writing/literature emphasis). It was a good experience, but I don’t really write anything differently now than I did before--it did give me a lot of practice and peer review of my (unorthodox to say the least) fiction. It gave me a better idea of exactly what I wrote from a literary criticism viewpoint. Thanks to one particular instructor’s support, I really explored the outer reaches of the rather amorphous, twisted, hyper-clichéd, very dark-humored, hyperbole, and sometimes-profane sort of stuff I like to write.

At this point, I continue to write--novels, short stories, essays, satire, and some non-fiction. I’ve had ups and downs. I’ve felt like quitting. I’ve been elated. But, I always try to remember that I write because I enjoy it. I write the kind of stuff I would like to read. I don’t know if it will ever get to the point that I ‘make a living at writing.’ Like I said, as of late, it’s looking much better. But in the end, I don’t care one way or the other (as with my painting and music performance), because I enjoy it and primarily write for myself. Literary masturbation?

All I can say is just keep writing. If it pleases others, it will work out. Just keep having anyone willing to read your work read it. I have no business sense at all--I hate that aspect. I know if I had to treat my writing process as a business and write with that in mind, I wouldn’t want to write any more. Like a technical writer. I could do that. But it would be no different from any other 9 to 5 job. So... just write. Explore your inner world.

[JerZ]

I write for a living. I started out writing for a trade magazine (in-house). I am now a freelance writer.

I am about to start on my first novel.

I have found freelance work through elance.com...but only after I already had some sort of writing on my resume (writer/editor for the mag I mentioned). Get published somehow and start building up your own little list of items you've had published. Even if it's a novel you're going for, very, very few agents will give a second (or even a first) glance to a novel by a so-far unpublished author.

Write whatever you can get published right now; it may be some how-to article, it may be something far from what you eventually want to get paid to do/write, but you need that publication list under your belt first (paid...anyone on the planet can get "published" unpaid on the internet).

Good luck!

[thesneedle]

I write textbooks for a living (and grossed $80K last year) and write novels and nonfiction books for the love of it (3 have been published so far.)

Yes, it's possible to make quite a good living writing, but not necessarily by writing what you most want to. You still might have to do that on the side.

[sarahkate_m]

I befriended someone once who is now a retired writer in her 80's. She freelanced & showed me some articles she had published for National Geographic.

I've had some poetry published but it was mostly in a magazine (no pay just nice) & once in a contest where it was used in a book that I got a free copy of.

I read these threads on writing for profit because I've always had the "calling" & it seems like it's time to "listen"...

Kate

[LittleMissSunshine]

I wrote as a magazine intern in college.

I was writing in a marketing department at a company for a few years.

I self-published a novel (but this was more for my own personal satisfaction, it's not away to make a lot of $$)

Since being laid off from the corporate world, I have been doing some freelancing as I look for a new job. I have one private client. I also work for Demand Studios. They don't always have the most exciting topics, but they always pay on time and they pay twice a week. And they pay well compared to a lot of other content sites, but they also can be a little more selective than the others.

I also freelance for print magazines and other websites randomly. And I write an online column for revenue share.

[Lisle S. Mitchell]

The first writing course I took after I retired stated ". . . only about 200 individuals in the US make a living wage writing unless their job is writing. I've been publishing in anthologies, esites, and contests for the past two years and I've made less that $1,000. I don't need the money so I can write every day and submit as often as I think I have a story an editor might think publishable.

I subscribe to four writing magazines and all of them have articles about how to make a living writing, but I believe my first writing instructor's statement is more valid than invalid.

Mitch

[BLAZER PROPHET]

My two cents...

My wife was a teacher in a small private school that went under. She wanted to be a writer, but wasn't sure how. I suggested she first decide what she wanted to write (she chose elementary supplemental education books) and then start networking with publishers- what they look for in a proposal...

That was about 7 years ago. Now, she is a veteran of over 20 books and she has served as a writer on some projects for large publishers. Granted, she only makes about $17,000 per year, but this has also given her a chance to also see some ways to make in-roads to fiction and other areas of non fiction and even self publishing. Were she not so busy with other things, she could probably make $30-40K per year writing.

She goes to all types of writers conferences and once in a while I tag along and I never ceased to be amazed how people make money writing. There are some very clever people we meet and often their ideas are very simple. Also, she has greatly improved her networking skills and is starting to get involved in editing and co-writing for other people. She loves her work dearly and really throws herself into it.

To be sure, she has dealt with a tremendous amount of rejection, but that's part of the game.