Ways to Make Money through Writing

1.

Bring home the bacon writing for home businesses. Someone starts a new home

business every 11 seconds. Home business owners need letters, press releases,

marketing brochures, website verbiage, ad copy and more. While you are

making money doing that…

2

Write practical articles about owning and operating home-based businesses (of

which freelance writing is one).

3

Write book reviews. Nonfiction book reviews state the book's objective,

summarize the main concepts, include the author's credentials, cite a sample

sentence or passage, and suggest what readers can expect. Reviews of novels,

somewhat similar, delve into character development and other fiction

techniques. Send two or three samples to an editor who's likely to request,

"More, please!"

4

Ghostwrite articles and books for people with something to say, but who lack

writerly skills or time. Candidates to ghost for include psychologists for selfhelp

books, entrepreneurs for business books, and disaster survivors for humaninterest stories. Negotiate for "as told to Your Name" or "Jane Doe with Your Name" in preference to receiving no credit. "Ghost" has creepy connotations, so offer "professional editing assistance."

5

Sling ink freelancing for newspapers. Sniff out educational, governmental and

business news. Extract facts from cagey sources and your byline will land on

page one. Journalists use the "inverted pyramid" structure, strong leads, accurate

quotations and facts, keep themselves out of the story and provide high-impact

photos. Build a reputation for accuracy, honesty and integrity and the editor

might offer a regular slot.

6

Critique manuscripts by providing 20-30 pages on how the writer can improve

readability, plot, conflict, transitions, characterization and so on. Your sales tool

includes sample excerpts of writers' works and your responses, pricing structure,

testimonials, your publishing history, credentials, and estimated time to critique

a 200-250-page ms. If that goes well…

7

Profile a personality. After interviewing the celebrity…. Uh oh. Don't know any

celebrities? No matter. Interview ordinary people with extraordinary stories.

After interviewing the person and collecting researched information, begin the

article with a succinct hook capturing the person's attitude, explain who the

person is, quantify his or her efforts ("painted four portraits for the Bill Gates

family"), include feelings, gestures and props. Obey fiction writers'

watchwords: Show, don't tell. Appeal to the senses. Convey motion and

emotion. Alternate more narration with lively quotes. End on an upbeat note.

Enclose a separate page with names, street addresses, email addresses and

phone numbers of interviewees, and sources of quoted facts. Sell the profile and

photos to features editors of papers and mags. Compose a stack of profiles and

you've got a book!

8

Snatch funny money sketching original cartoons or write cartoon captions only.

Have more jokes up your pen? Write one-liners, gags and routines for

comedians. Write funny material for established humor writers

9

Rake in entry fees for writing competitions. Collaborate with a newspaper, radio

station, magazine or moneyed group. (Persuade the horticultural club to spend

some lettuce on a garden-related writing contest.) Specify word count, genre,

topic, terms and conditions. Enlist respected, unbiased judges. Ensure entrants'

anonymity during judging. Publish or air winning entries.

10

Train employees who are employed by employers to write better during

employment. A third of the executives from America's 1,000 largest companies

told Office Team surveyors that the scarcest skill among job applicants is

writing. And almost 80% of companies surveyed by Dartnel's "Management

Focus" said they would like to see employee writing skills improved. Salarypeople bury messages in mammoth paragraphs, shroud ideas in prepositional phrases, and dig up dinosaurs like heretofore. Give the program  a face-saving, head-turning title like "Write to the Top."

11

Earn legal tender writing about how to transact business on your patch of the

planet for business, inflight, and travel magazines. Office protocol, business

ethics, and dress codes vary from Maine to Spain. Pick businesspeople's brains,

search the 'net, and dip into classics like Lonely Planet's culture shock series.

After frightening the pinstripes off readers with real-life flub ups, offer hope.

"When all else fails," you might conclude, "a smile is a smile the world over."

Do/Don't lists are fantastic sidebars.

12

Click through the guidelines at Writing for DOLLARS! for paying markets.

Order sample copies. Submit well-written, well-targeted mss. When you score,

develop a relationship with the person who okayed the "buy" on your byline. Do

so by submitting another manuscript right after the editor accepted one. This

way, the editor might remember your name and view you as a steady source of

articles. Specialize. Meet the editor face-to-face. View the world through

editors' bifocals: Would you rather work with professionals who write brief

query letters, follow guidelines to a T, and meet every need, or with amateurs

too lax to follow simple instructions? Make editors' jobs easier, not harder.

13

Interview somebody with an unusual talent, hobby or occupation. Write to

entertain and inform. Ask open-ended questions. ("What difficulties do

falconers overcome?" not "Is falconry difficult?") Intersperse quotes,

paraphrasing and researched material with imagery. A retirement magazine

published my article about a fifty-something falconer in its hobby section.

14

Sell "how to write" articles to writers' magazines. Re-slant and resell the article

to publications targeted at home business owners, retirees, stay-at-home

spouses, and professional communicators. Hook readers with irresistible titles

like "Secrets of Successful Freelance Writing," and "Write Winning Sales

Proposals." Include examples to emulate, resources, related books and websites.

15

Make moolah writing brochures for institutions and agencies. Attentiongrabbing

brochures (and other documents) appeal to fear ("Myths about

Automobile Air Bags") and desire ("Are You Destined for Inner Peace?") An

outsider, you ensure the writing is tight yet informative. A writer, you ensure

the brochure is persuasive and reflects your client's image.

Finally

Words are published in articles, brochures, novels, flyers, textbooks, sales

letters, newsletters, advertorials, greeting cards. Words are printed on posters,

T-shirts, book jackets, signs, the 'net. Words are read by speechifiers, film

narrators, radioheads, stage, screen and TV actors. Someone made money writing those words. That someone can be you!