The craft of writing has a long history. It can be traced back to ancient Egypt, to the times of Ptahhotep, scrivener of pharaoh Dyedkara-Isesi, and it goes all the way to the frozen forests of Maine, where Stephen King keeps writing torturing novels.
We are talking about an enormous time frame, which includes many different options. That’s because, where there’s communication, there’s writing. The problem, of course, is that communication changes greatly over time. Writing professionals are no longer engaged in engraving proverbs on clay—now they write newsletters. Times have changed. And precisely for this reason, in this article we’ll talk about the different ways of writing for a living, to guide those who want to work as writers.
How to Be a Writer
Generally, when we think about working as a writer, the first thing that comes to mind is writing books, particularly, literature. This is a possibility, of course, but not the only one. In fact, it’s one of the least common. This has a lot to do with the working conditions of the publishing industry. If an author wants to make a profit from selling books, they need to sell a huge volume of copies, something very few can achieve.
Contracts vary greatly depending on the country and the publisher, but generally, an author gets about 10% of the price of sold books. In turn, print runs in literature rarely exceed two thousand copies. If we add the fact that few writers publish every year, and that not all print runs sell out, we begin to understand why very few authors really live off book sales. It can be a nice plus, of course, but it’s extremely rare for royalties to be the only livelihood.
5 Ways to Make Money from Writing
So if writers don’t live off books, what do they do for a living? There are several possible answers to that question. First, it’s important to highlight that many authors don’t live from their writing at all. There are lots of well-known authors who are, in addition, engineers, dancers, or pool cleaners. But, there are some options for those who do want to make a living from this trade. These are the main ones.
1. Journalism
Journalism is one of the most common applications of the writing craft. From Gabriel García Márquez to Charles Dickens, many writers went through the newsrooms of newspapers or magazines. This doesn’t necessarily imply being a star columnist, of course. All written media needs a regular flow of columns, reviews, and articles, which implies having people capable of writing them. And we are not necessarily talking about prestigious newspapers of national circulation. During the 30s, Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges made a living with reviews for the magazine El Hogar (which means “home”), which specialized in the female audience.
Of course, journalism has changed a lot in recent years. Since the advent of the internet, print media has lost much of its influence. Nowadays, there are very few newsrooms like the ones we see in movies, clouded by cigarette smoke and filled with the sounds of typewriters. The profession has turned to freelance work. Most journalists are no longer part of a media team; instead, they sell each article to the newspaper.
2. Copywriting
Advertising also requires a constant flow of written text. These can take many forms, from the short, written material used in social networks (called “copy”) and traditional campaigns to SEO articles aimed at gaining online traffic. It’s also relatively common for writers to take on the role of “idea man”. This was the case of Rodolfo Fogwill, an Argentinian author who had his own agency, Ad Hoc. His work as a publicist is probably better known than his work as a writer since he was the author of the slogan of Argentina’s main beer company, Quilmes.
3. Ghostwriting
Ghostwriters are hired to write under someone else’s name. Their job is to give shape to someone else’s book; they charge by the word—which means they give up the copyright—and usually work confidentially. Probably the genre with the most ghostwriters is autobiographies, but there are many other options. Ghostwriters can write books on science communication, self-help, fiction, history, and almost any other topic. The content of the book depends on the client.
Editorial agency Palabra is made up of a group of ghostwriters who will be in charge of putting your own words into a text. We write all kinds of books on request: novels, autobiographies, manuals, or ebooks. Don’t hesitate to contact us!
4. Workshops
Literary workshops are another great source of income for writing professionals. Of course, in this case, the job is not exactly writing, but knowing how to write, and advising others in their own work. It requires the same kind of technical knowledge, but it’s applied in a different way.
Many authors make a living from teaching writing seminars, both privately and at universities. Robert Lowell used to teach at Boston University, and Anne Carson was a lecturer at NYU. There are also hundreds of cases of people giving workshops who are little recognized for their personal work, but who run very successful writing groups.
5. Editing
Publishing houses need people who know the craft of writing. This includes editors, of course, but also proofreaders, and spelling and style checkers. Often, in small companies, all these tasks are performed by the same person. But ideally, they would be done by different people.
Many writers had remarkable careers as editors. Nobel-winning author Toni Morrison started her career as the first black female editor of fiction at Random House, in the 1960s. And even Margaret Atwood worked for a Canadian publishing house before she became famous for her own writing.
At Palabra, we offer editing services for novels, theses, websites, and any text that needs improvement. We deliver clean results, ready to be published in their best version. Feel free to contact us.
How to Make a Living from Writing
There is not just one way of writing for a living; there are many. Each one has its own characteristics, and most writers end up combining more than one of these practices. Some alternate between journalism and teaching, others between editing and ghostwriting. It all depends on the abilities and opportunities you get. If you are interested in making a living off of your writing, the important thing is to keep all these options in mind.
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