To ask if you make money from writing?

[MrsDeaconClaybourne]

If so, what do you do and how did you get into it?

I'm sure this has been a topic before but thought I'd ask! I'm going to have some extra free time from September and I've always wondered if I'd be able to make any extra cash from writing. I've studied English language andil literature in the past, taught English for a few years and done bits and bobs of writing for work but never really done anything as myself, if that makes sense

I have no illusions that I have a great novel in me and not even sure I could manage short stories as I'm not that imaginative! I'm not expecting to make a fortune but any extra cash would be welcome.

Thanks in advance

I'm a professional author (novelist) and am conventionally published. I do make money from it, though most novelists I know, including me, also have side gigs like teaching, doing editorial work, etc. I always wanted to be a writer, and got into it by submitting my work to agents until I finally managed to get one. I can't really comment on non-fiction writing (which it sounds like maybe you're considering?) but can tell you that becoming a novelist is definitely not something to consider if you're hoping for extra cash! Some novelists strike it lucky, but in general it's a tough way to make a living. We're all chumps who love it and would do it anyway. 😜

What sort of writing are you thinking of doing, OP?

Same as @NightOwlEarlyBird , I am an author, a novelist. I make a significant part of my income from writing (I've won awards and all!) but still have to keep up the day job, because I'm single and royalties can vary SO MUCH from month to month.

The market these days is extremely selective - suddenly EVERYONE thinks they can write a book, but getting published is a very different matter. You could try self publishing, of course, but I think the average earning for a self published author is about £500 over a LIFETIME. They say you've got more chance of being struck by lightening than being a successful author.

But nothing ventured and all that, so why not have a go?

I’m self published and have made five figures with two books over the last 3-4 years.

Not a replacement for a full time job but way more than £500

Thanks for your replies. I'm not sure what I could do which is why I'm interested in seeing what other people do..I definitely don't think I could write a novel - even if there was a lot of money in it. I'm not creative or organised enough.

I like to think I'm quite good at functional writing. At work and personally, I can always come up with a presentation, speech, assembly, short play - that sort of thing. I suppose it would be something like copy-writing that I'd be interested in. However I imagine everyone thinks they can do that and it's probably a completely saturated market, especially with people using AI for stuff.

I work in financial services and we have people that write content for our website, promotional material, financial reports etc etc. They will absolutely not be replaced by AI (although they do use it as a tool)

I'm a UX writer on £50k a year. All I've got is an English degree, no technical qualifications whatsoever.

I write freelance for a magazine. It's a fairly small side hustle alongside my main job that brings in a few hundred a year.

Basically, I pitched myself at a specialist hobby area that I'm quite knowledgeable about and made some direct pitches to editors in that field. Most ignored me but thankfully one didn't. Been doing it for a few years now and really love it.

There's truth in the old adage - write about what you know.

@StripedTomatoes what is a UX writer?

I’m a freelance copywriter. I work part time and earn between £50-70k per year so it’s definitely do-able!

I work in nhs communications, although as a manager I write less PRs these days. Before that I was a journalist but the pay is terrible.

I am (among other things!) a copy writer - I write content on a subject I know a lot about, for whoever needs me to.

This often means writing in a 'house' style or particular tone, writing about rather boring things, battling to correct duff information.

Often these days I am fixing stuff produced by someone else or AI, which is deeply boring.

Sometimes I write for magazines and I have co-authored a book on the relevant subject. Sometimes I write off-topic if its something that can be researched or I am provided all the info and it just needs putting together.

I got into it by... being around the industry a long time, knowing the right people and spending a lot of time taking someone elses excess work. THis pays less than dealing direct with the client and comes with tighter deadlines, but is a lot less hassle. Its pretty unusual unless you already know someone doing such work who trusts you (as its likely to be their name on the work ultimately, if anyones is!).

I don't earn anywhere near what a healthy, able bodied person would earn as I can't work the hours you almost certainly can, but it is sufficient that I actually have savings now!

And plenty of self pubbed authors make nothing at all, bar a fiver from the book they sold to their mum. This is why the £500 is an average.

My (co-written) book is self-published...

Between us, we've made several grand each in the first year and though its dropped off now but still a steady chunk each month!

Do not let people say that self-publishing is not going to generate income, it can, it is not the same beast as vanity publishing of the past (necessarily, obviously there is still total drivel out there, there again there is total drivel that is not self published too!).

I used to do travel writing. The pay was atrocious, but I got my fares paid and basic expenses. I got my first gig by bullshitting 😁 I think, for some of us, writing is just something we do anyway, so you may as well get paid for it if you can. I wrote blogs for some time; never got around to monetising them properly.

Note to self: maybe try writing less on the internet for free, and try to pick up a few freelance jobs!

Yes I’d imagine AI is taking a lot of jobs in that industry

I am a playwright. Have been for over 25 years. I love it. I love writing things that make people laugh and that can educate and give cause for debate... and I really love getting "passive income" from the initial hard work for years after in the form of royalties.
The time spent writing can be an investment for sure.

I work in marketing in the hi-tech industry. AI-generated text was popular for about five minutes before people realised how dull and generic it is. Now we're back to writing everything in-house.

Writing is about 30% of my job.

Not from creative writing, but from editing and proofing-which are kind of writing-adjacent!

Another novelist here, though I went through a smaller publisher so royalties petered out over a few years. Writing is incredibly competitive and is all about connections these days.

Hi Frenella,
I’ve had an urge to write a play or maybe a farce recently but do not know where to start. Can you share any tips?
how does a play get published too? Or circulated?
thank you

I make a living from writing, which is a huge privilege. Happily I'm on my second book, I've been reviewed in broadsheets, Front Row, and have done various literary festivals, podcasts etc. All lovely. But it's also slightly annoying - this year I have no choice but to concentrate on the writing because I'm on a book deadline. So I can't really have another job, but the upfront payment from a £30k advance (which is great in my field) is more like £8000, and that has to cover costs like research travel, transcribing, photo clearance, any help you need to commission, etc.

The pesky deadlines don't leave you with much time to supplement the income. My other jobs this year are also writing, which can be a bit more lucrative (e.g. £500 to write a charity's case study) but all I can find time for is 4-5 freelance days a month because of the book.

The going rate for many publications is here: https://www.londonfreelance.org/rates/index.php?work=Words,+per+1000&sect=mags&call=recent - you'll see that technical/specialist publications pay much better than 'cool' ones.

The thing that people don't realise when they are snotty about self publishing is that a ot of quite successful authors do it. Its not because they aren't good enough to get a trad publishing deal, it is because the royalties are massively better.

I write plays and have an online agent that is very successful.

I make a few quid but nothing life changing but that's because I did it to prove I could and have moved on to other things. I think others with the same agent make very good money as they churn them out.

I work as a copywriter for money, writing content for websites, reports, linkedin profiles etc. In the past I've written for magazines and newspapers but that work has been overtaken by 'content.'

I've also published one psychological suspense novel that didn't get a big advance but is still giving me an income three years later from lending rights and royalties - I have a substack newsletter and readers seem to still be finding me via that. I am working on another two crime novels and hope that eventually there will be an ongoing income and/or my sales do better.... but not sure if I will get a second go with a publisher though as the first one didn't storm the bestseller charts, although it was well reviewed.

Do it if you love it is my advice. You can make some money, and if you love writing it doesn't actually feel like work a lot of the time and makes life better in all kinds of ways.

That’s absolutely true of some authors, generally very prolific ones in specific genres, who want to produce books faster than a trad publisher could handle, but the fact remains that the overwhelming majority of self-published novels are semi-literate drivel that sell a few copies. Self-publishing wouldn’t work for me for a number of reasons.

(I’m a traditionally-published novelist, but like nearly all the novelists I know, I teach at a university.)