I have many people ask me how they can make money with their writing now before they complete their book. Sometimes it is people that are seeking traditional publishing, waiting to hear back from publishers. That is a long game, and they want to make money writing in the meantime. Sometimes it’s people who are self-publishing, and they also want to make fast cash to pay for all those self-publishing services.
Here are three ways you can make money writing faster than publishing a book.
1. Private Label Rights, or PLR.
Think of it as Shutterstock for blogs. There are a plethora of business owners who need to be blogging weekly to continue building their audience and be relevant to that audience. You write a stockpile of somewhat generic blog posts. The businesses would purchase these PLR, Private Label Rights, blog posts and then post them on their blog. For example, I could be writing blog posts about how wonderful chiropractic is and the health benefits that seeing a chiropractor offers, and then a chiropractor would come along and purchase the rights to use that blog post. That means that no one else gets to use it. They privately own the rights. That is one way to get paid writing.
2. Patreon
Patreon is a platform, kind of like YouTube, where you post all of your amazing creative work, but people have to become fans or “patrons” and pay to be able to access it. Like an ongoing Kickstarter, Patreon allows creators to crowdfund their work. If you are a damn good writer and everybody can’t wait to read your next installment of whatever it is that you’re writing, this could be a lucrative option.
3. Mainstream Articles
Writing mainstream articles as a freelance writer has a duel benefit. You get paid to write, and it works amazingly to build your platform. This is especially important if you are seeking traditional publishing, they want to see that a) you have writing chops and b) you have an audience who is looking to read what it is that you’re writing. I, personally, am doing this. I’ve been published in online magazines and continue to submit freelance articles.
That’s three ways you could be getting paid today for writing besides writing a book. Do you know of any opportunities I haven’t mentioned? I’m very curious if anybody else has been writing mainstream articles or if you have a Patreon account or if you’ve ever written blog posts for other people.
