Don't forget about the real world
DIFFERENT WAYS TO MAKE MONEY AS A WRITER
Take this post as a reminder:
There’s a world outside of the one you’re on right now. A world outside of your screen that matters to your aspirations as a writer.
What do I mean?
The writers who I know personally that are making the most money don’t have the largest social media following. Please read that sentence again.
I know that might be hard to believe when there’s someone like Rupi Kaur out there who made her name on IG. More recently, I’ve written several times about Colleen Hoover and her rise to fame on BookTok.
What’s important to realize is that those writers are outliers. They are not the rule, they’re the exception. And although we’d all love to be that fortunate, there’s a real world where you can make a real living as a writer without needing to dedicate all of your time to social media.
Let me give you some examples of some of my friends who make a living as writers without being social media darlings.
First, I know screenwriters who sell scripts and/or play the grant game. Doing the former takes networking, finding the right contacts, and presenting story ideas that are sellable. And before I hear you start complaining that “Netflix will never buy my script,” please understand that there are local networks, national networks, and international networks that all need content. One of my good friends just came back from Japan where a script he sold was shown in 25 million homes. Trust me when I tell you this is possible.
For writers playing the grant game, it’s even more simple. All you need is an idea. Once you have that, research grants that fund the type of idea you came up with (be it a play, a musical, an interactive writing platform, a book, a script, etc.), then submit.
Again, I know people who do this year after year and are able to produce super interesting projects without spending a dollar of their own money. More than that, they’re essentially getting paid to create these projects with the only caveat being that they actually produce the project described in the grant.
On the freelancer side, I know people making six and seven figures a year from writing. How do they do it? By connecting directly with clients who they know need their services. So they will reach out to entrepreneurs, small business owners, and influencers who they can safely assume need content. That content can be a book, it can be a speech, a website, a newsletter or articles for a popular publication. Whatever the need, these writers offer their services for a price. That price is premium because content rules the day.
How do you plan on being a superstar?
I just described a few ways you can make a living as a writer with little social media presence. Now, if you want to capitalize on the real world and build a career as a writer, you need to define what type of writer you want to be. I spoke to a tenth-grade Careers class recently and told them there are two ways to find success through writing: Be a generalist or be a specialist.
As a generalist, versatility is most important. You’ll need to understand some combination of copywriting, blogging and long-form articles, writing for different social platforms, and potentially how to collaborate with a creative team.
If you’re going the specialist route, then you better be the best. You better understand everything there is to know about your specialty and be able to execute consistently at a high level. Those friends I told you about who write and sell scripts are next-level writers. They put in the time to study the craft so they are experts. You’ll need to do the same.
But you can do it. Yes, YOU can do it. There’s a superstar in all of us and what you’re trying to do is figure out how to pull that superstar out of yourself. And now that you know there are options that exist in the real world outside of social media, search for that inner superstar and let them shine.