Ways to Make Money Writing

You hear stories all the time on the Internet about people making money using only their writing talents, which talent, by the way is another term for hard work. Or persistence. But I digress...can you earn money on the Internet just by writing?

Yes.

I started out small. Very small. The first piece I sold was a children's short story and I earned $10. But, that $10 felt like millions to me because it represented the fact that an editor thought I had writing ability. Since that first sale, I've gone way, way, way up in my sales figures. I've written for newspapers, magazines, big company newsletters, small businesses and well known Internet gurus.

I get up each morning both thankful and amazed that I get to do what I love. Write.

Finding places to sell your writing takes work. Every single week, you have to search for new markets. You have to submit queries. If you're doing that and not getting anywhere, have another writer, someone further up the writing ladder than you are, check out your query and see if he/she can point out ways to make your query grab the editor's attention.

Most of all, be teachable. Never think you've 'arrived' as a writer. There is always more to learn.

There's a lot more about query writing, but I'll save that for another post. Below, I've listed some places you can search to find markets. All of these are free of charge. I don't pay places to find markets for me. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just a personal policy of mine. Many of the links I'm listing have not only searchable databases, but great how-to writing articles as well.

www.worldwidefreelance.com
www.fundsforwriters.com
http://www.fwointl.com/

http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art1489.asp

http://www.writing-world.com/ This one has a lot of helpful information, especially under the Links tab

http://www.absolutewrite.com/ Click on the markets link in the upper left hand corner

A New Day, A New Hope

I'm hoping that I'll stick to my resolution to update my blog on a regular basis. It's not that I don't have a lot to say (just ask my hubby or kids), it's just that life is so busy sometimes the days get away from me.

I read a laugh out loud funny post on someone else's blog the other day by B.J. Hamrick. If you've never heard of this funny woman, do a search for her name. But warning, don't drink anything while reading. ; - )