WRITING FOR PROFIT
Some people write well, but have great difficulty becoming a professional writer. There are many reasons for this, for example:
- Taking too long to produce a piece of work
- Being uncompromising with the people who actually pay people to write
- Being too much of an artist and not enough of a business person
How Fast Do you Write
A professional writer will need to be able to work to a certain level of output. The level will depend on what you are doing. For example, an article writer may be employed to write anything from 5,000 to 10,000 words a day on a variety of different topics. An author may be required to write ten pages a day. A blog writer may have to write ten blogs a day of 500 to 700 words. Some writers working as part of their job may be required to produce a certain type of writing, for example, a blog a week or two tweets a day on twitter; or five comments a day on Facebook. The requirement will depend on what you are being paid to do. This can be very much like working in any other high-pressure business environment. The person paying for your writing is not concerned about your ‘artistic temperament’, so you will need to always have a professional approach and realise that the expectations on a writer in relation to work efficiency, are like those for any other job.
People writing for pleasure will obviously not have the same deadlines to adhere to, but they may set their own limits and suggestions for how they work. For example, Marina Lewycka won prizes for her first novel, A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainia. Before, she was successful, when she was working, she would rise every morning early and write for a couple of hours before work. Now a successful novelist, she says that she works everyday from 6am until lunchtime. She decided what works for her and sticks to it.
Any writer may be required to write a certain number of words an hour or a day to meet the standards set by themselves, their publishers or their editors. For example, a publisher may consider around 350 to 500 words an hour appropriate. Some writers may take much longer than this to produce that amount of words, or may produce a very rough draft of the words in that time. Writers who are not able to meet the requirements of their publishers, editors or even themselves may not make a viable income from their writing.
Speed Without Quality is a Problem
Producing a lot of words in a short period, is not going to earn you an income if the publisher or employer is faced with above average costs to proof-read and edit the material. Also, if what you are writing is not very good, it will not be likely to sell or gain you work as a writer. So it is not just about speed, but about the quality of the work you produce. It will be assumed that your repeat work will only be as good as your last performance.
Do not fall into the trap of assuming you are a good writer because your friends and family say you are – mix with your peers and listen to comments from the editors that you have submitted your work to. You can learn a lot by staying cool and taking positive criticism on-board. At the end of the day you will not sell your work if your writing skills are not sufficient and you have not developed the ability to be an effective communicator.
Increase Profitability With Illustration
Depending on who you are writing for, some authors may find that if they can provide illustrations or photographs to go with their work, it can make their work more attractive to their publisher or editor. If you build a stock library of illustrations or digital photographs you can put yourself in the position of being able to supply illustration with minimum effort. The visuals can increase your final payment, as you are paid sometimes for the illustration as well as the written copy. Some websites ask for copies of video clips as well as photos to illustrate a piece of writing. When writing freelance articles for larger magazine publishers, many of these have their own stock of photos that they may use to illustrate a story and they will do this usually without consulting with the writer on which photo accompanies the final print. If they like the writing piece, they may be prepared to send their own photographer out to take a range of suitable photos, though this will often make it more expensive for them to complete the final edition, which could be an issue if funding is tight.
Get Something Extra From Your Writing
Some writers will get other perks from their writing, for example: writing books or magazine articles that you get paid for, but which also promote your business.
Writing can help raise your profile in the wider world. It can, for example, help a cook promote their restaurant, help a nurseryman promote their garden centre, or help a broadcaster promote their radio show. Often the name of the writer or their business name, their business address, phone number and/or web site are included either at the beginning of the story (as a lead on) or at the end of a story. The writer may be able to ‘ do a deal’ with the publisher if it is a newspaper, magazine or blog, by paying for a small advertisement on the page (for their business) then submitting a quality piece of writing that the publisher uses to fill the page. In that way, both writer and publisher benefit. You would not be paid for the writing you produce, but you may in effect receive a page, or a half, or quarter page of writing when you have only paid for a small section of the whole page with your advertisement. This takes skill, as many publishers will not appreciate blatant advertising within the content of the article. They are much more likely to ask you to write an article on your specialised area (which may also be what your business is doing e.g. a nursery may write an article on the best flowering plants for summer) and then give you a free advertisement as payment or just as an agreement to advertise your name and business as stated earlier in the body of the article.
Some writers of novels or textbooks will also make additional money by writing articles, blogs and so on about their topic. For example, a psychology textbook writer may also be able to write articles about psychology, which they might sell to appropriate magazines.
Academics can develop a following in magazines, newspapers and online, if they are able to write about topics in a way that makes them 'reader friendly'. They can also become the “expert”. For example, you often read medical pages in newspapers, where people can write in to ask about their medical problems. If there is a health scare, the doctor may be asked to write about it, or write general articles such as how to reduce your blood pressure. The more well known an expert becomes, the more writing work they can gain in different writing arenas.
LEARN MORE: STUDY WRITING
Recommended Reading
The following ebooks written by our principal (John Mason) and staff, are excellent supplementary reading for our courses. Click on a title for more information about contents as well as purchasing details through the school's online bookstore.
