Don’s a keen observer and prolific reporter of truth, common sense, humor, & life. He’s a WRITER|HUMORIST, sometimes serious, sometimes tongue-in-cheek. He lives in Nashville, TN. He publishes somewhere every weekday morning. Click HERE, and have his new stories emailed directly to you, instead of having to beat the bushes for them. Put your email at the bottom to be one of his buds.
The following is what I have discovered about how to make money as a writer. No theory. Just the real deal.
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DON MARTIN
2024 Guide to Go from Wannabe to Published to Paid
First, let me try to talk you out of this.
And don’t feel like I just don’t want another writer in the world competing against me. I don’t mind the competition if you don’t mind the discouragement.
MORE COMING SOON!
There used to be a television program I watched every week. Tried to never miss. I spy.
It was about Robert Culp and Bill Cosby who traveled the world pretending to be professional tennis players when they were actually professional spies.
The show’s beginning always showed a horizontal split-screen with their eyes on the top half, looking over a “fence” down on the action, often in the most beautiful countryside of sunny Turkey. I loved it. I wanted to be them.
I never once thought what a pain it was to be a tennis player. Or what a pain it was to be a spy. I wanted to be them.
Fast forward to now.
You want to be a writer. here
But it’s time you knew it has some pain with it, not as bad as being a faux tennis pro/spy, but pain nonetheless.
Why do you want to be a writer?
Ask yourself why you want to be a writer. Which parade float do you want to stand on? A novel, short story, poetry or where do you fit in?
How much can you invest?
The time – Do you have extra time? I’m going to ask you to invest at least a half-hour every day doing this. Can you do it?
The money – I am going to ask you to spend five or ten dollars a month doing this. Can you do it?
RELATED STORY… If you work at it, your money coming in can offset your expenses like any other business.
Let’s Write
1 Read – a short story or two articles each day
If you’ve spent time at writing sites, you’ve probably heard it said that good writers are also constant readers. Some of the greatest writers are very well-read in various styles and genres of literature.
Books are the very best teachers. Authors from different places and periods can expand our literary horizons, and reading outside of our usual genre can help us to think more critically about our own writing.
Think about these books as tools; read them to learn and grow. Approach the text through a writing lens, marking notable (to you) style and structure items. (I sometimes find it helpful to write in the margins.)
However works best for you, consider different forms of writing, and let these works teach you about different forms. You may even find a short story that inspires your first novel.
2 Composition book investment
While you don’t have to buy new materials to start a writing practice, I find that investing in writing tools makes my practice feel serious, official, and more fun.
A few of my favorite supplies include notebooks, sticky notes, a special enchanted ink pen, cool blue light glasses, and a special coffee mug just for writing. I also love decorating my desk with unruly piles of printed papers that remind me of the chaos of the world today.
Whatever you decide to bring to the writing table (you really only need a pen and paper, or your computer), prepare your workspace by dusting it off and setting out your supplies in advance. Like with any project, it’s helpful to have a designated space that is distraction-free. This will send a signal to your brain that it’s time to write.
3 Word goals
Start with 200 or 250 words each day. Cross off each day on your calendar. Just do it every day!
Writing is all about results, and you’ll quickly discover that revisions and edits are your friends. Early drafts are generally fun, as they are opportunities to let your words flow freely. It’s also your chance to create ridiculously stupid sentences full of adverbs, adjectives, and confused pronouns.
Sometimes though, rough drafting isn’t so simple. This can be because of writer’s block, your office catching fire, or even your tendency to edit as you write. Smaller goals can help with this.
Maybe you want to write a book this year? That’s great! Realize that a complete novel “can be written over a year by writing two hundred fifty words a day.”
The point is, it seems like a large goal, writing a novel in a year, but it will be easier to achieve that goal if you break it down. Small writing goals work much better. Not all of us can write thousands of words a day, but most can write a couple hundred.
4 Time goals
Find your best time when you can write every day. Go for a certain period every day. Start with just 15 minutes if that’s all you have to give. Maybe you can start to increase that amount before long.
Writing schedules change. Setting your alarm an hour earlier to write before work may help.
Goals and schedules are a part of life, so it’s important to remember that when something gets in the way of a goal it doesn’t make you less a writer.
Some of us do have children, or we work a couple of jobs. Sometimes, the writing has to wait, but if our goals are small enough and flexible enough, we can keep moving forward.
Scribble down a few sentences while the coffee brews or while you wait in a checkout line. Every paragraph counts. If you miss a day, there is always the next day.
Time-based goals seem easier than word-count goals to achieve somehow. Often it is that achievement that helps your personal inertia towards your writing goal.
5 A couple of friends
Let a friend or two read what you wrote. Ask them for comments if possible, but don’t make them feel as though you want them to edit or proofread it for you.
Finally, it may be time to consider publishing your work. After you’ve poured your heart out onto the piece and spent the necessary hours editing and revising, now where does your story go?
You can publish it in your personal blog, if you have one, in a newsletter, or by sending it to a literary journal and other outlets.
All of these choices are beyond the scope of this guide, but I hope to be expanding to include those soon and will send you a copy if I have your e-mail.
Let’s Get Published
6. I would suggest you join Medium.
It is a place you can get published about as quickly as any other I know. It will cost you $5 per month or $50 per year to join, but it will pay you a few pennies (or more) for some of your more popular pieces while you learn and practice your craft.
https://medium.com/@donmartin711/membership is my membership link. If you use it, I will benefit. After you join, you will also have a link, through which you will get some bucks. Medium pays you every month for what you earn the previous month.
7. Write something 150 words
Yep. 150 is the minimum. And it’s HARD to do. But it is one classification on Medium, called a Short Story. How to tell how you many words you’ve written? There’s a built-in app for that. – some people propose 300 a day. Some say Medium likes 2000 word stories best. There’s room for you to experiment to find your sweet spot.
8. Submit to a publication
There are many different publications about different topics all with different requirements. Here again, you can search out your comfort zone.
After you submit your article (story) to a publication, it may take the editor there a day or so to publish it. Try not to get too impatient.
You even start your own publication when you are ready. I think you’re better to go with established publications to start with, since they will have a larger following in the beginning.
9. Get 100 followers asap
Read a LOT of stories, follow the authors who wrote them, give claps (applause) for those stories. This will make more sense when you start doing it, You will have many of them follow you as well.
10. Take a look at your stats
This page shows the stories you have published and the popularity of each.
Let’s Get Paid
11. Medium paid page is 1 click from your stats page
and 100 followers to qualify here, again is my link –
https://medium.com/@donmartin711/membership
On this page you will discover how much each of your articles have earned so far.
12. Set up your stripe account
In conjunction with setting up your Medium account, set up your Stripe account. It will take you 5 or 10 minutes to complete your application, and a day or so for Stripe to set up your account. And, no, they don’t do PayPal, but stripe sets up pretty quickly and deposits your money straight into your checking account.
Final thoughts
Write An Article Every Day is great, or even better, do 2 or 3
When I started I didn’t know better, and only published one every couple of days or so. My first month was not a complete month, but even in those few final days of that month. I made 29 cents or so. More coming soon – start a website – start a mailing list – real money
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