Writing is a very enjoyable pastime for many people, but it can be very hard to find a way of getting your writing into print and being paid for it. Obviously there are those people who have fantastic ideas for books, and manage to find a publisher who likes the idea and then they’re off! For most of us however, writing a novel is going to be very hard work, and we’re unlikely to get it published even if we get it written. There are however other ways of making a profit from your writing.

Magazines often have a section for people to write in to the editor about things they’ve read in the magazine, and many of them offer a ‘gift’ of some money or a voucher to the star letter writer of the week or month. Some magazines & newspapers will also be interested in receiving articles from people as well. If you look at writing for a magazine it’s important to research the magazine first and make sure that anything you submit to them is suitable for their publication. There’s no point in writing a poem for a magazine if they don’t publish poetry for example. Or writing something that’s aimed at men’s health if the magazine is about mum’s and babies, so take time out to do some research and read some back copies of the publication before you even think of submitting something to them. A good resource for which magazines cover what is this magazine database. It covers fiction, poetry and non-fiction magazines across the world including the UK and USA.

Entering writing competitions is often a good way to get started in writing short stories and poetry, and even some of the great writers have started out this way. Entering competitions isn’t going to earn you money for everything you write, but some of the prizes are not bad at all, and often an anthology of the entries submitted will be published as part of the competition so you may get into print even if you don’t earn anything from it.

Don’t forget as I’ve mentioned already, that sometimes it’s also worth investing time in writing things that aren’t going to earn you money. If your eventual aim is to get a publisher to take you seriously, then they will probably want to know where you’ve been published before, and if you can show them a string of articles, short stories or poems that you’ve had published even if you didn’t get paid for them, then you may well be taken more seriously than if you look at them blankly and tell them you’ve not had anything published.

There are other odd areas that you may not have thought of in terms of writing, for example writing for greetings cards or calendars. Many of us have looked at a piece of prose or poetry inside a card and thought ‘I could do that’. Take a look in your local shops and see who the publishers of the cards and calendars are, what sort of cards or calendars they produce, and then research the publisher. Write them a brief letter and simply ask for them to send you their current editorial guidelines. Enclosing an SAE as well when you do this is also a good idea. Now you know what they’re looking for. Don’t forget that cards are designed and produced well before the time they are in the shops so publishers may need copy for cards aimed at the Christmas market in July or August.

The local library is a good source of information, and one that if you’re looking at writing for profit will be invaluable to you. They will hold copies of many magazines, newspapers, and books on writing. As well as ‘The Writers Yearbook’ ‘The Writers Handbook’ and ‘Writers Market UK’ all of which will give you lots of information on who publishes what in the world of writing.

by Vialdana