Could YOU earn money from your writing?
It's been nineteen years since I started learning how to sell articles, but I still get excited by every new one that gets accepted. I'm mostly asked to write articles in advance now, so I don't suggest too many ideas to magazines like I used to; I just stick to the ones I like (and the ones that seem to like me!) nowadays.
Writing is a fantastic part time occupation, and it's even better when you finally get to do it full time. I now take on ghostwriting work and copywriting work, mostly online, and there is no shortage of it once you get yourself out there.
This lens was created to share the story of how I first started to sell my articles. I'm hoping that by doing this I can help you get further along the road towards your own acceptances.
The best advice at this stage? Read on, learn from what I did and persevere. I can't stress that enough. I am now full time, purely because I have so many sources of online writing jobs and magazine work that I can't manage it all part time anymore - so believe me when I say it CAN be done. There are plenty of online writing gigs out there for everyone, not to mention all the magazines you can write for as well.
Read this article on how to earn money with online writing, then check back here for some more of my experiences.
Let's get going!
By the way, if you click on the link to the left of this column (the one that says 'lenses by Allison Whitehead') you can also see some of my other writing related lenses.
CLICK HERE to add How to Write and Sell Articles to your favorites!
CLICK HERE to add How to Write and Sell Articles to your Lensroll!
Contents at a Glance
- Four steps stand between you and writing success in 2009
- How I started selling my articles
- Follow my writing experiences on Twitter!
Here's my favorite link:
How I started selling my articles
Otherwise known as a nine month struggle...
There was no way it was going to be accepted, but I was still disappointed when it came back just days after I'd sent it.
I can remember the day things changed, and I wrote what would become my first accepted article.
I've long had a love of cats, and in the UK at the time there was a cat magazine with a circulation of around 25,000 readers. I submitted a short 500 word piece to them... and received an acceptance letter just days later.
I remember receiving that envelope. Not a thick one with a manuscript inside, but a thin one that could only contain a letter of acceptance. I got the princely sum of £12.50 for that article, but I was so delighted with my success I sat down and spent the rest of the day writing more articles.
Days later I notched up my second acceptance, and I've never looked back. I've had disappointments, of course, but by and large I've done very well.
You can too.
Read my growing group of writing lenses and benefit from my years of experience. Hey, I'm beginning to sound old now...
Visit Online Freelance Writing Jobs and find out how to get a foot in the door of paid online writing, and check out Online Content Copywriting Jobs to discover a whole world of online writing jobs YOU can apply for today.
What's that saying - the longest journey starts with a single step? Writing is very much like that. But the sooner you start your own journey towards publication, the sooner you'll get there. And when you do, nothing else beats it.
I am now writing e-books, articles and blogs for clients worldwide, and have never been happier. That's what happens when you hone your skills and make the most of them.
Follow my writing experiences on Twitter!
Small but well formed ;)
My writing life
- allison_w
- aka Allison
- 763 followers
- 827 following
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- @InspiredDana Nice Hubpage on writers' communities - very important for us not to get isolated
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- @aherrod Great article - and very timely too since my own writing blog is just getting started on its own domain name!
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- Working - planning on piling up a few more pages of my eBook. It's going well and fast, since there are screenshots involved too :)
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- Back at my desk now. My writing blog is building up nicely. Will reveal it soon! Any other writing blogs out there I can subscribe to?
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- Morning all - working early before hosp.appt. later on. Kind of a two part day I think - more work tonight to catch up!
7 Steps to Getting Your First Article Published and Paid For
This is what you need to do.
1. Aim low to start with. Don't aim for the huge mass market women's weeklies. They have a lot of competition and beginners are better off to go elsewhere and leave those markets for later.
2. Don't dismiss the internet. There are plenty of websites that will pay for submissions. Do some research to see if there are any you like the look of.
3. Query your ideas before writing the article. This will save you wasting time writing something that doesn't have a solid market.
4. Stick to what you know. There will be plenty of time to branch out later on, but for now you need to make things as easy as possible for yourself.
5. Don't put money first. It's good that you want to get paid for your work, but don't be blinded by dollar signs all the time. Refer back to step one if you need any clarification!
6. Present your work in a professional manner. Find out how the market you want to submit to likes articles to be presented to them and follow it to the letter.
7. Finally, make sure you get your facts right. This refers to every single part of every submission you ever make. Not only should the article be factually correct, but you should also make sure you are sending it to the correct person - and in the correct manner. Do they accept email submissions? Find out before you attach it and email it off.
There is plenty more to writing and selling articles, of course, but if you bear the above seven points in mind you will be off to a roaring start.
Start reading my writing blog today!
... the space where I write...
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byAn excerpt from my 4 step blueprint to selling articles successfully
I wrote this book to help the thousands of struggling writers out there who are trying to get that all important first acceptance under their belts. This book (if you follow the advice given) will speed up your progress and steer you away from making the common mistakes that prevent many people from getting published.
Because the fact is, there's no great mystery to succeeding at article writing. You can do it if you follow the four step blueprint provided within this book. All that is required is to follow it step by step, apply the principles to your own work, and read it often to make sure you are staying on track.
The one thing I cannot provide you with is perseverance. You need to be able to keep going regardless of how many rejection slips you get. You may be a quick learner and only get a few. You may take longer to really get to grips with the principles in this book, and acquire enough slips to paper the loo with. No matter. Perseverance will always get you from A to B, whatever the distance between the two points is. Always remember that.
And enjoy the journey. My journey took nine months (and was probably a good deal more painful than the average pregnancy and birth), but I learned such a lot along the way. Yes the rejections were disappointing, but I learned the lessons they brought, and I got there in the end.
And let me tell you, when you finally succeed, and you start to realise the rewards that being a published writer can bring, you'll realise all the hard work and effort (and yes, even the disappointments) is worth it.
So... let's begin to find out more about how to write and sell articles.
The complete four step blueprint is available to buy here.
Promote yourself!
You can't beat a bit of self promotion to get your writing career started.Part of being a successful writer is getting into the habit of promoting your skills by letting people know you are there - whether that's by having your own website, querying editors with ideas for articles, or applying for jobs you've found on online job boards (look for my Online Freelance Writing Jobs lens in the LensRoll on the right to see how and where to find these jobs right now!).
The good news is, this part gets easier the longer you do it. The trick is getting started!
That's why I've launched a brand new lens called "How to Build a Marketing Blog that Boosts Your Business". It reveals the reasons why you should set up your own blog now if you want to promote yourself as a writer.
There's plenty there to help you get started, and I'll be developing it over time as well, so make sure you bookmark it! I hope you enjoy it and I'd love to hear your feedback.
Useful guides for beginning article writers on Amazon
Writer's Digest Handbook of Magazine Article Writing
Avg. Customer Rating: 
Amazon Price: $11.55 (as of 07/06/2009) 
List Price: $16.99
Used Price: $7.09
Usually ships in 24 hours
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Magazine Articles
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Amazon Price: (as of 07/06/2009)
List Price:
Used Price: $2.92
Secrets of a Freelance Writer, Third Edition: How to Make $100,000 a Year or More
Release Date: 08/22/2006
Avg. Customer Rating:
Amazon Price: $11.56 (as of 07/06/2009)
List Price: $17.00
Used Price: $9.49
Usually ships in 24 hours
The Successful Writer's Guide to Publishing Magazine Articles (The Successful Writer's Guides Series)
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Amazon Price: (as of 07/06/2009)
List Price: $15.95
Used Price: $13.93
Writing and Selling Magazine Articles
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Amazon Price: (as of 07/06/2009)
List Price: $10.95
Used Price: $2.79
Other useful writing related lenses
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Find online freelance copywriting and ghostwriting jobs
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Welcome! This is the companion lens to Online Freelance Writing Jobs, with plenty of information on how to become a successful copywriter and/or ghostwriter - and where to find the jobs that will get you there. Copywriting can take on many forms - fr...
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Welcome to my lens which focuses on how to make money - either as an extra income or a full time job - by writing for the internet. And yes, it can be done - I'm a full timer myself and have been for well over a year! You're about to discover the site...
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Time to let me know what you think!
Great lens. I'm still just as excited about every acceptance letter (and, it must be said, *nearly* as distraught about every rejection) since the first.
It's important to just keep at it and never give up. I have a lens on getting more writing done in less time and remaining motivated throughout which might help your readers: http://www.squidoo.com/writemore.
Well done!
Mark
Posted May 19, 2009
Dadministrator wrote...
Great information for getting started and organizing yourself around deriving value from articles online. Selling articles can be tricky, especially without controls for copyright infringement or without a good marketspace to gauge pricing against. Here's a promising service that's another good resource to post, price, and sell articles that purchasers can also review - www.topicwrite.com.
Posted March 16, 2009
GreenErGlobe wrote...
Thank you Allison. Your lens is smart and helpful. I've lensrolled it and will be reading a lot more of your work.
You can view a bit of mine at: /www.squidoo.com/how_to_write_web_content">How To Write Web Content The Old Fashioned Way
Posted February 22, 2009
moneyman17 wrote...
Your tips certainly are top-notch. so i want to Invite you to visit and submit your articles to
Free Content Articles Directory visit my lens
Articles Marketing
Posted November 23, 2008
slackira wrote...
Cool...i can really use all this info.I too have a lens on article writing.Check it out http://www.squidoo.com/readinghelps
Posted August 02, 2008
qlcoach wrote...
Yes, writers and authors need to be more aware of how to make money online with their skills. Great information--5 stars! Now please consider sharing this information at our lense:
http://www.squidoo.com/groups/publishingclub
Sincerely: Gary Eby, author and therapist
Posted July 09, 2008
MyKidsInheritance wrote...
Another great lens, and another 5 stars for you! Brought back some great memories of how exciting it was to get those first few tiny checks. Shared that joy with my daughter when she was able to get her poetry published before starting college -- and got herself some nice scholarship money!!
Thanks for sharing....
Melissa
Posted June 18, 2008
Prof_Larry_M_Lynch wrote...
Good lens! Lots of good links and information here for the novice and not-so-new writer. My lens is on raising your writing and sales to the next level or becoming a professional writer or blogger. It's at:
http://www.squidoo.com/writeathousandarticles
Please check it out if interested. Thanks
Keep up the good work Allison.
Posted April 09, 2008
Allison_Whitehead wrote...
Thanks Robbie! It's nice to be able to give something back and hopefully make other people's learning curves a little less steep!
Posted March 09, 2008
by Allison_Whitehead
Hey there, thanks for stopping by!
If you want to know a little bit about me, here are the main bits - I'm a writer, working mainly for online c...
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