Calling All Writers- How Much Money Do You Need? Yet Another 5 Markets Paying Writers
How Much Money Do You Need?
When it comes to freelance writing, there are tons of folks out there who promise you will make $5,000 or even $10,000 a month as a freelance writer.
And there are in fact, people like @Jorden Roper and @Darren Rowse, making that kind of money from freelance blog posts. So yes, it’s very doable.
But you won’t make that kind of money if you’re swinging blind folded (cold emailing) and/or swinging in the wrong direction (markets that don’t pay) at the pinata (paid writing gigs).
Most of us need to make more money than writing for content mills or third party freelance sites.
But if you’re like me, you just aren’t ready to go all out with business blogging and marketing like Jorden and Darren.
So, here’s an option I like better that’s worked for me.
You can cold email or target only those markets you already KNOW are paying writers AND are ready to hire writers in your niche or areas of expertise.
Traditional cold emailing casts a very wide net. You research any and all businesses in your niche and find contact information. At least 1/4 of the emails you found (let’s say 25), maybe more, are bad emails or don’t go to the decision maker in the company.
Nearly half of the emails that get through to the right person (let’s say 35 of the remaining 75), won’t get opened for various reasons. The reasons have nothing to do with your pitch and could include things like inbox overwhelm, automatic spam filters, timing of vacation, etc.
Okay, so possibly 40 emails get to the decision maker and let’s been generous and say half of those (20) got opened. That means of the 100 emails you sent out, eighty of them were invalid emails, didn’t get to the right person or didn’t get opened at all.
Even with the perfect pitch and competitive rates, you had zero chance of a response from 80 of 100 emails.
In addition, email response rates are typically pretty low anyhow. Of the 20 clients who opened your email, many may not want a blog or even understand the value of it. Others may just not be ready or able to pay for content.
So you send out 100 emails and 20 are opened. Is it any surprise that you get only three responses? And chances are, one of those people isn’t looking for writers now and the other wants free content or wants to low-ball the price.
That leaves one prospect, out of a hundred. And unfortunately you spent all that time up front getting contact information for those 100 companies.
But by starting your email campaign with markets you know want to pay writers, you are narrowing your target audience. You still need to do some work in advance on the front end like with cold emailing but it’s not so random.
With my method, when you get to those 3 email responses, they will ALL be looking for writers and willing to pay for content — you’re ONLY job is to convince them to pay YOU and not someone else.
Submission guidelines for magazines and other paying markets tell you what they prefer in a post or at least how and where to submit. The email is good and it’s going to the right person so your odds of a response jump significantly.
For these markets, it may take longer to get a response, but when you get a response, the odds are greater for it to be a positive response. Make sure to note all the details about a market including decision turn around time, any rights or licensing agreements, etc.
So right now, figure out how much money YOU need to make every month, or for the next 3 months or 6 months, one year, etc.
Wait. Got a number in mind? OK, good.
Next break that amount down into how much you need to make each week to meet that amount. It’s a good practice to know both the weekly amount and a monthly amount you need to make to meet your 3 month or annual goal amount.
Now take a look through some of the paid writing markets below and determine how many articles, blog posts, short stories, etc. you would need to complete and at what pay rate to earn your desired amount.
By taking the above steps, you now know what rate you need to charge and how much work you need to complete at that rate to meet your income goal. Consider the time it will take to complete the projects as well as any waiting period or uncertainty that comes with magazines and other writing markets.
Yet Another 5 Markets That Want to Pay Writers
- Outdoor Canada is targeted toward readers with interests in hunting, fishing, and conservation in these areas. This magazine seeks original and well-researched how-to articles, in depth reporting, and entertaining feature articles. Payment ranges between $100 for short and up to $400 for feature articles (1,500 to 2,500 words) Submit query via email. Also seeking outdoor photographers and illustrators. See contributor guidelines for more info.
- Organic Lifestyle Magazine and Green Lifestyle Market Magazines Looking for articles that educate and are likely to be shared and saved by readers for reference. Topics are natural health and healing as well as environmental issues, agriculture, human rights, fitness, animal rights, of the grid, recipes, food, diet, gardening, and more. Readers love vegan, raw, and vegetarian recipes. All recipes should be healthy and gluten free. Pays $150 for articles between 400 and 1,500 words plus bonus for milestone social shares within 6 months. See guidelines for specific instructions and articles that have done well.
- Eating Well Magazine a national print magazine that is seeking writers to contribute to their “Freelancer-Friendly Columns” which include columns such as: (a.) FRESH-the front-of-book section that features short posts about seasonal selections and trends in health and food. (b.) FRESH Food is dedicated to the celebration of food. (c.) FRESH Life-focuses on how food and eating intersect with life. See guidelines for specific details on how to submit and the best way to become an established contributor.
- Skirt! Magazine seeking to publish and pay for personal essays centered around monthly themes related to women and women’s interests. Payment $200 for 800–1,100 words. See submission guidelines for theme calendar. Also seeking submissions of art and female bloggers in the local Charleston area to contribute unpaid guest posts.
- Fireside Fiction seeks flash fiction and short stories up to 4,000 words. Payment is 12.5 cents per word. Heavy preference for speculative fiction but does publish some non-genre. See submission guidelines for specific details.
Bonus Resource:
Writers in Charge blog written by Bamidele Onibalusi off hundreds of different magazines that pay writers and gives links to submission pages. Markets are divided into lists by categories: Life Magazines, Fantasy & Sci-Fi, Fishing, Outdoor/Environment, Food & Drink Magazines, Equestrian, Regional Magazines, and many more.
Now, go get those paying gigs!
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