Writing yourself out of unemployment...

Digger95.

Writing is not big money, unless you are writing bestselling novels like some of the pros out there, but you can probably make some extra with articles or short stories.

What do you like to write?

What type of writing? There are opportunities for freelance copy editors (nonfiction) and writers, especially in the technical and medical fields.

For more general types of writing, try joining the Editorial Freelancers Association. I'm on their e-mail list and get daily notices of opportunities. The pay is not that great, however, compared to more specialized writing.

WriterBN,

What a great link! I noticed EFA has a chapter in Northern California. Cool Beans!

Digger95 said:

I'm disabled and love writing and need to make some money. I'm about at the end of my rope financially and because I am physically limited I am bound to my home. What avenues might I pursue right now that might enable me to use my writing skills to gain an income from my home?

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Writing is a risky and uncertain business, and doesn't pay well, except for those rare luminaries like John Grisham or Stephen King. The quickest way in is through freelancing and commercial writing, ie, sales material for new products, product manuals, etc.

Consider also editing if you have very good language skills. Or if you have training in a specialty, for example, chemistry or math, publishers hire outside agents to edit and proofread textbooks for them. I knew a single mother who made a meager living doing this.

Again, if your language skills are good, consider tutoring for second-language students. My wife did this for a local community college for some years.

If you receive private or Social Security disability income, remember that income you receive from working may be deducted from that income.

I've recently started considering greeting cards for some extra income, and been perusing the discussions here on that avenue.

Digger95 said:

What avenues might I pursue right now that might enable me to use my writing skills to gain an income from my home?

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Resumes. Your own, to send out.

Seriously, if you want to earn a living writing, write a resume that will find you a job you can do.

Jeff

If you are a good typist and can get your hands on the proper software (and some training), transcription work can pay very well. Better than doing $.25-apiece articles. I don't know anyone in the business anymore, but I'd look in translation (if you have the language skills) or transcription.

Scriptwriting might hold more bang for your writing time than novels or freelance articles. Consider it.

That all being said, there's a market for M/M erotica and New Adult at the moment. Read some and decide if it's your thing. Consider joining critters.org or get a beta reader to help whip the work into shape before sending it out just to make sure you're on the right track.

If you're very prolific, you can try putting your first three novels up on Kindle select/KDP format and play with the pricing. Maybe first book is free, second book is .99 and third book is $2.99. Do a little research and see what's working for other people. But you may have to hire an editor or a cover artist to get your work into shape. If this is your first time writing a book, you may want to go the epub route.

Unfortunately, if you're starting from scratch these aren't a quick money maker. Some epubs take up to 6 months to get back to you. And even if you're selling well, you may only get income quarterly. And then maybe only $20 here and there.

But good luck and keep writing!

I'm a freelance writer for one of the big daily newspapers that's had to lay off staff these past few years. They're situated in the next town and don't have adequate staff to cover my town (they publish a small, free paper to compete with my town's large daily paper). I pitch stories, and after getting the okay, interview folks, write the stories, and send 'em in via email. I get paid $95 per story; the checks are mailed to my home.

See if you can do freelance stories that don't call for your leaving the house. I've done articles where I simply called the town's "celebrities" (including the mayor) and had them tell me what their favorite beverage was for those scorching-hot, 100+-degree, summer days. Maybe you can think of story angles that will please the editor of your local paper.

Money from the creative arts of all kinds is uncertain, small, and slow.

James D. Macdonald said:

Money from the creative arts of all kinds is uncertain, small, and slow.

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… and when you're in my position, it's always appreciated.

Digger95 said:

If I've placed this post in the wrong forum please move it...

I'm disabled and love writing and need to make some money. I'm about at the end of my rope financially and because I am physically limited I am bound to my home. What avenues might I pursue right now that might enable me to use my writing skills to gain an income from my home?

Thanks for any ideas...

Jim

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Blogging or working on a website.

You could make some money selling articles or short stories but the chances of making big money off fiction is very little. While it can happen it takes so long for you to start earning enough profit to live on you will not be able to live off it. So it's not practical.

Blogging or website construction is a service that people would be willing to pay for. It's different. You could make some money with it through starting your own online business.

Digger95 said:

If I've placed this post in the wrong forum please move it...

I'm disabled and love writing and need to make some money. I'm about at the end of my rope financially and because I am physically limited I am bound to my home. What avenues might I pursue right now that might enable me to use my writing skills to gain an income from my home?

Thanks for any ideas...

Jim

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There are different types of writing, which pay differeny amounts and, and this is important, in different time frames.

For instance - if you self publish you will generally get paid 60 days after profits reach a certain threshold - for instance, 100 dollars with Amazon.

If you trade publish - there's no telling how much time it will take for find a publisher - it can take years sometimes - and then even when you DO get a publisher, there's not telling how much you'll actually make - you could get a huge advance, or you could get a tiny one, and even then, there's no guarentee the book will earn anything beyond that.

If you write articles etc then you usually get paid faster, but it's hard work, and it takes a long time to get yourself established as a freelance writer to the point where you are making enough to live on.

Atlantis said:

Blogging or working on a website.

You could make some money selling articles or short stories....

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Unless you can regularly place short stories in the very few pro markets remaining, they are a shaky source of revenue. My lifetime income from shorts wouldn't pay for a good night on the town.

My advice would be to give writing a spin, while at the same time exploring other avenues. You won't lose anything (as long as you watch out for publishing scams), and you'll be improving your writing skills along the way and producing work of value to yourself.

Writing can be profitable - I'm a medical/health industry writer when I'm not writing novels, and I got a staff writing position that pays decently. However, staff writing (and freelance) is a LOT of work - 12 - 30 hour days will not be unheard of, if you plan on making enough to support yourself on writing alone.

Write nonfiction. If you have knowledge, and decent writing skills, it's pretty easy to make money writing nonfiction. You won't get rich, but if you can sell at all, it pays a heck of a lot better than minimum wage.

Digger95 said:

It will take some time to sift through all of the great ideas you have posted but please accept my heartfelt appreciation for your valuable input. As I live in a university town and have technical writing skills it seems appropriate that I should start there.

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One of the biggest problems in publishing scientific papers, especially in chemistry and engineering, is the large number of foreign students who can't write publishable English. Chinese and Korean students, especially, have huge problems because of the major differences in languages.

A competent editor can take a manuscript and rework it into proper English suitable for submission to a scientific journal. Some schools have their own editors on staff, but I'm betting that recent financial issues have made it practical to farm out editing and proofing.

The same is true of grant proposals. They are much larger documents that are the lifeblood of every research lab, and require the best possible presentation, including the language.

Bill raises a good point re. grant proposals - lately I've seen a lot of jobs advertised to do this very thing - it's quite a difficult and specialised area though, as I know from experience - and while it does need to be written well, if the writer doesn't know what they are talking about that also tends to show - which is why a background or a good base in the subject helps, as does a close relationship with the folks you are working for.

JamesBaldwin said:

However, staff writing (and freelance) is a LOT of work - 12 - 30 hour days will not be unheard of, if you plan on making enough to support yourself on writing alone.

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Those 30-hour days are real killers. Actually, when the writing is moving slowly, I've had a lot of days that felt like 30-hour days.

For one year, I made a living writing articles on subjects that hadn't garnered a lot of public attention (barely known cult film directors, female bodybuilders, etc) and based most of the articles on telephone interviews and research. I hustled every day of the week and my per hour wage was pitiful. Worse yet, as time went on, I was more interested in the pay check than the work itself.

It was a rough year with a lot of financially-scary moments. If you have any other options, you might want to consider those first.

Digger95 said:

Thank you so much, everyone.

It will take some time to sift through all of the great ideas you have posted but please accept my heartfelt appreciation for your valuable input. As I live in a university town and have technical writing skills it seems appropriate that I should start there.

Jim

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One of the first things you need to do is get some writing samples up online. Don't spend a lot of money on this; were I doing it, I'd start with a free blog/site on WordPress.org or blogger, whichever you prefer.

I wouldn't even spend money on a domain until I'd made money.