Time to get serious about yourwriting career
You won’t be able to quit work and write, but you might find a grant to make your writing goals easier. Or a crowdfunding opportunity to fund your project. Find serious contests, too. Only those that pay in cold hard cash. No pay-per-click, $1 per blog or exposure markets either. Hope Clark writes for a living. If she wouldn’t try these opportunities, she doesn’t post them. Our newsletters are our world. Free subscription.
Chosen 101 Best Writing Websites by Writer’s Digest for the last 23 years in a row.

AI is happening. No doubt about it. Where it happens, and how acceptable it is in assorted venues, however, varies.
People are using it like a resource right and left. The majority of people online use it. People let it take notes, use it to look up books (and their reviews), and ask it to organize a zillion things. Copywriting uses it more than you think.
However, using it for covers and the content of books is still a huge no-no. Barnes & Noble's CEO made that clear recently.
Barnes & Noble CEO James Daunt issued a statement yesterday saying the bookseller does not “endorse or intentionally sell AI-generated books. We take active measures to exclude all AI-generated books from our online offerings and never knowingly order any for in-store stock.”
Be careful. AI is tempting. AI is cheaper than hiring artists and editors. However, if you get caught up in a whirlwind of negativity because you did, if readers chastize you for it, if a bookseller or publisher smells it, you become a permanent reminder of it. Your name and brand and future could be damaged and painted as fraud.
Once somebody even thinks you may have used it, you've lost fans. And they don't come back.
Latest posts
Three Unique Ways to Find New Markets to Pitch
Rachel Carrington / 2026-05-27As freelance writers, we struggle to find markets that suit our interests. Even sites dedicated to providing freelance listings, while excellent for the most part, can't list every available market. Often, the smaller niche publishers aren’t even included in listings, but with some effort there are ways to find them.... Read More
Pitching Mags and Online Sites
C. Hope Clark / 2026-05-27Believe it or not, online sites and magazines are seeking freelance writers they can rely upon. And if they develop a reliable relationship with them, they'll use those writers as long as they can. The reason? Reliable writers who can follow direction, think intelligently, and write well without AI are... Read More
The Instruction Book
C. Hope Clark / 2026-05-21A week doesn't pass that someone doesn't write me and ask what books I recommend on learning how to write well. And I never fail to go to a conference and not meet a writer who thrives on how-to-write books, with a library of two dozen or more. To them... Read More
How I Turned My Self-Published Book Into an Amazon Bestseller
Shannon O'Brien / 2026-05-08Launching a book as an indie author can feel overwhelming, but with a clear schedule and targeted strategies, it can also be a source of income, reviews, and long-term visibility. I learned this while preparing my travel memoir Stray: Breaking Free, Falling Hard and Growing Stronger, and I want to share... Read More
How Writing Contests Became My Best-Paying Writing Habit This Year
Bethany Bruno / 2026-05-02Last year, I made more money from my writing than I ever had before, and it came from one change: submitting to writing contests. I don’t pretend contest winnings can replace a full-time income, and they haven’t for me. But contest money has helped in concrete ways, and it gave... Read More
Moaning about AI on LinkedIn Won’t Get You Hired
Dan Brotzel / 2026-04-24LinkedIn attracts people who make money from writing and language – content creators, ad copywriters, seo and marcoms writers, brand voice specialists and all the rest. It’s a place to network, debate industry topics, and subtly showcase skills. Recently these wordy people are posting more obsessively about two things –... Read More
Raise Your Value – Successfully Raise Rates With Long-Standing Clients
Melissa Mayntz / 2026-04-17It can be reassuring for a freelance writer to maintain steady clients to fill their workdays. Work keeps flowing, and paychecks keep arriving. Until savings decrease, or bills rise, and profits aren't what they once were. Not that you aren't working hard, but your pay may not be keeping up... Read More
Writing when you’re down How to keep going – and earning – when you’re not feeling yourself
Dan Brotzel / 2026-04-11Writing when you’re down Over the last two years I’ve experienced a series of setbacks that have taken quite a toll personally and professionally – bereavements, illness and accidents in the family, caring for ageing relatives, plus losing my job, ample pitch rejections, and all the rest. In recent months,... Read More
Beta Readers
C. Hope Clark / 2026-04-11A beta reader is a reader who reviews a book before published to provide constructive feedback. There are lots of versions of beta readers, but they are good tools to have for any book-length manuscript, and even for those in freelance, nonfiction material. It's another set of eyes on the... Read More
The Pros and Cons of Adapting Your Own Novel
Mark Heidelberger / 2026-03-27You’re a proven novelist with one or more published books to your name. You clearly know story, plot, conflict and character. You’re riding high on accolades from readers who are eagerly anticipating your next literary masterpiece, but you’re also hungry to try something new. That’s when a friend casually says,... Read More























