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.

In speaking to writers, they want to tell me about this great plot, their great story. They can see it. They think others can see it like they can. But it takes a lot of time, a lot of thrown away words, and a lot of getting lost in your brain for months and months at a time to figure out HOW to tell your story such that people want to live in it a while.
Everyone has a story. I don't care how good yours is. If you cannot marry the words together well enough to tempt the reader to enter, then stay there, then come out wanting more, then the story itself doesn't matter. It's always about the HOW you tell a story. Always, always, always.
Latest posts
Introducing Your LinkedIn Audience to Your Other Writing Self
Dan Brotzel / 2026-09-04
Say you’ve spent a decade producing whitepapers on fintech trends and case studies about enterprise software. Now you want to tell your LinkedIn audience you’ve signed with a small press for a dragon fantasy trilogy. Will they think less of you or stop giving you work? Corporate clients know me... Read More
Seven Habits of Salespeople That Can Work for Writers, Too
Dan Brotzel / 2026-08-28
Many writers are uncomfortable discussing money or selling their work. But, like it or not, we are salespeople. Writers pitch for work, trawl for new clients, network, and negotiate. Over my career, I’ve spent a lot of time with salespeople. They’re energetic, resilient and resourceful, and many of their ideas... Read More
End Procrastination, Start Learning
Abby Williams / 2026-08-21
Do you need to make a living as a writer and earn an income but suffer with regular writing procrastination? I've a few resources you can try that have been game-changers for me. During six weeks of using them, I've written two short stories (a genre I'd never tried before),... Read More
16 Jobs for the Summer Slow Times
Dan Brotzel / 2026-08-14
When summer rolls around, commercial writing work often dries up. Don’t panic – use the quieter months to tidy up the backend of your operation in time for the autumn rush. Here’s a handy checklist. 1. Overhaul your website and CV Check that all your latest publications, client names, and... Read More
Proving Your Writing is Not AI
C. Hope Clark / 2026-08-14
I follow the newsletter and website Plagiarism Today, a long time, tried and true resource on plagiarism, and most recently, Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the writing world. Recently they ran a post on How to Prove That Your Writing is Not AI, and it is most excellent. The tools are wonderful.... Read More
The Surgeon’s Scalpel: Cutting Fluff to Maximize Your Freelance Income
Andrea Ciarrocchi / 2026-08-03
I am an abdominal surgeon. My days are dictated by operating room schedules, emergency consults, and ward rounds. When people learn I also maintain a steady income as a freelance writer—adding a consistent stream of paid invoices to my bank account every month—they always ask: Where do you find the... Read More
Writing About Yourself
C. Hope Clark / 2026-08-03
Many writers want to write about themselves. "I experienced (fill in the blank) and I believe the world needs to learn from my experience." The problem is, unless you can write it like a novel, or write it cinematically, it's just words on a page. Converting real emotion into words... Read More
What Writers Can Learn from the Predictable Revenue Playbook
Dan Brotzel / 2026-08-03
So you land an exciting new writing commission or a contract that will cover all your bills for a couple of months. You put your head down and get on with delivering the goods. Six weeks later, however, you come up for air and realise you’ve got nothing else in... Read More
Niche Down to Profit: Turning Eclectic Hobbies into Predictable Income
Andrea Ciarrocchi / 2026-07-24
I am an abdominal surgeon based in Italy. I am also a self-taught developer. Yet, despite my demanding primary career, I maintain a steady, predictable stream of freelance writing income. How? Not by pitching major consumer magazines, but by turning my hyper-specific, off-the-clock hobbies into recurring assignments in niche markets.... Read More
Selling Novel Versus Screenplay Rights In Hollywood – What’s the Difference?
Mark Heidelberger / 2026-07-11
Okay, so you’re a novelist by trade, but you’ve got a story idea you feel is just as well suited for a Hollywood film as a paperback. However, before you put ink to paper, you wonder whether it would be wiser to write the novel first and then sell the... Read More























