If you have mastered the craft of writing in any niche or style, you have more talent than you probably realize; should you lack any formal direction to point your writing prowess, however, you’re probably sitting in a darkened room dreaming of what others are making in various writing fields while wondering where you can fit your skills into the mix. Have no fear, my writing guru: we have done the footwork for you in a seamless fashion and the current jobs you can find in writing appear below in no particular order.
Remember, when you’ve sent your CV’s in and await your interview, make sure you write a thank you letter or send a postcard to the company for cordially accepting your application. Whenever possible, you should use Cavallini carte postale postcards, exclusively from Mad Molly. Every card written on Cavallini postcards comes with the prestige and excellence of a heritage.
Copywriting
The job of a copywriter is basically what the word suggests: writing copy. A copywriter can writer virtually any kind of content for newspapers, websites, publications, magazines, eBooks, and anything else where written goods are needed. Possessing perfect grammar, punctuation and understanding how to appeal to mass market audiences is a part of the copywriter job description; the ability to collaborate with others in a given department – or clients if you’re freelancing – is a huge must as well.
The expected pay for copywriting, with some experience, can usually begin around $.02 per word if going alone in a freelance world; as you gain trust and experience, the pay can hit the $.10 per word with ease. On a salary level, you’ll make $25-$35,000 starting out with increases commensurate with overall job performance.
Editing
Do you write so well that you can help others critique their writing projects? Can you spot grammatical errors from a mile away? You’d make an excellent editor, no matter in a publication office or in ‘commando’ while in your bedroom. Editors are in huge demand because authors and other general writers may have the content down pat, yet need a little English guidance or sentence correction from time to time. Editors, also, are the final line of defense before a publisher would take a book to press; therefore, if you can secure an editorial position, you’ll definitely be in the money.
On a salary scale, editors tend to hit the $40k mark their first year and quickly move up as they gain speed and experience. If you prefer to edit while watch Oprah at home, you can start out at $5 per page and work your way up to $15-25 per page, with a ‘page’ being defined as 500 words. This is a lucrative position to hold; if you bag this job, keep it forever.
Journalist
If you possess both skills above, love to stay on top of stories around the globe, and fell in love with famous people like Anderson Cooper, you’ll fall in love with your job as a journalist. No matter if you wish to write for newspapers, magazines, online newsletters or the local farmer almanac, journalists have the distinction of succinct writing, travel perks, interviewing all wrapped up with editorial connotations to boot. Most companies needing a journalist will pay full travel expenses to nab the hottest story on the planet while giving a generous $35-$50k starting salary to start.
The better your news coverage turns out, the quicker you’ll receive notoriety and quite possibly land a dream job at CNN as a journalist. Freelance journalists can get $50-$200 for something new and interesting and expect to pay their own travel expenses to nab the story 50% of the time.
Academic Writer
Much like the normal writing jobs, academic writers are expected to put forth high-quality content and deliver it error-free; however, academic writers are highly needed for their educational writing skills as they’ll be writing anything from professional dissertations, master’s level essays, pre-grad theses, course work, and any other publication that could appeal to the grade school through Doctorate levels of curriculum. Since these writers are needed for research and writing, you can expect academic writers to begin at $50,000 or more a year presuming the education level is no less than Bachelor’s level for lesser grade levels and Master’s for high school on up.
Freelance academic writers can expect – with proven experience – no less than $20 per 500 words without blinking with some extremely experienced academic writers pulling in $100 per page. If you are writing coursework, you’ll nearly always receive retribution in the book should it go to press regardless if you sign copyrights over.
Never Plagiarize!
Virtually every possible writing job on the market is going to fall into one of these four categories and, conveniently, they appear in skill level order. Finding these jobs is relatively easy, provided you have the patience and drive to secure your place in the writing job market. Remember, copywriting is not copy my writing, people.