5 Best Side Hustles for Writers in the Real World -

If you are a passionate writer who is looking for different side hustles to make extra money, then you have come to the right place.

There is no doubt that content writing is an excellent way to earn a handsome amount of cash while honing both your skills and creativity.

This is why more and more people are adopting it as a full-time profession.

Fortunately, the rise in popularity of the writing field has opened up several opportunities for writers to convert their writing passion into a profitable side hustle.

In this blog post, I am going to discuss those side hustles in detail, so that you can pick the one that you think is suitable.

To make the decision easier for you, I have divided the side hustles into two different sections one is for beginner writers, and the other one is for professional ones.

5 Best Side Hustles for Writers in the Real World.

If you are a newbie writer, then you can consider adopting any of the following side hustles discussed below:

1. Blogging.

Blogging is considered one of the best and easiest side hustles for content writers.

It involves creating a website, and then start writing quality blog posts that provide valuable information to the audience.

As a blogger, you can consider creating a site in a niche that interests you like technology, entertainment, health, travel, and many more.

However, you need to write high-quality blogs so that you can rank higher in search results and grab the attention of maximum visitors.

When your blogging site starts attracting a good number of visitors, you will have many ways through which you can start earning a passive income.

For instance, you can consider partnering with Google AdSense which is a special program from Google that provides bloggers a way to earn money from their online content.

Apart from this, you can also earn money through your blog by providing backlinks.

Let me explain how this will work.

When you have a good blog, both individuals and companies will approach you to get quality backlinks from your blog, and you can charge money against those backlinks.

Now, you may have a good idea about how blogging can be a good side hustle for writers.

2. Offering writing services on freelance platforms.

As a beginner content writer, you can also consider offering writing services on freelancing websites.

This type of writing is commonly known as “Freelance writing.”

It can also be a decent side hustle.

There are several freelancing websites or platforms available on the internet that allow writers to start earning by selling writing services to clients through the freelancing platform.

However, the platform will charge a fixed percentage whenever writers earn some amount of money.

For example, Upwork is one of the most popular freelancing platforms in the world.

As a writer, you can sign up (it’s completely free to sign up) and create a writing profile.

After profile creation, you can start approaching clients who are looking for writing services.

This way, you can start earning a handsome amount of money.

Apart from Upwork, there are several other platforms available like Fiverr, Freelancer, and many more.

One of the best things is that the freelancing platforms are almost safe, this means there are fewer chances of scamming only if you (the writer) follow the recommended guidelines.

3. Affiliate writing.

Affiliate writing can also be an excellent side hustle for writers.

This type of writing involves writing reviews of products, movies, books, and many more.

As an affiliate writer, you can consider writing review articles for websites/blogs, and brands, and earn a passive amount of income.

However, there is one thing that you must keep in mind, affiliate writers are paid either for their writing service or in the form of commission over sales generated through their affiliate blog.

So, to be a successful writer, you must understand the product you are going to review.

Not just this, you also have to adopt an engaging tone that encourages the reader to make a purchase.

Wondering how to start affiliate writing?

I’m here to explain.

To start affiliate writing, all you have to do is apply for an affiliate partnership with a brand.

Some of the popular brands that offer affiliate programs for writers include Amazon, Shopify, etc.

Once you get the approval from the brand, you will be given a special ID (link) that you can add to the products that you will be reviewing.

Whenever someone purchases through your link, you will earn a fixed amount of commission from the brand.

In simple words, affiliate writing is an excellent side hustle for writers to earn a handsome amount of money.

4. Ghost writing.

If you don’t want to start blogging or affiliate writing, then ghostwriting is something that will catch your attention.

A ghostwriter is a writer who writes articles, books, and blogs but his/her written content is not published under his name.

Instead, the written content is published under someone else’s name.

Many high-authority blogs pay a good amount of money to ghostwriters in exchange for high-quality content.

So, as a writer, you can consider approaching or applying to as many blogs and increase your chances of getting hired.

Remember, ghostwriters are especially hired by big companies with the task of converting another person’s thoughts or ideas into a good piece of written content.

This will definitely require good writing skills because you have to write according to someone else’s tone and style.

One more thing that you need to keep in mind is that ghostwriting won’t build your personal recognition in the writing industry.

This is so because your work will be published under someone else’s name.

This is why ghostwriters are paid more than normal writers to compensate them for the PR they are forgoing which they could get by publishing content by their own names.

5. Resume or cover letter writing.

Cover letter or resume writing is the final side hustle you can consider taking as a beginner writer.

Many people (no matter which field they belong to) struggle to come up with good cover letters and resumes.

This is where you can stand up as a writer.

As a resume or cover letter writer, you can work with candidates to understand their job history, career goals, professional skills, etc.

After this, you can craft a well-written cover letter or resume and improve the chances for candidates to get hired.

This way you can earn a good amount of income.

According to a report by ZipRecruiter, a resume or cover letter writer makes $18 per hour, which I think is more than enough, since it is a side hustle.

Now that you have understood different side hustles for beginner content writers, it’s time to get familiar with the ones that professional writers can take.

5 Great Side Hustles for Professional Writers.

If you are a professional writer (with pro writing skills), then you can consider taking the following side hustles.

1. Copywriting.

Copywriting is one of the best ways to make a huge amount of income quickly.

It involves writing compelling, persuasive, and engaging ad copies for companies to promote their products or services.

The writing copies usually include website copy, emails, newsletters, product descriptions, taglines, social media captions, and many more.

The best thing is copywriting always remains high in demand; this is because businesses are always in need of promotion.

So, if you have good copywriting skills, there is a strong chance you will get a chance to work with big brands and earn a good amount of money.

However, keep in mind that the purpose of copywriting is to persuade potential customers to take some action, such as completing a purchase.

This requires exceptional writing skills as well as the ability to alter your writing tone to suit both brands and customers.

Copywriters must frequently write in a variety of voices and styles while paying close attention to detail.

This is one of the reasons why some writers charge more than others.

2. Self-Publish a Book

Since you are a professional writer, you will definitely have a good reputation in the writing industry.

So, self-publishing a book can be a great way to start making money without going the traditional book publishing route.

But it takes time, skill, and effort.

As an author, you will need to write, edit, and format the book.

However, you can also hire a professional editor or proofreader, but it will definitely cost you.

You can then print it and publish it to the market.

Then you’ll start making money on every book sold.

Apart from this, you can also sell the written book on different self-publishing platforms, this will be considered as an ebook.

There are many platforms available such as Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing that allow writers to self-publish their books for free.

The best thing about publishing books online in digital form is that you don’t have to deal with printing, inventory, shipping, etc.

Wondering which you should write a book?

Let me give some suggestions:

You can consider writing on topics that interest you.

You can also consider writing a book about your journey as a professional writer.

Finally, you can write a book that will guide the new writers about how to become successful in this field.

3. Start a YouTube channel on content writing.

You will have a pretty good idea of what I am going to discuss in this writing side hustle.

YouTube is one of the most popular and widely used video-sharing platforms in the world.

So, as a writer, you can consider creating a YouTube channel about “Content Writing” and start uploading videos related to writing.

This side hustle is almost similar to blogging, and the process of earning money is also similar.

When you start to grow (like getting good views regularly), you can monetize the channel with the YouTube Partner Program, and start earning.

Additionally, you can also earn a good amount of cash from direct sponsorships, product promotion or sales, etc.

One of the best things about this writing side hustle is that, as the popularity of video content increases, the amount of earnings will also increase.

However, you have to create high-quality video content to get maximum views.

For this, you can try the following tips:

Pick video topics related to the writing field.
Focus on providing valuable information.

Avoid asking viewers to like or subscribe to the channel repeatedly. Can get irritating.

3. Write for magazines.

If you are a writer who is looking for a fun side hustle, then writing articles about magazines can be a good option for you.

And the best thing is that there are many magazines available regarding every topic.

This means you have a huge variety to choose from.

To get started as a magazine writer, you have to first check for popular magazines to see whether they have provided details about submitting articles or not.

Usually, magazines provide the contact details of editors.

In this case, you can reach out to the editors and ask them to collaborate with you.

However, there is an issue with magazine writing which is that most magazines pay writers either per article or per word.

If you are paying per word, then this means you will have to write a lot of words to earn a good amount of money.

For this reason, magazine writing is not considered the best-paying job for writers.

4. Transcript writing.

This is yet another excellent side hustle for writers. Transcript writing requires listening, typing, grammar and punctuation, and attention to detail.

So, if you have all these skills, then you can take transcript writing as your part-time job and start earning good money.

You can find work in different fields like entertainment, legal, medical, media, and many more.

And the best thing is, transcript writing is the most flexible writing hustle on this list.

This means you can work anytime and anywhere.

Depending on the industry you are working in, you will be paid either on an hourly basis or per audio or video minute.

For effective transcript writing, you must sit in a distraction-free place, so that you can better understand the meaning of audio and videos.

The better the understanding you will have, the more chances that you can come up with a better writing piece.

So, these are some of the best side hustles for writers.

Each of them has its pros and cons and requires different skills.

This is why it would be good to choose the one that you think is suitable.

Now, let’s have a look at some useful tools that writers can use to streamline the process of writing side hustles.

3 Recommended Tools for Writing Side Hustles.

1. ChatGPT.

We all are aware of this popular content-generating tool.

It is powered by advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms to create any type of content against the given instruction.

This means, no matter if you are a blogger, copywriter, ghostwriter, affiliate writer, or transcript writer, ChatGPT can fulfill all your content needs.

All you have to do is provide the instructions or prompt about what kind of content you need, and it will generate an accurate response against it.

It is a freemium tool, meaning that it is available in both free and paid versions.

The paid version is quicker and more accurate as compared to the free version.

2. Paraphrase online.

It is an artificial intelligence-powered paraphrase tool that enables writers to swiftly improve the quality of their written content without affecting the original meaning.

This paraphrase tool relies on an advanced AI algorithm to successfully analyze the given text and then interpret it in a more enhanced manner by making essential revisions.

Words or phrases in the uploaded text are often replaced with appropriate synonyms, sentence structure is changed, repeated words are removed, and other changes are made.

So, regardless of your style of writing, you consider yourself a writer.

If you’re having trouble finding excellent content, utilize this tool to instantly increase the quality in terms of word choice, clarity, and originality.

The best thing about this paraphrasing tool is that it comes in four modes, especially for writers with different writing requirements.

Every paraphrasing mode operates on a different set of algorithms, meaning that if you paraphrase the same piece of text with all the modes, then every mode will provide you with different output results.

However, all the output versions will deliver the same meaning as the input text.

To explain better, I have provided multiple passages to this paraphrasing to show you how it will improve content quality by making necessary changes.

So, the tool has provided the paraphrased content by making essential changes like the replacement of words or phrases with their appropriate synonyms.

Lastly, Paraphraser is available in 8 different languages, so that writers from different parts of the world can utilize it in their native language.

3. Editpad.

Editpad is basically a freemium toolkit that offers several useful tools for content writers and bloggers. I have discussed some of the most useful ones here.

Online notepad:

This is the signature tool of Editpad because it features on the homepage.

As a writer, you can make use of this online notepad to make important notes like deadlines, reminders, and instructions about your writing side hustles.

It is an excellent alternative to word processing tools like MS Word, Google Docs, etc.

Plagiarism checker:

Plagiarism is one of the major enemies of writers that can not only damage the overall reputation but also result in the rejection of written work.

So, to avoid these consequences, you can make use of EditPad’s plagiarism-checking tool to ensure your writing is completely free from plagiarism.

This tool works by comparing the given content with millions of online resources to find any matched pieces (sentences or paragraphs).

If any are found, it will underline them with a line along with the matched source.

So that the writer can take the necessary steps to remove the plagiarized pieces.

Grammar check:

No matter how professional a writer you are, you will definitely make grammatical mistakes.

Having grammar errors in your writing will not only confuse the readers but will also raise questions about your professionalism.

So, instead of spending time and effort on finding and correcting mistakes, you can utilize this Grammar checker by Editpad.

It will quickly analyze the given text to find all kinds of errors including grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Besides, the grammar will also provide useful suggestions to fix the detected errors.

So, these are some of the recommended tools that writers can consider to streamline the process of writing side hustles.

5 Best Side Hustles for Writers in the Real World – Final Words.

Side hustles are an excellent way for writers who want to supplement their overall income to bring financial stability.

Apart from providing financial stability, side hustles are also an excellent way of expanding professional work to discover new opportunities.

In this article, I have explained the different part-time writing jobs for both beginners and professional writers.

So that you can pick the one that is according to your skills and requirements. Happy Writing!