If you are looking for another way to bring in some household income, you might feel like you've exhausted all options. Have you ever considered your life story? Something you've been through? Or maybe a story that is in your head? Great stories are wanted in this world and if you have them, you can earn a decent income. Let's have a look at how to get paid for your stories.
Sell To Magazines
You have probably seen magazines on the shelves at newsagents and supermarkets. You know the ones with celebrity gossip and real-life stories. Well if you have a real-life story to tell, the magazine will pay you for it. You can usually find out the contact details for how to submit a story, in the magazine itself or on the website. If interested, they likely want a phone interview and might even send around a photographer and make-up artist. Be sure to see how much you are going to be paid for the story. Magazines have budgets for this and remember, if they don't have stories, they have no content for their readers. Be sure you get a good price for your story, especially if it's an exclusive!
Contact Newspapers
Another way to get paid for your stories is with newspapers. Again, newspapers have budgets and without stories and opinion pieces, have no content to fill their pages. Traditional newspapers make money by selling adverts, online news sites do the same. So the more interesting stories they have to get clicks on those pages, the more they will make in ad revenue. Be sure you agree on a price you are happy with, but it could easily be a couple of hundred pounds. Scroll down to the bottom of most online news articles and you will find an email address for you to contact should you have an appropriate story for that section. You could even click on the writer's name at the top of the page and find their contact details that way.
Start A Blog
If you start your own blog, you can write whatever you like. Maybe you want to document your life as a new parent or start a travel blog as you adventure off around the world on a gap year. Whatever your blog is, if you grow it and gain pages views and an audience, you can get paid. Run adverts on your own site and earn ad revenue every month. You can also collaborate with brands and other companies in the industry who want exposure to your audience. You can easily get paid a few hundred pounds for a sponsored post. Turn your writing into cash!
Become An Author
Of course, another way to get paid for your stories is to become an author. You might have had a brilliant idea for a novel rattling around in your head for years. Now is the time to get it written. It might not be the next JK Rowling but she started somewhere too, you know! Look into how to submit a book proposal and then find book publishers and agents. Some might have different submission processes than others. Send emails out to see if there is interest in your idea. You could even self-publish an e-Book on Amazon. It might not be the next Shakespeare sonnet but if it is well written and perfectly priced, you could easily make money from your self-published titles.
Your story has value. You might just think it's a daft idea but if there is interest, it can earn you money to pay the bills. You never know where it might lead either! It could be a one-off article in a newspaper or perhaps a trilogy of books is in your future.