Profitable Roles For Authors
Have you ever dreamt of making good money as a wortsmith? In the age of the internet, your dream can easily become true. Although it can be tough for a beginning freelancer to get your first jobs and to establish your name, if you devote enough time to it and work smart, this effort will pay off.
The times when penmen could hardly earn their living have passed decades ago. Everyone with strong lyrics development skills have the opportunity to earn money creating text, or even become a high-paying professional. If you are determined to generate a good income from authorship, take your time to read the list of highest-paying text development jobs prepared by our executive CV developer.
Business Author
A business novelist creates white papers mostly, including press releases, speeches, reports, advertising materials and many others on demand of the corporate clients. Business authorship requires superior language skills and often a formal education. However, business authoring pays a good hourly rate: even the beginning penmen charge from $20 per hour. A specialist with years of experience and established reputation can ensure much bigger amounts.
Freelance lyricist
Lyricists create promotional pages for websites, social media, advertisements, etc. They work for companies, advertising agencies or independently as freelancers.
Among all professions, freelance lyrics allocates you most space for creativity and most flexibility. You can choose one area of specialization, broaden your knowledge and build the client base in it. You can use it as a source of extra income while obtaining a degree or working on long-term project development (for example, novel creation. Here you can find more advice on how to create a successful novel: https://resumeperk.com/blog/how-to-start-your-first-novel-15-winning-tips).
Lyrics is considered one of the most lucrative occupations. Talented, in-demand lyricists can craft to six figures if they receive a percentage from sales.
Developer of lengthy web content (e-books, guides, etc.)
While freelance copywriting field has a low entrance barrier so everyone can start a profession in it, with long form web material it’s not so easy. E-books and reports often involve deep understanding of the subject and require heavy research to complete the project. So, businesses and online companies will rarely risk to entrust this important task to someone they’ve never worked with.
There are two major ways to land a performance as an author of this kind. First is to build a strong online presence with multiple positive reviews and recommendations from former clients. However, it can take you years to gain the desired reputation and recognition. So, you can stay in touch with clients you’ve previously worked for on less complex projects and offer your services for crafting an e-book and report.
The importance of quality words and user education in building relationships with clients only grows. And the companies are willing to pay good money to those capable of providing complex, informative message.
Affiliate blogger
Everyone knows that a blog can generate income, and many use Google Adwords tool to earn money from ads that Google posts in their blog. However, this income is peanuts comparing to how much you can earn if you join the affiliate program of some business.
As an affiliate blogger, you’ll earn money if the reader visits the website of the company you promote and purchase something. To make this strategy a success, choose an appropriate subject for your blog, such as beauty, fashion, travel, tech and gadget news, etc. In other words, the topic of your blog should be relevant to the type of goods you promote – otherwise, your readers will unsubscribe if you suddenly start posting off the subject, promotional message. To start, seek the companies that collaborate with affiliates and then add links to the company to your blog posts.
If you enjoy creating reviews about consumer goods, you’ll find the affiliate blogging especially fun and rewarding.
Creator of company emails/newsletters
Email marketing is still a popular way to keep in touch with a wide audience of company subscribers. To keep them engaged for a long time, they might want to hire a professional author of email newsletter, event announcements, staff picks, etc. And, since emails should be sent out on a regular basis, this is going to be a long-term project – provided that you prove your professionalism and understanding of the necessities of the audience.
To get hired, provide the samples of your previous blog posts to show how well you connect with the readers or other marketing samples of yours. Knowledge of email/online marketing tools and principles will be a huge plus.
Brand Journalist
Brand journalism has a lot of common with content generation, but there’s one major difference – quality. Since you’ll have to manage an online magazine owned by a company, you’ll have to post quality, highly informative content for current and potential clients.
To start a vocation in this field, you’ll need to research the companies that value quality of content development – these are usually big businesses with established online reputation. As the projects of this kind are more complex than traditional copywriting, they pay accordingly.
Creator of online courses
In the digital era, the field of online education grows constantly. And so does the need in the authors/developers of those courses globally. Universities, corporations and even online platforms publish new courses in the wide variety of subject, and you can become the author of such course or translate it if you speak several languages.
Moreover, there are big companies in need of in-house training courses for their staff, and this is really lucrative profession. To get started, you need to do some research on e-learning. It’s not so complicated to enter this market; however, previous writing or teaching experience might be required.
Author of case studies
Case study writing is a kind of business authorship. However, it falls under marketing category too. Basically, companies need them to show the example of how their client benefited from using their product or service. It’s especially helpful for tech solutions, or complex product/services when one can’t see the effect of purchase immediately.
The best authors get up to $1000 for case studies developed for various businesses. However, you will need the examples of your previous work to enter this market. You can get the experience by doing some freelancing or volunteering roles.
Technical Author
The technical documenter’s duty is to produce a wide range of user instructions, manuals, and inside documentation. It’s a complex, involving activity that requires analytical thinking and implies less creativity than other employment opportunities do. However, it pays accordingly: experienced specialists can make over $100 an hour while working independently.
A technical documenter usually collaborates closely with the company to understand the specific of the operations or finished product. They usually specialize in one industry, for example, IT, airplane manufacturing, etc. and provide the inside documentation while collaborating with engineering teams. However, most often they create instruction booklets and manuals for end users to educate them on the use of equipment and software. Thus, a technical author needs the ability to explain complex concepts in simple words for non-technical users.
Proofreader
Proofreader’s profession doesn’t look as attractive and romantic as the writer’s. However, a skilled and educated proofreader working for a reputable organization can make much more than the unknown freelance content developer.
To get started, you’ll need to evaluate your proofreading skills by passing the test online or with the company you’d like to work for. You’ll also need an utmost accuracy and attention to detail to succeed in this role.
If you want to master proofreading techniques on your own, start from learning the key strategies here: https://resumeperk.com/blog/tips-for-flawless-resume-proofreading. By the way, these techniques are also applicable for proofreading your own portfolio.
Novelist
Surpirsed? Yes, even in the digital era you can make good money by creative writing – provided that your novel becomes a success. This career line is mostly for true writing enthusiast as novel writing isn’t as simple as writing website message. Nevertheless, if you manage to understand the needs of the modern audience and release a few novels, you can make a fortune. George Martin’s example is pretty inspiring, isn’t it?
Keep in mind that printed books sales decline, so you might want to learn the modern trends of e-book publishing to reach your audience in the digital era.
The bottom line
As you see, the writing career can not only be a competitive line of career, but also make you rich if you’re really good at what you do. All you have to do to get started is to determine which types of writing you’re going to focus at and start sourcing new opportunities both online and within your existing professional network. Now that you are aware of highest paying role, you’ll find it easier to find a dream position!
Want an impressive vita to advance your writing career?
You can consult the writing advice from our blog to find out what makes a successful profile. Need a portfolio right now? Then, you will benefit from a CV maker online. Feel free to contact our experts anytime to get your document updated in no time.
Have you had an experience in one of the above types of writing?
Recommended reading:
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- Secrets for getting a job at Apple, Google or Microsoft
Author: Editorial Team at ResumePerk.com
Reviewed by: Certified Career Expert
Last updated: December 2025
