An Aspiring Editor and Publisher?

[Dani]

I'm going to school for a BA in English and later a Masters. My goal is to get into editing and publishing fiction writing; however, to get paid well I would have to work for a large, well-known company with bestselling authors. I know many of those companies are in New York but is there anyway I can become a successful editor without moving to New York? It's a nice place to visit but I would hate to live there!

[Cry Baby Obama]

There are many websites offering compensation for online story submissions, and if you are consistent, diligent and willing to promote your content to the masses, getting paid to write stories online is an achievable goal.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging
Instructions

How to Get Paid to Write Stories Online

1
Research the types of stories garnering the most attention online. Genres and topics that are capable of starting online conversations and going viral can drive traffic to your work. Read prose submissions on sites like Associated Content, where you can see the number of page views and comments each author generates with their style of writing. Use Google Insights for Search to research what genre of online writing generates the most search queries. You can also use Facebook and Twitter to monitor what types of online stories your friends read.

2
Write content that engages the reader. Writing for search engines and page views may bring some initial traffic to your site, but if you do not like what you are writing about, your lack of interest will show throughout your work and discourage readers from reading your future stories. If your interests are not in line with what you have found to be successful online topics, do not be afraid to write what you are most interested in and develop an audience of your own.

3
Research the type of websites and online publishers that cater to your specific style of writing. There are a number of sites that will compensate you for any genre of writing, but some sites cater to specific audiences and would prefer certain types of stories. For example, everydayfiction.com accepts stories of 1,000 words or fewer, while storymash.com wants collaborative writing from multiple authors.

4
Decide the payment method and compensation structure you are most comfortable with. Some websites require PayPal, and others will send you a check. You can get paid based on how many page views your stories generate. You can get paid for winning online writing competitions. You can even be compensated for the performance of ads on your site, such as click through rates or conversions and commissions.

5
Understand who maintains the copyrights to your stories. Getting paid to submit your stories online often means relinquishing control of them. With a book publisher, you can arrange marketing events, adaptations and distribution with your publisher. In the online world, you probably will not have any direct contact with your online publisher, and if the online publisher maintains exclusive rights to your work, that means you no longer have anything to do with the distribution of your work. Check to see whether or not that is the case, and plan accordingly.

6
Submit your stories to online websites and publishers. AssociatedContent.com will publish stories of any genre, but they rarely compensate you upfront, opting for a page view-based compensation method in which you get paid $1.50 to $2.00 per 1,000 page views. Everdayfiction.com will accept short stories, review them on their literary merits and pay you $3 if they accept your submission. And at Triond.com, you can submit a story for a nominal payment, and the number of page views your story generates will determine any additional compensation.

7
Promote your work. Even if you have decided to receive upfront payment for your stories, future payments will likely be determined by the success of your previous works. Share the URL of your stories on your Facebook page, Twitter account and with your email contacts to drive as many readers to your stories as possible. Sharing your content will increase the awareness of your stories and yourself as an author, ultimately helping you make more money in the long run.