You might be wondering what you’ll do after you graduate from high school. Finding a job can be hard, especially if you don’t have much experience. For some, this problem seems to have a simple solution—start a business. However, if you’re looking for a more traditional path, you might be wondering how you can make money as a teenage writer.
Although getting started might be hard, the good news is you can create a lucrative career for yourself as a writer. Just follow these simple steps and before you know it, you’ll be writing your first book deal.
Step Zero: Create a Business Plan
If you’re looking to make money as a writer, the first step is to create a business plan. A business plan will help you make important decisions about your writing career, it can also help you determine the viability of your project. There are a few things you’ll want to include in your business plan:
- A description of your product (e.g., a book, song, or movie)
- How you plan on selling your product
- Your marketing strategy
- Your target audience and demographics
- The competition (If you’re aware of any)
Once you’ve written this down, you’ll have a clear idea of what you need to accomplish in order to achieve your goals. Creating a business plan isn’t as hard as you’d think—budgets are flexible, and you can always hire help if you need it. Remember to be creative and come up with unique selling points for your product. For example, if you’re writing a book about food trucks, you might want to include a comparison of food truck sales to traditional restaurants.
Step One: Start A Blog
If you’ve decided on publishing a book, it’s time to start a blog. Blogging is a fantastic way to gain experience and establish yourself as an independent writer. When you start, don’t worry about monetizing the blog—a monetized blog is more of a bonus than a requirement. All you need is a simple, elegant design, and you can put articles on how to write, promote books, and so much more. You might also want to consider starting a blog in a different category than you write in—it’s always easier for your target audience to find you when they’re searching for information on your niche.
Step Two: Build Your Platform
Once you’ve established yourself as a reliable and authoritative source in your niche, it’s time to build your platform. This step consists of publishing content regularly, creating an online community, and engaging with your readers. To build a successful platform, you’ll want to do the following:
- Create high-quality content regularly
- Participate in online communities
- Establish yourself as an authoritative voice in your niche
- Create unique value for your audience
- Measure the results of your efforts
Regular content is a must—establishing yourself as an authoritative voice in your niche will depend on the quality of your contributions to the conversation. When you’re building a platform, guest posting on other relevant websites can be a great way to gain experience and establish yourself as an expert in your niche. For example, if you’re passionate about music, you can start a blog reviewing new albums. You might then choose to write a guest post for a popular music website reviewing albums by well-known bands.
Step Three: Start An Author Blog
Once you’ve built a platform, it’s time to start an author blog. An author blog is where you can establish yourself as an independent writer with a distinct voice and can be a reliable source of information in your niche. An author blog will help you build credibility and stand out from the crowd. When you’re choosing your blog name, make sure it’s something that appeals to people in your target audience. If your blog is about food trucks, for example, you might want to consider naming it “Food Truck Blog.”
While creating an author blog doesn’t require a lot of investment, it does require a steady hand—you’ll need to set aside regular hours to write and engage with your audience. When you’re choosing the topics for your blog, make sure you focus on themes that are relevant to your niche. For instance, if you’re writing the blog for a food truck business, you might want to choose topics such as “How to Promote Your Food Truck,” “Tips For Running a Successful Food Truck,” and so on. Remember, the more you put out there, the more you’ll get back.
Step Four: Start Building Your Network
Now that you have a website and you’ve started blogging, it’s time to start building your network. This is simply establishing a web of connections with other people who are in a similar situation to yours—young, ambitious, and looking for their first job. You can do this by participating in online communities and social media platforms like LinkedIn. For example, if you’re on Twitter, you can follow people in your niche, industry leaders, and well-known authors. By doing this, you’ll gain access to valuable information and resources.
If you’re looking for the best way to make money as a teen writer, consider doing one of the following:
- Join a group on Facebook to connect with other young writers
- Or, if you’re a fan of Twitter, you can follow @TeenAuthors — this is a trusted group for authors looking to find new readers and establish themselves as expert authors in their niche.
- Finally, if you’re looking to connect with other young professional writers, consider creating a LinkedIn Group for authors.
These steps will help you create a successful career as a writer, and if you’re looking to make money quickly, you can—even as a teenager. Just remember to be mindful of copyright laws and don’t use any copyrighted content without permission.