by Ruth Belena

Created on: June 11, 2009

Before deciding which would be the most lucrative way to make money as a writer, it is necessary remember that profitable writing depends on productivity and quality of output. Entering a new avenue of writing may not be possible without acquiring some expertise, or gaining knowledge of specialist writing techniques.

Writing a best selling novel is a dream, not something that can be guaranteed. An unknown author, or a moderately successful writer, cannot expect to earn the same amount of money, in advances and royalties from book sales, as an established and well loved author.

There is potentially a more lucrative writing opportunity for new authors who publish their books in electronic format. Any writer can self publish, using Lulu.com or the Digital Text Platform at Amazon, and can make money each time the book is downloaded.

With some effective self promotion, selling fiction through the Amazon Kindle Store could generate thousands of dollars each year for a popular fiction writer, even one who has never been published in print.

Writers of non-fiction can gain great financial benefit by producing books for which there is a demand. A lucrative writing career can be established by writing popular series of books as a financial expert, a motivational writer or an author of self-help guides.

Writing for the Internet offers considerably better opportunities for long term income. There is always a demand for informational guides, manuals, courses and ebooks. These can easily be marketed online over a longer period of time than any book will be displayed in a bookstore.

Many freelance writers earn good money for completing single writing tasks and undertaking long writing projects. Freelancers also get paid to write blog posts, forum posts, niche articles, reviews, marketing articles, how to guides and SEO content. An experienced freelance writer can make good money from web writing, copy writing, producing press releases and ghost writing.

Skilled writers can take advantage of their own personal knowledge and experience, to set up specialist writing services for speech writing, resume writing, writing wills or family histories. These activities can be much more lucrative to a writer who knows how to promote online, rather than paying for expensive advertising and marketing services.

Article writing is one of the best ways to earn passive income. Online articles are constantly accessed by people around the world, and can earn advertising revenue from page views. Informative articles may generate income over a long period of time. Earnings from ads on blogs and article pages add up daily, so a highly productive writer can earn more from online articles than it would be possible to make from print publications.

There are plenty of possibilities for writers to make money from their own efforts, using their individual skills and knowledge. Any writer who wants to discover the most lucrative way to make money should explore each avenue of writing, but the answer will always be conditional upon the writer's own ability and expertise.

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