How I Make Money Writing

In this interview, @KJezerMorton talks about how cheap Montreal daycare made her career possible, why she treated her day job as a scholarship for her writing, and how getting a PhD later in life gave her the substance she needed to stand out. howimakemoneywriting.substack.com/p/interview-14…

The average Australian author earns just $18,200 a year from their books. In our latest interview, @PatrickLenton gets honest about piecing together grants, advances, and a surprise tax bill, and why he returned to the newsroom to save his sanity. Read: howimakemoneywriting.substack.com/p/interview-14…

How do you sustain a journalism career writing about international wildlife trafficking? @RachelNuwer shares how she balances reporting for legacy media with teaching at NYU, the realities of writing two books, and her income breakdown. howimakemoneywriting.substack.com/p/interview-93…

Really appreciated @SamAdlerBell's transparency in today's interview. He broke down the mechanics of his career, explaining how his podcast's Patreon subsidizes his longform reporting, and why writing cultural criticism keeps him from becoming a "bore." howimakemoneywriting.substack.com/p/interview-12…

@jonaswillett1 @a16z @MTSlive @Substack I talk to writers about how they make money writing. howimakemoneywriting.substack.com

New media is the future. The next few years will be dominated by newsletters and live streams. @a16z just invested in @MTSlive, a news network that's always on, monitoring tech, finance, geopolitics, and culture. They're also invested in @Substack and publish multiple newsletters of their own. But the best newsletters aren't coming from large funds. They're coming from founders and independent writers with niche expertise. Here are some of my favorites: @stephmui: weekly tech and startup roundup Feed Me: business and culture (@Emily_Sundberg) @tbpn: daily tech show + newsletter (@johncoogan & @jordihays) Stealth Startup Spy: stealth startups (@DDukes12) @nextplayso: tech careers/jobs (@benln) @jasminewsun: anthropology of AI and Silicon Valley After All: AI, culture, founder life (@gurunandinisays) The 4th Quarter: sports and venture (Sid & Suraj) @DKThomp: abundance, science, big ideas @milkkarten: social media strategy @eleelenawa: founder journey, building @tayanecklace @lennysan's newsletter: product, growth, and startup advice If you’re writing a publication, drop a link + description, I'll add it. I put together a longer, complete list. If you want it, dm me.

@andrewmarzoni @readliberties Can’t wait to share our interview with you!

"I went into an artistic career expecting to make all my money elsewhere." @TheLincoln breaks down his 15-year grind of cobbling together rent in NYC, the side gigs that kept him afloat, and how to separate your writing from your income. howimakemoneywriting.substack.com/p/interview-12…

His advice for writers who want to do meaningful work without starving? "Learn to be poor. Buy a f*cked up house and learn how to repair it. The library is free. Walking is essential." Read the full interview: howimakemoneywriting.substack.com/p/interview-12…

Today, he operates as a "scavenger" to fund his award-nominated reporting on a genocide in Tigray—vital work that doesn't pay the bills. To hit his $30k/year survival baseline, he pads his income by writing website copy for dentists while keeping a strict ethical firewall.

I asked investigative journalist @drewphilp how he makes money as a writer. His answer: "I'm a terrible capitalist." To survive the freelance economy and focus on journalism that matters, he eliminated his biggest enemy: rent. He bought an abandoned Detroit house for $500. 👇

If you want to know how to fund ambitious longform work without a trust fund, this one’s for you. howimakemoneywriting.substack.com/p/interview-11…

In this interview, Nick breaks down the brutal economics of grant-funded reporting, explains why he earned more pouring drinks in Crested Butte than writing for magazines, and offers a strategic playbook for young reporters: go where the other journalists aren’t.

for our latest HIMMW interview: @npbowlin is a reporter who knows the exact cost of investigative journalism: sometimes, it’s a year or more of work before the check clears.

If you are trying to understand how to fund work that is deeply personal, politically urgent, and commercially viable all at once, this one’s for you. howimakemoneywriting.substack.com/p/interview-11…

In this interview, Julian breaks down the economics of leaving a stable political career for the volatility of art, the financial reality of an awards campaign, and why winning a horse at a powwow might be the best “payment” he has ever received.

Writer, filmmaker, and activist @jnoisecat has a career that defies categorization. In this interview, Julian explains how he transitioned from a salaried political strategist role to a portfolio career of filmmaking and writing. 👇