How to Make Money from Your Writing (Even If You're Just Starting Out)
<p>Let’s be honest: writing is hard. Making money from it? Even harder. But here’s the good news—it's possible. You don’t need to have a massive following or a bestselling novel to start earning from your words. All you need is consistency, a willingness to experiment, and a few platforms that actually support writers at all levels.</p>
<p>1. Start with Community-Powered Platforms Like TwoCents</p>
<p>Two Cents is one of my favorite new platforms. It’s built for writers, storytellers, and people who value thoughtful conversations. You write. People read. You get paid.</p>
<p>Here’s how it works:</p>
<p>• You publish original stories, thoughts, or articles.</p>
<p>• Readers upvote, comment, and engage.</p>
<p>• Your contributor score increases based on your impact.</p>
<p>• You get paid—real money, not exposure.</p>
<p>2. Try Freelance Gigs</p>
<p>Websites like Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer offer gigs for writers. From blog posts to poetry, bios, and product descriptions—someone out there needs your words.</p>
<p>3. Self-Publish Short Works</p><p>If you write poetry, short stories, or even personal essays, consider creating a mini ebook. Platforms like Gumroad or Payhip make it easy to sell your digital products.</p>
<p>4. Start a Writing Blog</p>
<p>You're here, so you’re already one step ahead. Blogs can be monetized with ads, affiliate links, or even turned into portfolios that attract clients.</p>
<p>5. Monetize with Affiliate Links</p><p>If you love writing about tools or books, use affiliate programs. Amazon Associates, bookshop.org, and even writing platforms like Two Cents often offer referral bonuses. Just like this one:</p>
<p>6. Web Fiction Platforms</p>
<p>Now, if you’re someone who leans more into fiction or serialized storytelling, platforms like Readict, Goodnovel, and Letterlux might already be on your radar.</p>
<p>Making money from your writing doesn’t have to be a dream. Whether you believe it or not, your words are worth something. You just have to put them out there.</p>
<p>So go on. Write the thing. Post the thing. You never know who it might reach—or how it might pay off.</p>
How to Make Money from Your Writing (Even If Yo...
At the end of the month, we give out prizes in 3 categories: Best Content, Top Engagers and
Most Engaged Content.
Best Content
Top Engagers
Most Engaged Content
Best Content
We give out cash prizes to 7 people with the best insights in the past month. The 7 winners are picked
by an in-house selection process.
The winners are NOT picked from the leaderboards/rankings, we choose winners based on the quality, originality
and insightfulness of their content.
Top Engagers
For the Top Engagers Track, we award the top 3 people who engage the most with other user's content via
comments.
The winners are picked using the "Top Monthly Engagers" tab on the rankings page.
Most Engaged Content
The Most Engaged Content recognizes users whose content received the most engagement during the month.
We pick the top 3.
The winners are picked using the "Top Monthly Contributors" tab on the rankings page.
Here are a few other things to know for the Best Content track
1
Quality over Quantity — You stand a higher chance of winning by publishing a few really good insights across the entire month,
rather than a lot of low-quality, spammy posts.
2
Share original, authentic, and engaging content that clearly reflects your voice, thoughts, and opinions.
3
Avoid using AI to generate content—use it instead to correct grammar, improve flow, enhance structure, and boost clarity.
4
Explore audio content—high-quality audio insights can significantly boost your chances of standing out.
5
Use eye-catching cover images—if your content doesn't attract attention, it's less likely to be read or engaged with.
6
Share your content in your social circles to build engagement around it.
Contributor Rankings
The Rankings/Leaderboard shows the Top 20 contributors and engagers on TwoCents a monthly and all-time basis
— as well as the most active colleges (users attending/that attended those colleges)
The all-time contributors ranking is based on the Contributor Score, which is a measure of all the engagement and exposure a contributor's content receives.
The monthly contributors ranking tracks performance of a user's insights for the current month. The monthly and all-time scores are calcuated DIFFERENTLY.
This page also shows the top engagers on an all-time & monthly basis.
All-time Contributors
All-time Engagers
Top Monthly Contributors
Top Monthly Engagers
Most Active Colleges
Contributor Score
The all-time ranking is based on users' Contributor Score, which is a measure of all
the engagement and exposure a contributor's content receives.
Here is a list of metrics that are used to calcuate your contributor score, arranged from
the metric with the highest weighting, to the one with the lowest weighting.
1
Subscriptions received
2
Tips received
3
Comments (excluding replies)
4
Upvotes
5
Views
6
Number of insights published
Engagement Score
The All-time Engagers ranking is based on a user's Engagement Score — a measure of how much a
user engages with other users' content via comments and upvotes.
Here is a list of metrics that are used to calcuate the Engagement Score, arranged from
the metric with the highest weighting, to the one with the lowest weighting.
1
A user's comments (excluding replies & said user's comments on their own content)
2
A user's upvotes
Monthly Score
The Top Monthly Contributors ranking is a monthly metric indicating how users respond to your posts, not just how many you publish.
We look at three main things:
1
How strong your best post is —
Your highest-scoring post this month carries the most weight. One great post can take you far.
2
How consistent the engagement you receive is —
We also look at the average score of all your posts. If your work keeps getting good reactions, you get a boost.
3
How consistent the engagement you receive is —
Posting more helps — but only a little.
Extra posts give a small bonus that grows slowly, so quality always matters more than quantity.
In simple terms:
A great post beats many ignored posts
Consistently engaging posts beat one lucky hit
Spamming low-engagement posts won't help
Tips, comments, and upvotes from others matter most
This ranking is designed to reward
Thoughtful, high-quality posts
Real engagement from the community
Consistency over time — without punishing you for posting again
The Top Monthly Contributors leaderboard reflects what truly resonates, not just who posts the most.
Top Monthly Engagers
The Top Monthly Engagers ranking tracks the most active engagers on a monthly basis
Here is what we look at
1
A user's monthly comments (excluding replies & said user's comments on their own content)
2
A user's monthly upvotes
Most Active Colleges
The Most Active Colleges ranking is a list of the most active contributors on TwoCents, grouped by the
colleges/universities they attend(ed)
Here is what we look at
1
All insights posted by contributors that attended a particular school (at both undergraduate or postgraduate levels)
2
All comments posted by contributors that attended a particular school (at both undergraduate or postgraduate levels) —
excluding replies
Below is a list of badges on TwoCents and their designations.
Comments