Roundup: Check Out These Great Jobs for Writers Working on Their YA Novel

When it comes to money-making, finding work as a writer is possible. Check out these great jobs for aspiring authors!

As an author, finding the balance between your craft and making money is often a struggle until you’re fortunate enough to get your “big break” (if you ever do, for that matter). That’s why it often takes writers so long to finish their manuscripts as they juggle that alongside their jobs, social lives, and hobbies.

While that can sometimes seem frustrating, taking some breaks is good for authors. They provide a chance to live life, which they can inject into their YA novels, giving them more authenticity.

When it comes to money-making, finding work as a writer that will build on your existing skills while you exercise your passion for the craft is possible. So, let’s look at some of what I feel are the best writing job options for YA authors.

Freelancing

It’s the job some of us love to hate and hate to love because it offers flexibility and potential fulfillment. It also has a strange stigma surrounding it and the hustle culture that is often glamorized, which can be a bit misleading.

But if you can find assignments for magazines, blogs, websites, or newspapers that align with your passions and figure out how to accurately price your work, they can be a great fit. These great jobs for aspiring authors hold you accountable to deadlines and manage your own work and clients, and can often give you different perspectives and bring diversity to your writing style.

Content Creation

Part and parcel with freelancing these days is becoming a marketing content creator for businesses, though you can be hired on to a company full time. Writing for social media, websites, videos, and other business collateral can offer its challenges.

You need to be mindful of the brand, its voice and keep content engaging and concise. It can help you become an incredibly versatile writer while exposing you to a lot of new takes on the world through the eyes of the business.

Editing and Proofreading

I will always extol the virtues of hiring editors and proofreaders to review your manuscript. However, if you boast strong writing skills and a critical eye, you can offer those same objective services to other writers and businesses. It’s an excellent way to make money while improving your understanding of quality writing.

Ghostwriting

Another gig that easily falls under the freelancer blanket but is also offered at places as full-time jobs. You’re writing on someone else’s behalf, whether it’s books, blogs, articles, or speeches.

That means exercising your ability to be adaptive based on clients’ needs and differing voices. It’s also great at teaching you to check your ego since you can’t really take credit for anything you write for your clients.

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Copywriting

Whether freelance or as part of an agency, copywriting for ads or marketing is a specific kind of writing. You’ll explore the art of persuasion and some of the farthest reaches of your creativity in an effort to get eyes on whatever it is you’re selling. These great jobs for aspiring authors can help you be more fluid and flexible with thinking and letting go of ideas, which is handy during brainstorming sessions.

Transcription

By getting into transcribing, a writer can pick up and develop some genuinely unique skills. Consuming the content of countless interviews, podcasts, and videos to get all the details straight will improve your listening and typing ability.

There’s also a chance for you to explore the world through different eyes as, no doubt, you likely wouldn’t have found much of this content of your own accord. Writers can always benefit from broadening their worldview, so why not get paid to do it?

Research Assistant

If you excel at researching, conducting literature reviews, and summarizing findings for academics and researchers, you could be a great fit. It’s another way to learn a lot about different aspects of the world and expose yourself to new writing styles. All the while, you’ll reinforce your research abilities.

Book Reviewing

I always encourage aspiring YA authors to read, but what if you could make a job of it? So long as there are books, there’s a market for physical and digital publications to review them. You can only improve as a writer when you focus on critically analyzing other authors’ works. While getting a deeper appreciation for different writing styles and exploring other genres, you’ll also become better at objectively assessing your work.

Teaching or Creating Workshops

If you’ve spent enough time exploring and learning about writing, you may be well-equipped to share what you’ve learned. Alternatively, you may be an expert in some other field. Either way, it’s easier than ever to turn that expertise into courses, classes, webinars, and workshops, whether online or in-person.

Speaking from experience, one of the best parts of teaching others about writing is it also reinforces and reminds you of what you already know and allows you to develop a deeper understanding as you update your knowledge base for future lessons.

There are undoubtedly many jobs out there for you, and likely more beyond this list, where you can harness your writing. These appeal to me the most, though. They all offer excellent opportunities to develop as a writer while stepping comfortably out of my comfort zone. It’s important you remember that balance is key.

These great jobs for aspiring authors should enhance and complement your YA novel-writing skills, not distract from finishing your manuscript. If you have any questions about my experience developing courses or writing blogs or want to share other job opportunities, please connect with me on social media. You’re also welcome to send over an email to jsims@jairesims.com.