Make Money Writing Short Stories: 9 Websites that Pay

Are you good at writing short stories, fiction stories and drama? You’re in luck because in this guide we are going to share some sources where you can make money with your story writing skills.

Writing a novel isn’t the only way of using your hobby to earn cash. There are many opportunities on the web to earn money through writing without being a novelist. You could actually earn enough to have it as your primary source of income.

Previously we covered a list of creative writing websites where you can apply and work as a writer. But this list is going to be different because the main focus here is short stories. This guide is particularly for those who don’t have the time or stamina for writing very long novels and books.

How much do Story writers Make?

Actually it depends on the magazines and publishers you are writing for. Some fiction / drama writers earn as much as $15,000 per month. You can earn a decent amount from a single-story, provided that the publication you wrote for is a popular one. Most of the publications will offer you around $20 to $30 per page. So if you’re writing a story that consists of a number of pages then you can do the math.

Online Magazines that Pay for Short Stories

The websites listed below have opportunities for different genres for writing in English language; so pick a website that suits your style and start earning money doing what you love.

Here are some of the most popular online magazines and publications that pay talented writers for their creative minds:

1. AGNI

   Agni is a literary magazine that publishes essays and poetry. The company allows any aspiring writer or literary enthusiast to publish their writing in the magazine get paid for the articles accordingly. Agni generally accepts manuscripts between September 1^st and May 31^st.

   You can send your manuscript by post or electronically. There is no word limit for your essays but the length of the essay does determine the decision of publishing an essay.

   Your short story or essay cannot be of a romance, mystery, horror or science fiction genre as the magazine is interested in personal essays, memoirs, think pieces, short stories and poems.

   If these genres sound like you, you can submit your work but you can only submit one story at a time and five poems at a time. Your writing should not have been published previously or featured anywhere. The document must be double spaced and page numbered.

   PAYMENT DETAILS

   Agni pays $10 per page for a short story or essay and $20 per page for poetry. Keep in mind, your writing has to be accepted by the magazine before you get paid.

2. Analog

   Are you a science enthusiast and love the compelling imagination of science fiction stories? If yes then you have a chance to publish your own imaginative science world. Analog is a leading science fiction magazine that publishes some of the best science fiction work that has an accurate scientific base. It also publishes fact articles in leading research in science.

   Analog publishes articles on the basis of merit. It seeks professional and realistic scientific stories. You can also submit an illustration with your work as most writers do, but the illustration should be visually appealing and related to your story.

   Fact articles and stories are also an option for this magazine. They only allow up to 6 poem submissions and 4 stories or articles. Remember to include a cover letter with your manuscript that includes your name, publishing history and do check the manuscript format on the website before publishing.

   You can submit your work through their online portal.

   PAYMENT DETAILS

   Payment depends on acceptance. Analog pays 8-10 cents per word for short fiction (up to approximately 20,000 words), 6 cents per word for serials (40,000-80,000 words), 9 cents per word for fact articles, and $1 per line for poetry. They also pay $1200 for colored cover art and $125 for black and white cover.

3. The Sun

   A world-famous magazine that has published so many stories and articles on different world issues and reached the right audience. Luckily it is open for writers at the moment.

   The sun publishes personal essays, stories and poetry and especially those writings that have a flair for political and cultural issues. Although there is no word limit for writings, the magazine hasn’t published anything longer than 7000 words.

   You can submit your work online as well as by post. To submit online you can create your ID on the website and use the online portal for work submission.

   PAYMENT DETAILS

   Personal essays and fiction stories are paid in the range of $300 to $2000. Poetry is paid in between $100 to $250. Payment is after acceptance so do check out the sample essays given on The Sun’s website before proceeding to manuscript submission, so you know what to write.

4. Clarkesworld

   Clarkesworld is an award-winning science fiction and fantasy magazine that publishes stories and articles on a monthly basis. The magazine seeks science fiction stories that have a good writing language and that are written in a way that makes it easy to read on-screen. Therefore,  it’s best to avoid long paragraphs. The story should also be suitable for audio. Submissions are only in the English language.

   When writing a story for submission, do avoid some of the clichés mentioned on the Clarkesworld website and follow the manuscript guidelines. Your story should be between 1000 to 22000 words and it should be submitted online.

   You can also submit non-fiction articles but again, you have to follow the guidelines on the website and avoid topics that will simply do no good for your article. Non-fiction articles should be of 2500 words, maximum. Additionally, you can also submit your artwork if you are a talented artist or illustrator.

   PAYMENT DETAILS

   The magazine pays its writers through PayPal or Check. However international writers can opt for wire transfers as well. For fiction stories, the company pays its writers 10 cents per word.

5. One story

   One story is a nonprofit literary magazine that allows readers of different ages and backgrounds to publish their stories. The submission period is between 15^th January to 31^st May and 3^rd September to 14^th November. The optimum word length for stories is 3000 to 8000 words. You can submit your work online through their portal. The submission format for files is PDF, RTF, TXT, and should be under 500KB. You can write a short story on any theme or subject that you wish.

   One story also has a category for teenagers: One teen story, where you can publish your work if you’re aged 13-19. You can opt for either one story or one teen story but not both. Simultaneous submissions are not allowed, and your work should not have been published earlier.

   You are required to provide your story name, your own name, and details on the cover letter for your manuscript.

   PAYMENT DETAILS

   One story pays its writers $500 for a single submission.

6. Daily Science Fiction

   Daily science fiction is a publication platform that publishes science fiction stories on a daily basis. The platform seeks brilliant and original science fiction short stories.

   Yes, the length is a priority for daily science fiction and your story is likely to be published if it’s short compared to another good long story. You can submit stories ranging from 100 to 1500 words.

   Your story should be science fiction, but it should not be horror so do follow the guidelines given on the website before submitting it. Stories are submitted through an online form for which the guidelines are provided on the website. You can also send in your artwork on this platform.

   PAYMENT DETAILS

   Articles are priced 8 cents per word.

7. Carve

   Carve magazine accepts short stories, non-fiction, and poetry throughout the year and publishes them on their online platform or their print and digital issue. The magazine looks for writing and poetry that is original and has an emotional depth to it.

   There is no specific time for submission, so you can easily submit your work online or by post.
   The word limit for fiction and non-fiction is 10000 maximum, no minimum, and for poetry, it is 2000 maximum.

   Carve seeks literary writing only, therefore it does not publish genres such as horror, mystery, fantasy, etc.
   Before submitting your work, do include a cover letter. If your writing doesn’t get accepted at Carve but gets published elsewhere, the magazine will publish your writing in their magazine as well and you will get paid.

   PAYMENT DETAILS

   Fiction stories are paid $100; non-fiction and poetry are paid $25.

8. Penpee

   Penpee is an online reading platform that allows writers to post stories and then earn through their story views. To submit a story, you have to sign up and opt for a membership plan, which consists of a free membership plan and a premium membership.

   Writers with free membership can write up to 3000 words per story, with each page of 400 to 600 words. With a paid membership, you can write up to 12000 words. Once your story is posted, you will get credits for the number of reads for a story. Credits are one per page.

   You will get 70% credits in a paid membership and 45% in a free membership and then you will earn according to a rate of 2 pence per credit.

   PAYMENT DETAILS

   You earn through the credits and then you can withdraw your balance through PayPal. Your balance should be minimum of 5 pounds. You can also withdraw money through bank accounts in some countries.

9. Wattpad

   The largest readers and writer’s platform is not only for fulfilling your hobby of writing, in fact, you can also earn through it now. Wattpad invites some of its writers for their paid program. The stories are selected based on their originality, creativity, and of course the market value. This opportunity is only available to some of the Wattpad writers.

   Remember, all the writing opportunities listed above only pay after your article or story has been selected for publication on their platform, so these platforms are competitive. But if you are a good writer and have the skill to create amazing literary pieces then this is a tremendous opportunity for you to not only earn money but also boost your writer portfolio.

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