Why You Probably Won’t Earn Seven Figures as an Online Writer
The myth of making millions writing online
If I had a dollar for every online article I’ve read that promised to turn me into someone who could hugely monetize my online writing, I would be rich and wouldn’t have to write.
Scratch that. I would actually be a starving writer if I’d had to really read each of those articles to get a dollar. I would only be rich if I got a dollar for every one of those types of articles I’ve SKIMMED. And then disregarded, the instant I saw the phrases “online course” or “email list.”
The honest truth of the matter is that nearly every single online writer in the world, even the ones who make some kind of living from it, are never going to become 7-figure writers.
That doesn’t mean they should all stop writing.
More realistic writer salary numbers
Although it only discusses the outlook for authors and writers who live and work in the United States, one interesting source for how writing pays as an occupation is the annual Occupational Outlook Handbook, published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
As of 2023, that handbook suggested that the median pay for authors and writers was $73,690 per year.
