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# Let’s Talk About Money
- URL: https://justincox.com/blog/2022/11/lets-talk-about-money/
- Published: 2022-11-08T07:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2023-06-16T23:28:32.000Z
- Description: This Week In Writing, we talk about earning money as a writer online and check in on NaNoWriMo.
- Author: Justin Cox
- Tags: Freelancing, #This Week In Writing, This Just In, Craft, Publishing, #medium, #nanowrimo, #substack

Writing has become an extremely lucrative opportunity over the last few years. Know how to string a few sentences together? Quit your job and become a six-figure content creator. At least, that’s what **so* many online writers want you to believe. I tend to have a **slightly* different take.

I’m all for writers getting paid. Writing is a significant talent that few people can do well. Those who can deserve to be compensated accordingly. That said, most people will not open up a Medium account and instantly make a living.

Systems like Medium’s Partner Program democratized payments for writers — it’s a fantastic program that changed writing online forever. Unfortunately, it also empowered content creators who realized **they* could make money by telling others **how* to make money. It’s a parasitic process.

As I write this, The Writing Cooperative has over 240k followers on Medium, and I personally have over 50k. I’m grateful to each and every one of you who chose to give me a bit of your attention. I, however, do not want to fund my pursuits by exploiting yours.

I can see how this might seem a bit disingenuous since I wrote a book on writing, have a paid Substack option, and encourage you to use my Medium affiliate link at the end of emails. However, I try to always be honest with my audience. I can’t promise you the keys to instant financial success from writing — that’s not something I think **anyone* can do. Instead, I try to empower and support writers to build their audience, grow their skills, and make the most money they can with their talent.

Despite tools like Medium’s Partner Program, making a living as a writer is still very difficult. Most financially successful writers I’ve encountered over the years do **not*make a living posting online — they write for clients, provide marketing consultation to businesses, and develop several income streams. Sites like Medium make up a **small* portion of their overall income.

Even with the size of my audience (again, [thank you so much](https://justincox.medium.com/this-just-in-thank-you-subscribers-ed0b0458cd8c?ref=justincox.com)), Medium, book sales, and Substack/Patreon provide me with enough money to keep the business running (marketing tools, business taxes, accounting, etc.). Money from my full-time writing clients paid my salary. Now that [I’m no longer writing full-time](https://justincox.medium.com/this-just-in-why-im-leaving-full-time-freelance-work-e1ad9551973a?ref=justincox.com), I rarely see a real salary — last month was a few hundred dollars.

So, what’s the point of all this? Well, today is [Talk Money Day](https://nationaltoday.com/talk-money-day/?ref=justincox.com), and it got me thinking about so many of the articles that pop up in my various feeds. While I want to encourage all writers to earn money and pursue their dream, I want you to do so with realistic expectations.

Are there people who make a living posting online? Yes. Is it as easy as most of the articles make it seem? **Hell no*.

What is your experience making money as an online writer? Hit reply, and let’s chat.