67 Creative Writing Freelance Jobs to Make Money With Your Hobby

All my life Ive enjoyed writing. In high school, I would write poems in my spare time. You know teen angst and all. In University, I took creative writing classes and loved it all. It wasnt until I had my twins that I realized there was a way to get paid for your writing. Its with freelance jobs! But, specifically writing jobs. I started my path as a freelancer when my twins were little and I was a stay-at-home mom. These freelance jobs changed my life for the better. I can write for clients, and clients come to me seeking my services. Its the best of both worlds. If youre reading this and love to write and want to know if your passions can be monetized, I have something for you. I get emails from wonderful people who want to freelance who ask me if their hobbies are profitable. I hesitate in responding because if you dont know, my journey as a freelance writer lead me to business writing. I write for online businesses. Most of my projects are blogging jobs. I write lead generation content for small businesses. And I absolutely love it! But, did you know that you can also make money with creative writing jobs? These are hobbies like gardening or gaming. Imagine writing about the things you love to do those hobbies, crafts, or music lessons you spend time on can make you money? Although my focus is on small businesses, not publications or magazines, I truly want to help anyone interested in freelancing that there are ways to side hustle some income. So, lets get to it. The first part shares with you creative writing jobs and the second part shares with you twenty-one freelance jobs websites you can use to find some work. 46 Creative Writing Jobs 1. Art Did you take art in high school? I did! How about art history in college? The arts is a popular hobby for many of us. Whether its the act of painting, drawing, or teaching about art history, many of us can relate to art. And you know what? There are creative writing jobs in the arts! Many magazines in the arts hire freelance writers. Here are ten of them. 1. Visual Arts News This magazine is Canada-based and focuses on the the Atlantic Canadian art and their artists. Not only do they have a magazine, but also a podcast with great interviews of up and coming new Canadian artists. They post popular stories in their magazine are: Features Exhibition reviews Artists profiles This magazine provides a pitch template and offers suggestions on what they want. If your submission is accepted, payment is between $100-$150. 2. Polymer Arts This publication focusses on polymer clay artwork, and their audience is artists, collectors, and galleries. They stress that Polymer Arts wants to show the people that this form of art isnt kids art; its a skilled and high caliber piece of work. Freelance jobs for this magazine want new writers focus to pitch these topics: Features Materials and tools Testing and reviewing new products and tools Featuring one artist Gallery reviews Business/marketing that appeals to the working artist Personal experience Essay style Broad issues in the polymer community If your submission is approved, you will be compensated. Its unspecified, but other creative writers have mentioned up to $.10/word. 3. Canadian Art This is a contemporary publication that is seeking exciting, visual and a critical perspective from Canadians. This is not an academic publication; they want the untold stories here. There are two types of freelance jobs digital articles and print writing. Digital articles pay $.50/word and print pays $.75/word. Read through their editorial guidelines to ensure your pitch gets approved. 4. Cabinet Cabinet prides themselves in being an art and culture magazine. They enjoy any subject matter as long as it demonstrates how our everyday life is strange, unique or artificial. Cabinetappreciates the unorthodoxdaring theses, unfashionable stances, minute observations, forgotten cultural practices, and found documents. This magazine focuses on contemporary art ideas and does not accept articles that focus on one artist or their work, or review articles or news articles about art exhibitions. If your story is accepted, you will be compensated. Payment for this creative writing job online is unspecified. 5. Art21 Art21 doesnt have a submissions section for their website. But, they do have freelance jobs as Ive read other writers being hired by them. This magazine publishes quarterly and has a big digital section. If you want this freelance writing job, then you have to pitch the editor your story idea. This means doing a bit of digging on their website and social media. Find the right contact person to pitch your story. There is compensation one freelancer quoted $.13/word. 6. ArtNews ArtNews is the most popular and most widely read magazine in the world. If you love art, then you know about this magazine! And according to writers, freelance jobs for ArtNews pays up to $.80/word and pays within a month. To help ensure your pitch to the editor gets read and approved, make sure to check out this article on Contently from the ArtNews editor. She provides actionable advice to help you pitch your story in the best way. Simply submit your idea to the editor and wait! 7. Artsy Artsy supports artists from all over the world. They are the premier platform for collecting art and discovering beautiful art. They have a database of over 1 million galleries, works of art, art fairs and over 100,000 artists. There is no submission page on this site, which means its a good idea to network with the editor and develop an ongoing relationship. Other writers who landed this freelance job have been paid between $.30-.40/word. To pitch your idea, find the right contact person here. 8. ArtForum Artforum is an international monthly publication that focusses on articles and reviews of contemporary art. Again this magazine does not specify a submission page. So, to get paid for this job, you will probably have to contact the current editor David Velasco. As for compensation, many writers have been paid and happy with the process. The average payment is $.32/word. 9. Communication Arts Communication Arts is the leader in the creative industry. Their trade journal is the largest creative magazine around. Their publication caters to artists, graphic designers, photographers and anyone involved in the visual communication industry. Their submission page stipulates a variety of topics you can write about such as business, creativity, emerging design, and culture. What is great about freelance jobs with Communication Arts is they provide 1:1 help and support in the editing process. They provide extensive feedback to help make your piece the best it can be. Writing is compensated with a highly competitive rate, but its unspecified. 10. Kcet Artbound The Kcet network is primarily a television network in Southern California, but they do have a website with a blog for writing jobs in the Artbound section. The Artbound section of Kcet strives to reveal the analysis of how art today is affecting our society and culture. Kcet Artbound has won many Emmys and awards for its innovative content. As one freelancer put it: [Kcet Artbound is a] delightful publication for freelancers! The type of freelance job you might get hired for is like an 800-1000 word criticism piece or review in the arts entertainment coverage. Since there is no submission page for writers, you have to do some investigations to find out the editor and network with them to pitch your ideas to. Gardening Ahh! Gardening and horticulture/farming is a huge hobby for many people. As well, its a great business too. From hydroponics to vegetable gardening or natural pesticides for organic farming there is no shortage of article ideas. Most of these freelance creative writing jobs are magazine based that are high paying and can help build your portfolio as a new freelance writer. Here are seven gardening freelance jobs. 11. Horticulture Magazine Horticulture magazine is one of the best gardening magazines for beginner gardeners and for very serious gardeners. This publication covers spotlights of gardens and nurseries around, gardening designs, and informative pieces on products and accessories for gardeners. There is no formal submissions page, so make sure to visit their contact page to email the editor your pitch idea. Writers who have written for Horticulture were paid up to $500 for their piece. 12. Fine Gardening Fine Gardening covers mostly landscape designs, various plants and harvest information for fruits and vegetables. They are recognized for their extensive library of plants, and their plant information is highly detailed that would delight any botanist. They have an award-winning blog with great advice and information for gardeners. To pitch your idea, contact the Fine Gardening editorial department on this contact page. If your submission is accepted, they generally pay $.44/word for an 1800-word feature. 13. American Horticultural Society If gardening is your passion you will love writing for the American Horticultural Society as your first freelance job. They cover everything from innovative garden designs, plant conservation, heirloom gardening and more. This publication also likes articles on how to construct a simple garden or how to demonstrate using certain gardening tools and products. Please only submit your idea and not the entire article. If accepted, pay is between $300-$600 for 1,500-2,000-word features. 14. Green Prints Green Prints is a wonderful mom-and-pop owned magazine. They share a wonderful story on their About Us page so make sure to read it! This publication shares real stories from real gardeners. They have dubbed themselves as the The Weeders Digest. They love submissions that cover the stories behind gardening and sharing that with their audience. If your submission is approved, top payment for online creative writing jobs in this magizine is $150. Poems are published 4x a year and pay $20. 15. Modern Farmer Modern Farmer is a cutting-edge publication that explores the foods we eat and cook. The articles covered cater to chefs, farmers, cooks, and families. They want submissions that are global and political in nature. While compensation isnt mentioned or specified, writers have been paid for submissions. Its varied, but the top pay is $1.33/word for a 750-word piece. 16. Successful Farming Successful Farming covers a lot of content mediums radio, talk, magazine, and TV which reaches a broad and large audience. If you landed this freelance job, you could be sure that your content can reach more than one type of audience. This publication covers a wide array of topics: Machinery News Markets Weather Family Livestock Farm management Crops Technology With the most up-to-date information for farmers and the farm industry, this is one of the best publications out there. While there is no submission page, this would be a cold pitching opportunity where you will have to connect with the editor. You can try using social media or toot around their website to find the contact information. They do pay for content, and once your piece is approved, the pay is around $.64/word. They do pay for unique images (up to $50). Your piece will go through a round of editing, but the process is more helpful than critical. 17. Cappers Farmer This magazine is distributed quarterly and values what grandmothers taught their families. Articles cover the tried-and-true methods your grandparents taught you. From cooking to crafting to gardening and more, Cappers Farmer shares the homesteading way of living. Their submissions page stresses that they prefer submissions based on rural living such as on farms or ranches. They do pay for your article, but the pay is unspecified. Cars/Automotive Industry Many people are car enthusiasts. They visit car shows or like to tinker around on their classic car or are mechanics. Whatever it may be, if you have an affinity for riding motorcycles or just love cars, you can find a freelance job in your hobby. Lets look at 9 writing freelance jobs so you can start making money. 18. Popular Mechanics Popular Mechanics istheautomotive magazine there is. This publication has been in circulation for over 100 years and covers the most innovative inventions in the automotive industry. Their message is clear they want to provide automotive information in an easy-to-read format. While they dont have a formal submission page, they do hire freelance writers. One writer was paid $.25/word for 1300 word feature article. Other writers state that Popular Mechanics pays between $50-$150 for online content and upwards to $1,000 for print in their magazine. 19. Autoblog Autoblog is an automotive news publication that covers new and used cars as well as industry news, tools, and car reviews. While they do have a submissions page, the pay on this page is low based on pageviews and capped at $50. To find the profitable freelance job for this publication, you need a referral someone that writes for this blog or knows the editors for this site. One writer used this method and was paid $.37/word for a 1750-word criticism review piece. 20. Autonotebook Autonotebook covers a variety of automotive content. The main categories are: Best of Exotic Purchasing Safety One thing I noticed when looking at this freelance job is that the blog hasnt been updated for a couple of years. I would ensure first that they still want content. This can be a good pitch too i.e. how new content can help them reach a bigger audience and grow their SEO and traffic. Their submission page is sparse, but does say they pay using PayPal. So this is a worthwhile gig to have. 21. Motocycle Mojo Motorcycle Mojo is a Canadian publication that publishes 10 times a year. They enjoy and cover real-life experiences and pride themselves in the personal and storytelling angle their magazine has. Their magazine covers all types of motorcycles, history, touring and travel/destination content. They also cover book and product reviews and some vintage pieces. Their write for us page stressed that they prefer submissions over queries. They also want the freelancer to provide previous samples and samples of their photo taking ability. They have to mediums print and digital and requires the freelancer to approve their piece being published to both mediums. They accept 600-800 word for small stories and upwards of 2,000 words for travel features. This gig does pay, but payment amount is unspecified. 22. Road Travel Road Travel is an online magazine aimed at upscale women. This is not a motorsports magazine; rather, it covers travel, safety and personal topics for women drivers. Content is gender neutral, however. Road Travel aim to educate consumers on purchasing, renting or leasing cars or RVs, care maintenance, green vehicles and more. They accept blog articles of up to 300 words and feature articles of up to 1200 words. Payment is based on the editor and freelancer. 23. AAA Midwest Traveler AAA Midwest Traveler is a bimonthly publication for residents of Missouri, Illinois, southern Indiana, and eastern Kansas. This publication is meant to provide their AAA members information on travel, auto safety and features and tips about their AAA membership. To submit your story, send a query to the editor between January-April. They work 6-months in advance, and a copy of the magazine you wrote for is mailed to you. A 1200 word feature goes for $400, and if your story is picked up by their sister publication, thats another $150. 24. Wheels Wheels was my first legit freelance job. I was ecstatic and over the moon that I no longer had to look on content mills to find a project. Wheels is a division of the Toronto Star newspaper and they provide up-to-date and useful information on the automotive industry as well as the entertainment aspect of owning a vehicle. I wrote articles from the perspective of a mom/woman. There is no formal submission page. This freelance job was posted on a job board, but networking and warm pitching can help you land this gig. Find the editor for online content and connect with them! I wrote 800-word pieces for $100. Article ideas were pitched to me, but I did most of the blog topic pitching. 25. Elephant Insurance If you have a love of the car, did you know you can pick up a freelance job in the automotive insurance industry? Search for automotive insurance companies online and check to see if they have a blog or email list. If they do, theres a good chance they hire freelancers for content writing. Elephant Insurance has a blog with different writers. This is another clue that they probably have freelance jobs. 26. Gasudeansas Gasudeansas covers a wide range of car topics but mostly enjoys car protection content. Their submission page mentions they are open to any topic related to cars and that they will respond to your pitch in a timely manner. They do pay for articles, but its unspecified how much. Cultural Topics From women equality to politics and more, cultural topics relates to the ideas and customs of society. If you took a class in high school or university that opened the doors to cultural studies, did you know you can get paid to write in this niche topic? Lets look at 9 creative writer jobs in cultural topics. 27. Roads Kingdoms Roads Kingdoms set to inform and inspire travelers. They mostly cover food, travel, and politics. They enjoy articles that explore deep storytelling, are original and inspire their readers to take action. If you are interested in writing for them, Roads Kingdoms has provided a post on how to pitch to them. They seek ideas that stand out from the crowd. Reporting is also part of some of their content such as a long-form feature for their Dispatched by Bourdain series. A long-form feature up to 5,000 words goes for $1000 and a piece of web content runs $250. 28. Briarpatch Magazine Briarpatch Magazine covers politics and culture from an original and insightful grassroots perspective. Critical commentary is their bread and butter, and they fiercely reject corporate media and strive for independence and equality. They are a bimonthly publication and offer submissions for journalists and freelancers. If you are interested in this freelance job, they do want a story idea to be pitched. They accept: current events electoral politics grassroots activism economic justice gender equality political importance and more Make sure to check out their guide on how to pitch to Briarpatch before you submit your piece. They do pay for submissions. Anywhere from $100 for short reviews or blog posts to $300 for research-based articles of 2500 words. 29. High Times High Times covers cannabis cultivation and legalization. The alternative health market is a high-paying freelance writing niche. More outlets are needing writers who are well-versed in the cannabis market to talk because the industry is a huge money maker. Cannabis was projected to make $10B this year, which will increase to $22B by 2022. As well, I have had several prospects email me for my writing services to help them market their Cannabis products: High Times strives to uncover the truth and provide the most up-to-date information about the cannabis market. Their submission page mentions they enjoy pitches and story ideas of around 1200 words but does not specify a rate. Freelancers though have worked with High Times and are generally paid $.40/word for an opinion editorial project. 30. Paste Paste covers all types of pop culture topics like politics, comics, books, music, and TV. With a large and of over 400,000 devoted readers, Paste is the go-to place for what is happening in our world right now. They are looking for highly original and unique story ideas that the editors of Paste have never even though of or heard of. Their writers guidelines require a proposed subject, length and some samples of your writing ability. They do pay for submissions, but its unspecified. However, other writers have quoted up to $.10/word. 31. Moment Founded by the acclaimed Elie Wiesel known for his memoir Night, and editor Leonard Fein, Moment is grounded in Jewish living in the States. Each of their topics covers the perspective of Jewish history and information. From Arts Culture to Politics to Jewish World and Israel, Moments rich content is celebrated all around. Moment publishes 6 times a year and if you wish to write for Moment, make sure to submit time-sensitive stories at least 6 months in advance. Their submission guidelines advise you email your query to the editor. Your pitch idea needs to be fleshed out with an outline too. While you can submit the completed story, they prefer the query. The do pay freelancers, but its unspecified on their submission page. However, writers who had their pieces published on Moment were paid $.20/word for a 1,500-word review or criticism piece. 32. Readers Digest Asia Readers Digest is a general-interest family style magazine. The Readers Digest Asia covers culture and arts as well as a variety of lifestyle topics like home garden, health, travel, jokes, and true stories. The Readers Digest Asia website gets over 100,000 pageviews a month, meaning that many potential clients can see your article. Their submission page shows the type of article they seek and the payment they offer: My Story 800-1000 words of an interesting true story. $250 USD Kindness of Strangers 100-150 words of unexpected kindness, generosity or an account of something that changed your life. Up to $150 USD Anecdotes and Jokes Submit your original jokes, comics, cartoons or anecdotes. Pay is $50-$100 USD. Your Deepest Wish Share your deepest desires and compelling wishes. Dont hold anything back. Pay is $200 USD. Smart Animals 300 words of a tale about unique pets. Pay is up to $100 USD. 33. Salvo Salvo calls themselves, a magazine of society, sex society. In essence, Salvo aims to debunk cultural myths with a Christian worldview. This is a magazine of the Fellowship of St. James who want to uphold Christian views. Their submission page details what they want and dont want. They dont want overtly religious pieces of content or have scripture. Your article should focus on the secular young adult audience. They enjoy informative articles with a cheeky attitude. Articles of 600-2500 words are paid at a rate of $.20/word. 34. Bitch Media Bitch Media is a publication that aims to encourage a feminist response to mainstream culture. Bitch Media is an online and print magazine that also has a podcast. Their content is filled with a strong voice in feminism that doesnt shy away from confronting contradictory information in life. Bitch Media explores a variety of feminist topics which include: Activism Questioning gender roles Sexuality Politics Art and Culture Their submission page stresses they seek discussion-provoking critical essays. If you pitch to the magazine component, you will be compensated if they approve your pitch. Payment: $700-$1000 for features, $350 for dispatches, and between $150-$700 for culture stories. 35. ADDitude ADDitude is a magazine for parents, health care professionals, teachers and anyone that supports a child with ADD (attention deficit disorder). Professionals write most of their content, but they do welcome parents, teachers, and others with first-person accounts with children with ADD. There are two types of freelance jobs you can look into the print magazine or blog. The print magazine is paid and it seems like the blog content is not paid. You can send a query or your entire article via email. For print magazine submissions, payment is based on the length of your article, the expertise level and quality of your writing. In general, they pay $.20/word for article submissions. Christianity/Religion The Christianity niche is a big niche online. From mom bloggers writing about faith to services, magazines, and publications that share faith-based content, if you want to write in this vein, you can. Lets look at 4 religious publications with some awesome creative writing jobs. 36. Christianity Today Christianity Today spreads the love of the gospel as a way to help transform lives and bring hope to everyone. Their publication receives over 5 million Christian readers a month. They cover modern Christianity topics and are interested in interviews, reviews, opinion pieces, and unique Christian living. They are not affiliated with any denomination as their audience is primarily made up of evangelical Christians. Their submission page is highly detailed on how to pitch to them, what they want for content and how to submit your pitch. They also say not every accepted pitch is bought (or paid for). They can reject your accepted pitch at any time. While they dons specify payment, when they pay for creative writer gigs, they pay up to $.16/word. 37. Religion News Service Religion News Service is considered one of the largest source of spirituality and religious news. They hope to inform and inspire their audience to make informed decisions based on their beliefs and convictions. They mostly cover current events in religious news and also has press releases and a podcast. They dont formally have requirements for submissions but do have a form to fill out if you want to submit a story. They dont disclose if they pay for articles, but writers have been paid up to $.29/word for a news story. 38. Religion Politics Religion Politics is a publication of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion Politics at Washington University in St. Lois. This is an online news magazine focussed on the two topics that hushed in culture religion and politics! They strive for better communication around religion and politics and how it shapes our culture. Differing political and religious views are encouraged and required when writing for them. Each piece is in-depth, taking into historical and contextual elements and analysis from the writer. Their submission page is sparse and only mentions to pitch a detailed description of what you want to write about and email it to their editor. There is no mention of pay, but they do pay for creative writing jobs up to $.26/word for a 1900 word feature piece. 39. The Christian Science Monitor The Christian Science Monitor is a news magazine that tries to shred the political spins down to the underlying truth. Their approach is to bless all men and what people have to say. This magazine is owned by the church and does adoptive the views of the First Church of Christ. Their submission page states they view new writers work on spec and want to see the quality of your writing first before they accept your pitch. While they dont pay for your first submission, if they like your work and if you write for them, they will commission you to write and will pay for that article whether they publish it or not. And while they dont tell you their rate, other writers have been paid up to $.27/word. Camping Some creative writing opportunities for you! Are you an outdoorsman or woman? No matter what time of year or what the weather is, if you have a weekend or a few days, you grab your camping supplies and you hit the road. And if you decide to become a freelance writer, those camping trips will be a regular thing for you and your family! So, lets look at camping gigs for some cool creative writing jobs. 40. Backpacker Backpacker is a print and digital publication that covers hiking, gear, skills and more. Their readers are experienced backpackers or hikers so any topics for this publication should be verified, informational and credible. To get a feel of what they want from freelancers, go ahead and read a few issues or their blog. Their submission page states that they are only accepting web articles and for new freelancers, they suggest you pitch your entire article to smaller jobs in their departments/categories: Done in a day Weekend Skills Gear They also state that they have themes and will give you the theme when they hire you. On their submission page, they state that they pay anywhere from $.40/word to $1.00 a word for articles. 41. Bay Nature Bay Nature isnt truly a camping topic, but it does explore nature, science, plants of Northern California. The San Francisco population is their audience and want to use their magazine to help them explore and learn about the natural world. A lot of their focus is conservationism, preserving biodiversity, and understanding climate change and how it affects Northern Californians. They do not have a submission page, but they do have a contact page with emails for general queries. I do know that they do pay for articles up to $.80/word for a 2500 feature. 42. Backcountry Digital Backcountry Digital is a camping marketing agency. They help camping businesses with online marketing by using SEO strategies, PPC strategies and content marketing strategies. This means that their clients might need writers for their content team. Using this method can help you can many freelance jobs on this website. I dont know their freelance job rates, but make sure to reach out to them. 43. Outdoor Canada Outdoor Canada is a magazine that seeks researched articles on living in the Canadian outdoors. They are big on fishing and hunting pieces of content on their website. They enjoy different types content like: How-to Entertaining features In-depth reporting On their contributor page they state that they pay between $100-$400 for articles. 44. Western Woods Waters Western Woods Waters is a hunting news magazine for Western Canada. They enjoy content about the Canadian outdoors and controversial subjects regarding anglers and hunters. They do accept product reviews along with their outdoor advice. They have different creative writing jobs 700-word columns on outdoor activities and feature articles + image pack. On their submission page, they state they pay writers $100 for column articles and $150 for feature + image pack articles. 45. Paddling Magazine Do you enjoy canoeing? If you know all about paddling and life on the rivers, then Paddling magazine might help with landing an awesome freelance job in your hobby. The type of articles they seek are: Profiles of influential people in the canoeing industry Travel stories about canoeing How-to articles Family camping Their submission page does not state pay, but I do know you can earn up to $.20/word for an article. Pets Around 85 million families own a pet! Its a booming industry for products, but also for creative writers! There are some jobs for creative writing in this niche! Lets see how. 46. Dogs Naturally Dogs Naturally covers a wide array of topics for dog owners and professionals in the pet industry. Most of the content covers holistic health, nutrition, vaccines and some controversies in pharmaceutical therapies. They do want writers that follow the same philosophy as them holistic and homeopathic care so they can authentically write about TCVM practitioners or natural pet health products. While their submission page doesnt state pay for their content, I do know you can earn anywhere from $50-$200 for an article. Websites for Freelance Jobs Here are 21 freelance job websites to find the perfect freelance job for you! Many of them have creative writing jobs, freelance jobs, remote jobs and more. SolidGigs Workroll Indeed ServiceScape Working Nomads Freemoter Jobspresso Publoft Mediabistro Journalism Jobs Skip the Drive Krop Online Writing Jobs Whisper Jobs Cision Jobs Workhoppers We Work Remotely Authentic Jobs Craigslist Problogger Contena More Freelance Jobs for Writers This list will continue to grow. I found that this will be a huge comprehensive list that takes weeks to research and write. So, I felt instead of not publishing it as half did and letting it sit on my computer for months until I continue to write about more freelance jobs, I thought Id publish as is and add when needed. In the future to add more creative freelance job niches. Over to you Are you excited about the potential of monetizing your hobbies?