If you want to know how to get paid to write short stories, this is the perfect article to read.
It explains how the concept works and the very best companies that can pay you to write short stories.
Table of Contents
Why Get Paid to Write Short Stories?
Why not, right? Especially if you are very creative with writing!
If you are, then you should consider getting paid to write short stories.
First, this company has paid $25+ million to members:
SurveyJunkie (only USA, Canada, Australia residents allowed). You can earn money sharing your thoughts. They have already paid $25+ million to their 20+ million members just for sharing their thoughts and opinions. Click here to join SurveyJunkie for FREE
You can be a fiction or non-fiction writer and make a lot of money if your story inspires others.
Writing and selling short stories is one of the ways that most writers use to make money part-time or full-time.
It is good to know that there are also many places where they can submit their work and get paid.
If you are interested in getting paid to write short stories, then keep reading to learn more about how this works and the best companies that pay.
Related: Make Money Writing and Best Publications That Pay Freelance Writers.
What Are Short Stories?
First things first, let’s get definitions out of the way…
A short story is a short work of fiction or nonfiction that has a shorter and less fully developed theme than a novel.
It is a piece of literature that takes a short amount of time to read from start to finish.
The word count could range from 500 to 20,000.
A short story has the basic elements of a story like a plot, a theme, characters, a setting, and a time frame.
They come under different categories like poems, haiku, mini-stories, novelettes, flash fiction, and more.
Also, short stories come under different genres like Romance, horror, science fiction, fantasy, erotic, speculative fiction, and more.
13 Ways to Get Paid to Write Short Stories
There are different ways you can get paid to write short stories. The best-known ways are:
1. Self Publish Your Short Stories Using Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP)
You can write short stories and self-publish them on your own.
You can use the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) platform to achieve this.
Once you submit your short stories through KDP, you will get paid once people buy your stories.
Amazon Kindle allows you to retain ownership of the title, and you have greater control over the publishing process.
When your short story sells, Amazon will keep 30% of the sales. So, you will keep 70% of the royalty.
2. Contribute Your Short Stories To Magazines And Newspapers
You can get paid to write short stories when you submit your work magazines and newspapers.
The media outlet often pay writers for any story that meet their publication’s standard.
You can check out local prints and magazines in your area to sell your short stories.
There are also online magazines and newspaper outlets you can submit to and get paid.
How much you receive from these companies will depend on what they have quoted or what you agree with them.
Related: Make Money Writing Poetry and Best Publications That Pay for Poems.
3. Get Paid to Submit your short stories to literary blogs and websites
Many blogs and websites pay short story writers for submitting their work.
You can check out the blogs or websites that accept short stories from different writers.
If your work meets the standard of these online platforms, they will publish them.
4. Make Money Submitting Your Short Stories for Podcasts
Your short stories can be turned into podcasts.
Some podcasters buy short stories from different writers.
They tell these short stories to their audiences.
You can sell your short stories to popular podcasts and get well.
Related: How To Make Money Podcasting.
5. Submit Your Short Stories For Radio Shows
Another way you can get paid to write short stories is to submit or contribute them to Radio shows or programs.
Just like podcasts, radio shows can read or tell your short stories to their listeners.
You can get paid when you sell your short stories to some radio show hosts or producers.
Also: Make Money Writing Reviews and Best Publications That Pay Reviewers.
6. Earn Money Submitting Your Short stories for Filmmaking
You can make good money with your short stories if you submit them to filmmakers.
These are professionals who can turn your works into movies. They often buy rights to short stories.
Filmmakers produce motion pictures or movies. Your short story can serve as a great script for a blockbuster.
Some filmmakers can engage you with a negotiation that will see you earning regularly instead of a once-off payment.
So, if you have great storytelling skills then you can make huge money selling your short story to filmmakers.
Also See: Getting Paid for Funny Video Clips & Getting Paid to Live Stream.
7. Make Money Publishing Your Short Stories In Ebooks
You can publish short stories in ebook formats and get paid.
After writing the stories, you can turn them into PDF files or ebooks and promote them for sale.
You can list them at various ebook listing sites where people can pay and download them.
You will get to set the price you want based on the cost per unit of production.
Related: How To Make Money and Get Paid as a Content Creator.
8. Get Paid to Write And Teach Short Stories
Another way that you can get paid to write short stories is by teaching others how to write short stories.
You can teach one or more students the techniques they can apply to write essays and short stories successfully.
You can create a membership class where your students can pay to learn.
Again, this company has paid $25+ million to members:
SurveyJunkie (only USA, Canada, Australia residents allowed). You can earn money sharing your thoughts. They have already paid $25+ million to their 20+ million members just for sharing their thoughts and opinions. Click here to join SurveyJunkie for FREE
Writing and teaching short stories can also be done by creating coursework that students can download to learn writing.
So, tutor others online and offline and get paid for your short stories.
Related: How To Make Money and Get Paid as an Online Tutor.
9. Enter Creative Writing Contests Offering Cash Prizes
You can enter a contest where creative writers can win cash prizes.
If you are very good at short stories then you can enter any of these contests for an opportunity to win.
Some contests will reward you for submitting your story while some others will reward you both for participation and for winning.
So, check out creative writing contests and submit your stories for an opportunity to win prizes.
10. Promote Your Short Stories At Speaking Gigs
If you are a public speaker, you can promote your short story at speaking gigs.
You can read some parts of the story to draw attention.
Your listeners can become interested and make orders.
Also See: Good Paying Digital Nomad Jobs for Beginners.
11. Publish Short Stories On Your Blog
You can get paid and make money with your short stories when you publish them on your blog.
If you have a thriving blog, then you should publish your stories on them.
To get paid, you can monetize the blog by selling stories on it.
You can also sell advertising space, and make money from affiliate programs.
12. Submit Short Stories To Freelancing Sites As Ghost-writers
One of the best ways of making money with short stories is to write and submit them to freelance websites.
These platforms allow you to submit your stories to clients who need your stories.
These freelance sites would like you to submit your stories as a ghost-writer – this means you will give the credit of authorship to someone else.
13. Collaborate With Other Authors to Write and Publish Short Stories
You can make money writing short stories when you collaborate with other authors to write and publish works like an anthology of short stories.
15 Best Sites to Submit Short Stories And Get Paid
1. Carve
Carve is a website where you can submit fiction and non-fiction.
This is a magazine that publishes short stories, poetry, and nonfiction stories.
For each short story published on this site, it is expected that the maximum word count is up to 10,000.
Carve pays $100 for each short story it publishes.
2. Threepenny Review
Threepenny Review is a general literary publication.
It is a platform that publishes contemporary literary works like essays, poetry, fiction, and non-fiction.
You will be paid $400 for each short story by this platform.
Click here to check out Threepenny Review
3. Boulevard
Boulevard is a journal that has been publishing contemporary short stories, poetry, and essays since 1985.
This platform encourages new writers to submit their short stories in contemporary literary fiction and get paid.
For each short story you submit, Boulevard can pay $100 to $300 depending on the prose.
Click here to check out Boulevard
4. Chicken Soup For The Soul
Chicken Soup For The Soul is a famous book series. It accepts stories that are funny, heartwarming, and inspirational.
The stories could be about ordinary people who have extraordinary experiences.
You can submit your short story on this platform and get paid $200 after the book is published.
You will also receive 10 free copies of the book that your story appears in.
Click here to check out Chicken Soup For The Soul
Also See: How to Make Money with Jingle Writing Jobs and Getting Paid to Color.
5. Apex
Apex is a Magazine that publishes creative works in the Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy genre.
You can write your short stories around these categories and submit them to this magazine. Your story should be up to 7500 words.
You will be paid 6 cents a word.
6. Flash Fiction Online
Flash Fiction Online is a digital publisher of short stories.
You can write and submit your story under different genres including romance, fantasy, science fiction, and literary fiction.
Each short story on this platform is expected to be between 500 and 2000 words.
Flash Fiction Online pays a $60 flat fee for each story that is accepted.
Click here to check out Flash Fiction Online
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7. Reader’s Digest
According to Reader’s Digest:
“Everybody has a story to share. What’s yours? Send us a true story about you, in 100 words or fewer – if it’s chosen by our editors for publication in our print magazine, you’ll be paid $100 unless we specify otherwise in writing. We also may pick selected favorites to appear on our site at RD.com.”
Click here to check out Reader’s Digest.
Other places to submit your short stories and get paid include
8. Ploughshares
9. Strange Horizons
10. AGNI
11. American Educator
12. Shades of Romance
13. Giganotosaurus
14. Smpromance
15. East Of The Web
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Conclusion
As this article has shown, it’s not only possible but quite easy to make money writing short stories.
It also revealed some of the very best publications and companies that will pay you to write short stories.
Again, this company has paid $25+ million to members:
SurveyJunkie (only USA, Canada, Australia residents allowed). You can earn money sharing your thoughts. They have already paid $25+ million to their 20+ million members just for sharing their thoughts and opinions. Click here to join SurveyJunkie for FREE