Every day I get messages and emails from people of all ages interested in freelance writing as a beginner.
But, lately I’ve been getting emails from students – high school students in particular.
Can a teen get paid to write?
Yes you can!
As a student, you can get steady writing jobs or part-time writing jobs to help you with some extra cash or just forgo that delivery job at your local pizza place.
No longer do you have to wait until you are an adult to flex those writing skills and actually even get paid to do something you are passionate about, writing.
While online freelance writing work might be a little more difficult to come by, there certainly are writing gigs out there for students.
In this post I am going to go over some places that you can find writing jobs as a student and magazines that you can submit stories to.
Why Students Should Get Online Jobs as a Writer
If you are a student who loves to write, why not put that passion to good use and make a little extra money in the meantime?
Other than making a few extra bucks for your writing, there are some other advantages for teens to get writing jobs as a side hustle.
While you might think of jobs for 15-year-olds as flipping burgers and taking fast food orders, if you are passionate about writing, you have options.
When you turn 18, the door for writing opportunities swings wide open.
If you can build up a portfolio of your work before you turn 18, that will help you a ton when you start to look for more writing gigs later on.
It shows potential writing jobs that you are passionate about your career and know how to work hard. In addition, it can also help with referrals or getting good reviews from clients when you are just starting out.
Showing that you have testimonials for your work can be a huge advantage for when you go after writing jobs that you really want.
Types of Freelance Writing Gigs for Students
Before we get into jobs for students that love writing, let’s go over types of writing gigs you might enjoy doing as a teen.
The sky’s the limit to what you could write about, but the main thing to remember is that to get paid for your writing, it has to help a business.
Whether it’s an op-ed piece or a technical writing project, if it isn’t used for marketing purposes or brand building awareness by a company, they probably won’t pay for that article.
The list of types of writing for teens are varied and many of them will be mentioned more later in this post, but for now I just wanted to quickly share with you what type of writer you might be.
1. Social Media Writing
Let me guess –
You’re reading this post on your phone and you’re taking mini breaks to check Tik Tok trending challenges or maybe even checking Instgram of any latest posts of your favorite artists or Youtubers.
Social media is a huge platform that thousands of startups, small businesses and huge brands – think Sephora, Walmart, Purina – use to connect with their customers, but also to grow their brand and get people to their products.
Your experience as a teen on social media can be an asset for brands that cater to a younger market.
2. Video Game Writing
Right now my twins are playing Animal Crossing. Video games are a booming industry – especially during a pandemic – and teens and young adults comprise a huge market for these companies.
Take your love and knowledge of video games and gain some cool part-time jobs in writing.
3. Entertainment Writing
From toys to puzzles to TV shows and movies, there is a platform for entertainment writing. These types of jobs for students may not pay the best, but they are fun, easy and can lead to better writing jobs down the road (TV script writing anyone?).
4. Beauty Writing
Teens are spending more money on beauty and makeup than on food and other splurges. If you love makeup and beauty tutorials on Youtube, you can invest you time in finding some amazing beauty writing jobs as a student.
This might mean leaning more into sponsored content for bloggers and influencers, but as long as it pays, that’s fine, right?
5. Magazine Writing (for Kids)
Later in this post you’ll get actual magazines that pay teen writers, but I just wanted to introduce the option of magazine writing for kids. There are many kid-related magazines and having a teen voice column isn’t anything unheard of.
Why not be that teen voice columnist?
6. Writing for Local Businesses
From your local Y to the Big Brothers and Big Sister associations, you can network with local businesses and find some writing jobs near you. Again, I will go over this later, think about it as a way to find some quick cash for writing.
7. Writing for Your Church
There probably is a market fo Christian writing for youth at your local church. If your church as an email list or a newsletter, you can offer to write as a Christian youth and maybe have your own column!
8. Writing for Art/History Museums
Do you volunteer at an art or history museum? You might be able to land a part-time job as an art writer or history writer for their newsletter or marketing materials.
Best Places for Online Writing Jobs for Teens
While there might be some restrictions and the need for parental consent, there certainly are a lot more online writing opportunities for teens than you might realize.
Here are a few places that teens can look for online writing jobs when they are just starting out.
*Note: many of these places aren’t great if you want to make a living as a writer. If that’s the case, here is a post on the best ways to find freelance writing jobs.
A quick tip about getting paid for your online writing. In most cases you will need a PayPal account in order to actually get your payouts.
Hubpages
Hubpages is a great place for teens to start looking for their first writing jobs.
While you will need to obtain parental consent, Hubpages does accept writers under the age of 18 for online writing gigs.
There are a lot of different categories that you can write for. From fiction to nonfiction, articles about gardening to writing about PC games.
The way Hubpages works is similar to a blog with ads, the biggest difference is that you don’t own the site like you would with your own blog.
Here’s how to make money from Hubpages:
- Write an article that people are going to want to read that has interesting or useful information.
- Sign up for Hubpages monetization program.
- When people read your articles they will click on ads.
- You will earn revenue share from the money that is generated from the ads.
While you aren’t going to make a ton of money, you do have the potential to make a few extra hundred dollars per month if your articles start to get some traction. Right on the homepage you can see an example of how much other writers are making.
Fiverr
Fiverr is an incredibly easy to use platform and you only have to be 13 to sign up and get started with gigs.
You can post a gig for things like creative writing, comic writing, and even fanfiction.
With Fiverr you need to list a gig and wait for people to buy from you.
You can advertise your services on social media and such, but you can’t search for writing gigs on Fiverr like you can with other, more advanced platforms.
While many gigs start at $5, you have the potential to greatly increase your prices as you gain more experience and positive reviews.
This is a great place to start and put your feelers out for freelance writing jobs for high school students.
UpWork
UpWork is a much more professional platform.
While you can post your skills on there, you can also search for writing gigs, which is nice.
You do need to be 18 to sign up and create a profile of your skills so this might something you do after High School and before you go to college.
While bidding for jobs does take some work, it can totally be worth it.
It can take a bit to build up your profile, but you can make around $10 per hour once you have a few gigs under your belt.
The more work you do, the more positive reviews you get, the more you can charge for your writing services.
The neat thing about UpWork is that you can see how much has been paid out for previous gigs of the same nature, what the company’s budget is, and how many proposals have already been submitted for that gig.
Facebook is a great place to get started with your freelance writing career if you have little experience. There are two ways to go about using Facebook for finding freelance writing gigs.
First, look for freelance writing pages that post jobs. My favorite are:
You can reach out to people on the platform and apply for gigs or let them know you are open for certain types of writing opportunities.
Secondly, you can also join groups that are related to selling content and virtual assistant work. Here you can list articles that you have written, or want to write, for sale.
Also, don’t be afraid to reach out to other freelance writers. They might have connections and resources you have never thought of.
Medium
Medium is a blogger platform where anyone can share their writing.
You can also submit your writing to publications and gain more followers and recognition. Now, the cool thing about Medium, is that they have a Partner Program where you can get paid for people engaging with your content.
If you produce stellar content on a regular basis as well as submit your pieces to various publications, you can earn anywhere from a few dollars a month to hundreds to even thousands a month.
Personally, the most I make per month is about $100. For a teen (on top of you allowance and after school job), that’s some sweet spending cash!
Search For Local Gigs
You can also search locally for writing gigs.
Check out your school, church, local youth centers, event management places, or museums.
If you can’t find any information online, go in person and let them know you are looking for writing opportunities. It never hurts to try and make those face to face connections with people.
When going and talking to people face to face, always make sure you can leave them your information so they can get ahold of you later on or pass along your information to the person who does the hiring.
Magazines That Hire Teen Writers
One Story
One Story is a contest submission process rather than a regular freelance position.
The advantage of this is that it will look great on your budding writing resume.
One Story looks for submissions from teen writers ages 13-19 of original and unpublished fiction.
This can include short stories on the topics of fantasy, sci-fi, horror, and love stories of 2,000 to 4,500 words. As long as your stories include strong writing, interesting characters, and a good structure, your story has a chance of being accepted.
If it is accepted, then it will be published in the upcoming edition.
The winner of the submission will get a $500 payment and 25 copies of the magazine featuring their work.
The First Line
The First Line is a magazine that accepts submissions for short stories.
While they don’t advertise an age restriction, if accepted you will need to submit an author bio. Fiction stories range between 300 to 5,000 words while non-fiction range between 500-800 words.
In addition to fiction and non-fiction, they also accept poetry submissions. While they don’t pay a lot for submissions, it’s a great opportunity for new writers to get their feet wet.
Story
Story is another submission passed writing opportunity.
You can submit a story of any kind with a cover letter indicating the genre. Payouts are $10 per published page.
Generally magazine submissions take much longer to get a response than any other type of writing gig. So be prepared to wait 10-12 weeks for a response.
Daily Science Fiction
If you love to write science fiction, then this one’s for you!
Daily Science Fiction is searching for writers who are great at writing character driven fiction pieces.
The word count can range from 100-1,500 words and pay around $0.08 per word (which is a pretty good rate for any new writer). They even accept submissions for artwork as well if you are a writer and an artist.
Literary Orphans
Literary Orphans is a short fiction and art magazine that accepts fiction of any genre.
They are generally looking for stories of 2,000 words or less and there is even a specific category for teens under the age of 19.
Cricket Media
Cricket Media is a combination of four different magazines geared towards children of all ages.
They accept submissions from writers of all skill and experience levels and are committed to having a thriving and diverse literary culture.
They welcome work by writers of underrepresented groups, such as the LGBTQAI+ community, those with disabilities, and writers of color.
Depending on what you are submitting, there are different guidelines. They accept submission for activities, fiction, feature stories, and even puzzles and games.
This is also another good magazine if you are looking to submit both writing and artwork.
While you might have to deal with more restrictions as a teen writer, there are opportunities available for you, even if you don’t have any experience.
Writing Jobs for Teens and Students
There ya go – some amazing part-time jobs for students!
For more help, check out these posts:
- The Giant List of Magazines that Pay Writers
- Fashion Writing Jobs
- Comedy Writing Jobs
- College Writing Jobs
I hope you found some ways to make money with your writing or at least, seen how it’s possible to make it as a writer online! I’ve been doing this since 2014 and love every minute of it!
Over to you – are you teen interested in making money writing? Have you been paid for your writing? Share your story in the comments! Make sure to follow me on Instagram @elnacain!
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