19 Online Platforms to Get Paid for Selling Short Stories
You have been writing for a while but now planning ways to make the most out of your writing experience, right? Honestly, if you are a good writer there are online platforms to get paid for selling short stories with value to people
No matter your niche, you will find places where that engaging content can be sold for an extra income. And when people appreciate your work it is motivational hence shape up your writing skills to offer the best to your audience.
As a writer you want to see value for money from your content, the best places where you can get paid writing for money. Let’s dive into details for making money with short stories.
Tips to Start Selling Stories Online
Putting your writing experience to work in a preferred niche can change your life financially. Through online platforms, some people will spare time to look through short stories with value at a fee.
Let’s get into tips to consider to successfully start writing short stories for money through online publishing platforms.
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Target audience
Before starting to write for people, you need to know your audience to provide target information that will get you paid. Whether you’re into short or long stories audience is business hence understand what the readers want and who they are to succeed.
When people like your content you will get paid, the opposite is true, and different platforms will hire your writing experience.
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Connect with writers
If you want to succeed in the short story publishing side hustle, start working with other people who are in the business to share pro tips. Here you are most likely to find writers with deals in your niche hence exploiting any other available money-making opportunities like copywriting, editing, and more.
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Document your experience
Whether you are writing short stories or books, document your expertise to prove your work to the audience. For people and platforms to trust your work it should relate to your writing profile.
Online Platforms to Get Paid Selling Short Stories
Writing short stories for money, the best places to start are online platforms. Many platforms are hiring people with experience in writing at a cost and here you can start getting paid for producing content.
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Poets & Writers
Sign up with the platform as a writer to share your writing experience and value content for readers. This platform welcomes flexible writers with different levels of expertise to serve people.
When you want to keep up-to-date with any upcoming offers you can subscribe for notifications to avoid missing out on available offers on the platform.
Looking for online platforms to sell short stories? Poet & writers is one of the best online magazines to sign up with to get paid.
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Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
It’s among the commonest self-publishing places to sell short stories in the online space. However, you don’t have to be very experienced to start publishing content here.
If you can come up with quality drafted content, sign up with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing to create a business account. However, you need some skills in graphics to create quality covers using the creation tools on the platform or elsewhere.
Compared to other platforms, there are several ways to make money with Kindle direct publishing in different price ranges for example royalties with Kindle Unlimited, direct eBook sells, and more.
If you are looking for platforms that can help you tap into a larger market audience, Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing has all you need.
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One Story
Another well-paying platform where you can post short stories is One Story magazine. However, compared to some other platforms here they publish one story in a month.
No matter the subject of the story, as long as it is well drafted to attract an audience it will be published on the platform. The story must be original, new, and filtered to meet the standards of the platform fit for publishing.
Writers make submissions to the platform and when your content is successful you are reached out after three months.
Therefore, if you want to start writing with One Story magazine, you must be experienced and patient to wait for a response from the platform.
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The Threepenny Review
This magazine publishes content in essays, stories, poems, memoirs, and more. Here your professional experience matters a lot when it comes to content writing.
Like some other platforms, only quality content from established writers is published, and are rewarded for their efforts. With this magazine expect to make up to $400 per piece depending on the type of content produced.
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Clarkesworld Magazine
This science fiction and fantasy magazine has been around for over a decade since 2006 majoring in producing articles and short stories in eBook formats, audio podcasts, and more.
Qualified short stories and articles should be 1000 words or more with a 12-cent pay-per-word in the write-up. Writers receive their earnings either by check or through their PayPal accounts at the payment date.
Clarkesworld is an award-winning magazine with a World Fantasy Award, British Fantasy Award, and Hugo Awards. Professional writers looking for platforms where you can put your skills to work, this is a great place to start.
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East of the Web
This platform also majors in different short story types for example science fiction, romance, non-fiction, horror, and more. To start writing with East of the Web you must provide quality content with a minimum required word count.
Since the platform has an app where stories can be accessed by the public, writers’ content can easily go viral and get exposure.
Sign up with the magazine to make submissions for your stories for consideration. Here writers are paid $0.05 for every word in the successful story published.
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Flash Fiction Online
If you can produce short stories around science fiction, humor, horrors, and more, register with the magazine for business. However, the word count requirement for short stories on the platform ranges from 500 to 1000 words.
Writers must take into consideration the platform’s short story content requirements to keep up with the standard guidelines.
Another magazine that has been in business for decades where you can get paid for writing short stories is Reader’s Digest. Writers with experience are earning thousands of dollars per month from short stories published.
Despite other platforms where you are paid for thousands of words in short stories, here writers with not more than 100 words can get paid up to $100 per piece.
Reader’s Digest emphasizes originality in writing and this has helped it to build a name in the publishing business attracting a good number of readers every day. Successful stories and writers get recognition due to exposure by the platform to the public.
Like some other platforms, you need to submit your story for evaluation and consideration on the platform to make money.
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Asimovs
This is an award-winning science fiction magazine publishing short stories for consumption by readers. Asimovs welcomes experienced writers to make submissions for consideration to get paid for their work.
It is one other platform where writers are paid an average of $0.09 per word in the stories with a required word count ranging from one thousand to twenty thousand words. Therefore, if you are good at drafting science fiction and fantasy short stories, Asimovs needs your expertise.
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Duotrope
Here experienced writers are connected with people interested in buying short stories. Sign up with Duotrope to start selling those quality stories at a monthly subscription fee of $5.
However, quality is king when you want to make the most out of the platform despite the opportunities that come with being a member. The fees made to Duotrope are meant to ensure that writers get the best service in a given area of expertise that is writing, art, photography, and more.
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The Atlantic
Atlantic is another great place where you can put your writing experience to work for a living. There are different areas to get into as writers for example business, health, technology, politics, science, fiction, and more.
Make submissions for short stories to the platform for evaluation and consideration to start getting paid for your work in the preferred field. Not all stories you forward will succeed and that is why you should be strategic on the topics you want to write about.
Looking for platforms to get paid writing? Here there is a variety of topics to consider writing about to make money online.
Whether you are writing long or short stories, Medium is one other great place where writers publish for a living. There are different topics of interest you can write about on the platform for monetization purposes.
Sign up with the platform to create an account to start writing and join their partner program to get paid when readers spend time perusing your content online. Consistent experienced writers are making a killing on Medium because they deliver quality to readers.
Despite experienced writers, there are also beginner writers following Medium’s publisher best practices and getting paid some good money.
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Vestal Review
Start publishing online with Vestal Review Publishing magazine to get paid. The short story flash fiction platform has been around for over two decades since its inception.
Writers in different areas of expertise are invited to make submissions to be reviewed for consideration. Vestal Review invests in experienced writers and this is among the factors that have helped it gain a large audience over time.
Sign up with the Flash Fiction magazine to get paid $75 on average through your PayPal account per successful short story published. Quality content is paramount if you want to break through the evaluation process get rewarded for your effort.
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The New Yorker
This is also among the longest-serving magazines in the writing and publishing space covering fiction, poetry, culture, politics, and more. A few years from now since 1925 it is going to make a century in business.
The American publishing magazine is one of the most competitive platforms in the writing and publishing space worldwide. If you want to succeed you must be consistent in submissions to the site and experienced about the topic of interest.
Also, when submissions are made it will take about three months for your story to be published. Unsuccessful writers won’t get any response about their content on failure to meet standards.
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The Sun Magazine
If you are good about poetry, fiction, and more in short formats this is another great magazine to start writing for money. Like some other platforms, you need to sign up to make submissions for consideration.
The Sun magazine is another competitive platform with lots of experienced writers. When you are just getting started it would take some to get accepted but you just need to be persistent about making submissions with quality short stories.
Since there are different topics to write about, people from different backgrounds take advantage of the available opportunities for a living.
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Analogue
The science fiction and fact magazine started in the year 1930 working with authors producing award-winning stories and since inception, it has managed to win 75 awards in the publishing industry. It is an unmatched literary magazine in the genre for readers interested in standardized short stories.
The platform pays authors on average $0.09 per word in the short stories published. To start writing with the magazine you need to make submissions to the site for evaluation and consideration.
For success check out their submission page, there are rules and procedures every writer has to go through before presenting work for evaluation.
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Uncanny
Here is another great award-winning science fiction and fantasy magazine for publishers. Writers looking to expose their skills in writing fiction, non-fiction, science fiction culture, and poetry consider trying out Uncanny.
If you are a good writer in any of the topics mentioned, start presenting your work to their submission page when they are open for evaluation and consideration. Writers are paid about $0.75 – $0.85 per word in the stories submitted.
However, before presenting your work look through their submission page to read about author requirements.
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Pulp Literature
This platform was started by three masterminds of female writers who published their minds in science fiction, fantasy, history, thriller, and more in different formats for readers. Their interesting line “good books for the price of beer to stretch the reader’s mind” attracts quite a larger audience to the platform.
Successful experienced writers are able to tap into the platform’s audience for exposure to readers in all genres, pulp literature rewards authors $0.07 per word on average.
Therefore, in line with literary fiction pulp literature invites writers with a touch of beautiful prose, soul-searching themes, and powerful and complex character development.
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Giganotosaurus
This is a science fiction or fantasy magazine that publishes stories longer than a short story but shorter compared to novels. Writers with the potential to string science fiction stories of thousands of words or more are welcome to make submissions for consideration.
Giganotosaurus publishes one successful online story from writers every month. This is also one other award-winning publishing company where writers present their work for recognition.
Publishers on the platforms are rewarded $100 for every story that passes the evaluation process and is published online for readers. For acceptance into the magazine, sign up to follow through with the submission guidelines.
FAQs – Online Platforms to Get Paid for Selling Short Stories
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How Much Money Can I Make Publishing With Magazines?
Publishing platforms pay writers differently hence the amount you can make depends on the magazine you’re working with and your level of experience. Expert writers are most likely to make thousands of dollars every month compared to beginners.
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Payment Per Word And Flat Fees Made To Writers, What Makes The Most Money?
Writers can make some good money in both ways according to one’s writing experience. Some platforms pay well per word or offer a decent flat fee per story.
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Do I Need To Sign Up With Different Platforms To Make Money?
Online platforms to get paid for selling short stories, you don’t need to sign up with different platforms to make money, pick one or two platforms that meet your interests to sign up and make submissions for evaluation.
