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Find a Writing Job: The Best Freelance Writing Websites and Newsletters

Finding online writing jobs isn’t always easy and you can find yourself searching for work a lot more than actually working and actually earning money online.

Ideally, you want to be in a position where the work is coming to you.

One of the quickest ways to be in that position is by subscribing to freelancer newsletters. We’ve listed some of the best newsletters and freelance writing websites you can sign up for below and plenty of other resources that have really helped build a solid list of clients.

online writing jobs

One of my favourite resources is the #FreelancerPayGap spreadsheet, a collaborative effort to bring light to the rates different publications are paying people. It also helps to find publications (that pay) that you potentially haven’t heard of.

The Best Sources for Online Writing Jobs

Read on to find a list of resources that have genuinely helped us find online writing jobs which have allowed us to work from home for a number of years. These are the resources we use ourselves and recommend to friends who are getting started in the freelance writing world.

*We are not an affiliate of any of these newsletters or groups. But we subscribe to most of these and have found them incredibly useful.

Best Newsletters for Writing Opportunities

freelance writing tips

Searching for online writing jobs takes up so much time that weekly newsletters prove to be frequent lifesavers. Think of them as freelancer noticeboards that drop through your mailbox. With them, the work comes to you. In theory, anyway.

Read More: How to Find and Apply for a Remote Job (Everything You Need to Know)

Study Hall

This is a relatively new group on Patreon that has several tiers available. For four dollars a month, you get a thorough weekly list of writing opportunities and a digest of things happening in the online journalism world.

If you’re willing to pay eleven dollars a month, you can access their databases of editors, late payers, and other useful information. Plus, you can join their listserv, meaning you can chat with other freelancers, ask questions, and generally engage with the freelancer community.

Lots of people have had amazing success because of this group but we will say that the listserve and chats are currently primarily USA-focused.

Opportunities of the Week

Sonia is a freelance writer who puts together a bunch of useful resources as well as a long list of writing opportunities every week. We have had great success from this one and Sonia is a very friendly, helpful human being.

We highly recommend this method of finding work. Her suggested payment is $3 a month on Patreon but she’ll take as little as $1 and even offers sponsorship if you can’t afford to pay anything at all.

Freelance Writing Jobs

One that’s perfect for British freelance writers. Sian Meades collects freelance opportunities within the arts, art jobs based in the UK, as well as prizes you can enter and scholarships to apply for.

We look forward to this email every single week; it comes personally recommended from us. Plus, it’s free! Although she does appreciate a digital cup of coffee for her efforts.

Pitchwiz Newsletter

Pitchwiz is a great site to get in contact with editors (it’s an amazing tool for searching for names) and to find stories in the story market. Literally, editors putting out calls for things we need. It’s a dream.

They also have a forum where James Durston posts an ongoing thread of calls for pitches from Twitter. You can also sign up for the free newsletter which pins these to your inbox once a week.

Journo Resources

A newer newsletter; this has a free tier which you can join for receiving jobs and freelance gigs to your inbox every week, and also a paid tier at £3.50 (or a cheaper annual plan) which supports the creator and gets you a host of benefits including monthly events and swag.

solis portable wifi

There’s a lot of variety on here which we don’t often see anywhere else, it is more US-focused but still plenty to look at for everyone else.

Talking Travel Writing

Focused on the travel industry, this paid newsletter (at £5 a month or £50 for a year) offers valuable industry insight from experts as well as tips on making success within the travel writing industry. Exclusive opportunities are sent out in weekly emails. If you’re a travel writer, this is easily one of the best

Read More: 10 Tips for Being a Successful Freelance Travel Writer

Morning Coffee Newsletter

Fancy new work into your inbox every day? Then the Freelancer.com newsletter is for you. It’s free and reliable. The work is pretty hit-and-miss but there’s a lot of blog writing work and quick money-making gigs to be snatched up.

Young Journos in Scotland

Work opportunities, grants, and internships for journalists in Scotland with a good dash of advice and encouragement.

Using Social Media for Freelance Writer Jobs

facebook groups for writers

Facebooks groups are definitely hit-and-miss, and the last thing I would want to recommend is sinking more of your time into social media (we all spend too much time there as it is) but there are a couple that have proven quite useful for finding online writing jobs. Of course, if you type in ‘digital nomad jobs’ you’ll find plenty more.

Twitter can also be useful if you type in #freelancewriter #pitches or something along those lines. You can also make a list of editors you would like to write for and check back for opportunities.

Female Digital Nomads

This is a great group if you’re a woman. The people are generally very supportive and helpful, and great freelance jobs come up from time to time as there are plenty of badass entrepreneur ladies in there.

Guavabean

A super friendly group and platform. They post freelance jobs and allow you to post your services and meet others in specific threads. They often put out courses and helpful tools and articles. Their actual website has even more resources and job opportunities.

Underpinned

One of the best freelancer resources is UnderPinned, where you have access to a job board and all the tools you need for successfully working online.

Use code NOMAD25 for a 25% discount on your UnderPinned account.

Read More: Freelancer Tips – What to Do When a Client Won’t Pay You

Useful Freelance Writing Websites – Online Writing Jobs and Resources

Here are some of our favourite websites specifically for finding online writing jobs; we also have a list of online job websites that can be used for finding freelance writing jobs.

Medium Partner Program

Medium offers users a wonderful opportunity to utilise old blog posts that aren’t doing much or to write outside of your typical niche but still make money from it.

The way it works: you post on Medium, select the checkbox which says you accept that it should be exclusively for subscribers, and then you get paid for the amount of ‘claps’ you get. Republishing old content and making money off it can be a really nice way to make passive income.

Who Pays Writers 

This one is fairly well summed up in the title. Find out who pays writers, how much (approximately), and whether they’re known for paying on time. Always a good one to know!

Quill Content

It’s free to join Quill Content and they send out well-paid work to your inbox whenever it’s available. It’s mostly product descriptions for famous clothing and hotel brands.

The only problem is that you have to do a couple of test descriptions for each one which does take up time and may amount to nothing. But if you’re good at writing product descriptions, this is your platform.

Pangian

A useful job board that has new listings for remote jobs every day. There are lots of coding and tech-related jobs here but also enough marketing and writing jobs to make it worth keeping an eye on.

It’s 100% remote and, apparently, the fastest-growing remote job website. They also have a Facebook page where they list jobs and let people ask questions.

Make a Journo Portfolio

Yes, you could set up a WordPress or a Squarespace website but that does take up a lot of time and isn’t necessarily the cheapest option. Many people will suggest this because of affiliates and what have you.

But it is true that if you want to be taken seriously as a freelancer of any sort then you will eventually need a website showcasing your work and highlighting your services.

I personally use Journo Portfolio. The service offers users so many themes to choose from, all completely customisable. They have a free option and then a couple of higher price ranges for more pages etc.

Before that, we would have recommended Contently which lets you build a portfolio for free (up to ten articles)and has the added bonus of making yourself ‘available’ for freelance work. It’s not as pretty as a Journo Portfolio and not as customisable but definitely a great option for a quick, functional portfolio.

Bonus tip: If you do have a blog of your own then make sure you have a dedicated services page that details the freelance writing services that you offer, as well as your rates. If you’re struggling to find clients then our guide to selling your skills and finding clients is for you.

Read More:

What to Do When a Client Won’t Pay You

6 Best Personal Finance Books

20 Best Online Jobs For Freelancers And Digital Nomads

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