✍️ Call for Personal Essay Pitches: The First Time You Got Paid to Write

$500 for a 500-word essay on how you made your first writing paycheck — and what it meant.

📣 Call for Pitches: The First Time You Got Paid to Write

💰 $1/word | 500 words | Published on the GuestStack column here at ✍️ Make Writing Your Job

Every writer has a moment.

The first time someone paid you real money for your words.

Whether it was a $30 blog post, a $60,000 ghostwriting deal, or a commissioned personal essay that made you rethink what was possible — something shifted.

💡 You realized you could actually make a living doing this.

We want that story.

👀 What we want:

• Pitches for personal essays (that upon selection, the chosen writer will write a 500-word essay) with voice, insight, and tension

• Stories rooted in your writing or freelancing life (both creative writers and nonfiction writers/essayists welcome!)

• A-ha moments that feel universal and yet intensely personal (specific details > vague platitudes)

• Pieces that teach us something, not just tell us something

💰 What we pay:

💸 $500 flat ($1/word for 500 words)

✨ PLUS: Publication to an audience of 15,000+ subscribers here on ✍️ Make Writing Your Job.

No deadline — we’ll close the form once we’ve found our perfect pitch.

✍️ Submit your pitch at the link below: