✍️ How to Become a Six-Figure Writer in 2025

All of the different ways to earn $100,000 in annual revenue from your writing.

I spent the beginning of 2025 hanging out with family and robots.

At my hotel in San Francisco, a little room service robot brought me hot chocolate and pastries in the morning.

On the way back from seeing Gladiator II with my partner Kyle, we rode in our first Waymo, and I can say for certain that the future is here! (All hail self-driving cars!)

In today’s newsletter, you’ll read about:

✨ All of the different ways you can make $100,000 per year as a writer

✍️ This past week’s writing job board (and a featured job for book proofreaders!)

📚 The best gift you can give to yourself as a book writer

✍️ New Writing Job Board Comes Out Tomorrow!

Did you miss it? Here are the writing jobs on this past week’s job board:

• A $90/hour freelance copywriting job

• An interactive media company looking for romance writers

• An esports freelance writing job at $20/hour

PLUS: did you miss the most recent featured job, calling all romantasy book proofreaders?

If you missed the last issue of my writing job board, check it out at the link below:

🫖 Sunday Tea: How to Become a Six-Figure Writer in 2025

When the New Year hits, it’s easy to overcomplicate things. For most writers, making $100,000 a year from just their writing is a dream.

I know when I hit my first six-figure writing year I was floored and absolutely over the moon with gratitude and excitement!

So let’s break it down into more manageable chunks when it comes to all the different paths writers can take to make $100,000 in 2025:

• Become a Substack writer with 1,042 paid subscribers at $8/month to hit $100,000 in revenue. I believe that all writers should maintain a regular writing practice with a newsletter hosted on Substack, and you can read my most popular article about the 3 Ways to Start a Paid Newsletter on Substack here :)

• Become an author and sell 14,286 e-book copies of your self-published book at $9.99 on Amazon (which nets a $7 royalty on each copy sold). That’s 39 e-book copies per day to hit $100,000. You can also increase your earnings by selling hardcover, paperback, and audiobook formats. Some authors also sell merch or special editions and signed copies of their books on their website, which can also contribute to their annual revenue. The more books you write, the better you get and the more readers and sales you have, so patience is key here!

• Write for others as a freelance writer and take on 20 clients throughout the year and charge $5,000 per project in order to get to $100,000 in revenue. This also doesn’t include any repeat clients who may want to do multiple projects with you. If you’re looking for these clients who will pay you to write stuff, I recommend upgrading your subscription to my Substack to get my weekly freelance writing job board delivered straight to your inbox.

• Write for others as a freelance memoir ghostwriter and charge $50,000 per book and write for 2 clients per year to reach $100,000 in revenue. Or, if you’re a newer memoir ghostwriter, you can charge $25,000 per book and write 4 books per year. Think of it as subsidized writing practice: you’ll get really good at writing quality books, fast, and then you’ll be able to raise your rates with each project.

• Become a writing coach and take on 40 clients per year (about 4 per month) at $2,500 per client to reach $100,000. Lots of newer writers need writing guidance, and writing coaching can be a great way to sharpen your own craft while helping others.

Your path to your first six-figure year will be unique to you and your superpowers. You may mix and match all of the above, or find a completely different way to pay your bills while working on your novel.

Here’s to a wonderful 2025 filled with opportunities to level up your writing career! 🥂

📚 Author Corner: Rewrites for The Ash Trials

I’ve written over 120,000 words for my upcoming romantasy novel The Ash Trials so far, and these past two months have reminded me how much “sitting alone and typing” is a major part of the novel writing process.

It’s easy to romanticize the world of being a writer — and to be fair, I’ve had my fair share of very “romantic” author moments, like writing from an apartment with a view of the Eiffel Tower in Paris to signing my book The Nomad Detective for a reader while in NYC.

But what I love most about being a writer? The simple yet honest grind that is putting words onto the page. You have to find a way to love the act of writing and get into your flow state, otherwise the hundreds of hours you spend in front of your laptop will be too challenging to handle as a working writer.

The best gift that I gave to myself was doing National Novel Writing Month yearly as a writer. If you haven’t embarked on your own challenge to write a 50,000-word novel in a month yet, I highly recommend adding it to your New Year’s resolution list for 2025!

💻 Latest Blog Posts on AmySuto.com

• 6 Ways to Get Hired More as a Freelance Writer

• Amy’s Favorites: Ororo Heated Vest & Sakura Co Snacks

• 24 Things I Learned in 2024: Writing, Travel, & Money

📸 Photo of the Week: Singapore Dreams

Singapore was one of my favorite destinations of 2024 — read my travel guide here!

👀 Follow me on Substack Notes and Instagram for more!

Enjoyed today’s post? Please give it a “heart” ❤️ and share or restack it.

Sending creativity and good writing vibes your way,

-Amy