Writing Platforms: Earn Money By Writing Philippines
The writing game has been around for ages and with the online writing channels around it has never been easier for writers to put their work out into the world. While it’s been popularly conventional to publish books on paper, not everyone has the resources and enough writing steam to finish a whole book for publication.
An online writing platform is one solid avenue for your pursuit of a sustainable writing career. Because of that, I’ll answer the following questions in this piece:
- Can I really earn through writing?
- What are the writing platforms that pay in the Philippines?
- Are there writing platforms that accept Tagalog works?
- Can I earn through poem writing?
- How do I market my written work?
- What writing workshops can I join in the Philippines?
- What writing courses can I take in the Philippines?
To kick off “Earn Money by Writing Philippines”, let’s start with a few clarifications on who this article is for by defining writing job categories.
Writing Jobs In The Philippines
Writing jobs in the Philippines are an umbrella of opportunities that I’m gonna break down further so we can tackle the paying platforms more clearly.
Freelance Writing Jobs Philippines
Freelance writers depend on contract or project-based earnings. Pay can be received upon completion of work or as it gains a paying audience.
Content Writing Jobs Philippines
Content writing aims to promote content and is usually used in digital marketing efforts. You can try your hand at this with our guide for content writers. It includes article writing, business writing, and email copywriting.
Creative Writing Jobs Philippines
Creative writing is an expression of emotion, with an emphasis on originality and personal ideas. The list includes novels, poems, scripts, and short stories.
We got that down, so to answer the question…
Who is this article for?
The content of this article is for freelance creative writers or people looking for a side job in the creative writing field.
Where To Earn Money By Writing Philippines
You can explore a significant number of platforms through either direct submission or through acquisition editors in the Philippines but the following are the more popular ones.
Writing Platforms In The Philippines
I’ve only included platforms that I have confirmed to pay through actual writers.
1. Novel Writing Platforms
Most of the platforms in my list cater to story readers, so here’s a long but not exhaustive list of writing platforms for novels.
Allows offline reading of Billionaire, Modern Romance, LGBT+, Historical Romance, Fantasy Romance novels. Once signed, your novel will be included in their pay-to-read collection.
- BravoNovel – negative review
A platform that caters to Werewolf, Royal Romance, Mafia, New Adult, and Paranormal genres. It’s a certified paying app but where you can’t expect the novel to earn every period.
A child company of another paying platform (Stary Night), offers both exclusive and non-exclusive contracts. They have a low entry barrier and low editing requirement but royalty share is a little below industry standard.
This platform offers tiered exclusive contract options once you hit the 50,000-word count. They have multiple reading apps including Deereader.
Your signed novel will be published on multiple platforms including Novela and Finovela. They accept genres but the more popular ones are Romance, Fantasy, Action, and Adventure.
Good Novel offers good guide and tutorials to authors and have heavy readers in the Romance genre. With that, novels outside that genre tend to have a smaller following.
Mega Novel is a legitimate platform that offers 50% royalty for exclusive contracts with additional bonuses for attendance and completion.
It’s recommended to secure at least 10,000 words of your novel before signing a contract with Moboreader. They give bonuses for stories Zthat publish 50,000 or more every month.
This fairly new platform goes heavy on Science Fiction and Fantasy genres compared to the massive Romance anchor genre for most writing and reading platforms.
Neo Novel’s more popular genres include Fantasy and Romance. They offer a 45% share profit and an increase in pay when your novel gets validated as premium content by their editors.
You can land a contract with NovelCat with a 5,000-word start on your novel. They have an author leveling system where you can get additional benefits as you go up.
Novel Now accepts novels from all genres offering 50% revenue share for both exclusive and non-exclusive contracts. They also do contests with cash prizes with specific subgenres.
A chat-type novel writing platform where the story takes place in a chat format. They hold weekly events and short story contests for writers regularly.
Another chat story platform for Filipino writers and readers. You can download their app and get an instant feel on how they work.
A pay-to-read platform for genres under Crime, Fantasy, Romance, and more that have a low-entry barrier and massive paying reader following. Chapters should be released daily and novels are expected to have more than 100 chapters upon completion. There are a lot of overlaps in the platforms’ genres but there are subgenres that exist within those popular categories you can target.
2. Mixed Publications
- Liwayway Magazine
If you’re an oldie you might remember the Liwayway Magazine edition collection, they were reformatted recently to add an online arm and were relaunched in 2022. Follow their editorial guidelines and submit your work directly to their email for review. They accept novels, short stories, and poems.
3. Other Platforms to Consider (and Try)
- Wattpad
This platform became a passage of sorts for writers who want to write without submission commitments. It’s been a consistent starting point for newbie writers who later transition to better-paying platforms.
Wattpad actually has a paying system but it’s through the platform’s editorial invite and considering that it’s a large platform, there is steep competition.
- Youtube
Another paying platform to consider is Youtube but it does not usually come from the platform itself but from the channel owners who buy stories/scripts content (unless you build your own channel, which will be an entirely different case).
Youtube writing has a variety of genres and can accommodate Tagalog stories, too. See Amihan, Jayce, and Ate Jane TV Stories.
- Writing Contests
Join pub house contests. The prices range from cash prices and your work’s free publication. How sweet is that?
You’ll have to be on the lookout for publication contests through Facebook groups or directly subscribing to their newsletter. I, for one, managed to get one short story published through a writing contest. It boosted my confidence (off the charts) and writer presence (a little).
Tagalog Writing Platforms
There are several platforms that accept Tagalog works on the above list, some of them are:
- GoodNovel
- Dreame
- FameInk
- TypeKita
- Liwayway
Novel Writing Philippines
Let me dedicate a few more pointers to novel writing since it makes up a large part of writing platforms for creative writers.
Other Things To Consider Before Signing Your Novel To A Writing Platform
Genre
Are you a writer who found their niche? If yes, a good strategy would be choosing a platform that caters to your genre since more readers on that platform will be interested in your stories.
Not yet sure what genre you would write for the long haul? Explore different platforms, sign a non-exclusive contract, and observe which novel performs best.
Audience
Your platform has existing readers, choose one that works well with your genre among other factors to maximize your earning potential.
If you want to rake in a big audience, consider the stories that tick based on your platform’s popular genres, top stories, and hall of famers.
Exclusive vs Non-Exclusive Contracts
Exclusive contracts from paying platforms give more compensation for your work upfront but you will have to consider the ownership and restrictions that come with it.
Non-exclusive contracts have lower pay but writers have the freedom to publish the story in another platform and the sole ownership belongs to the author as well.
“Shady contracts are thrown every day across the internet, be sure to read the fine print and only settle with conditions you are comfortable with.”
Payment Terms and Conditions
Does your platform have a signing or completion bonus? How does your earning grow, by subscriptions or word count submission? Are you being paid with a combination of these factors? When and how are payouts released?
Unclear payment terms are red flags.
For legitimate platforms, knowing payment details helps you strategize better. For example, not hitting the usual subscription count can call for a mass release of chapters to compensate for your monthly pay with the word count bonus.
“Pro-tip: The industry’s royalty standard rate is around 50%.”
How many words can you produce in a day?
Can you dish out 3,000 words a day on the daily without drying out of ideas? Good for you! Not do confident but can commit to 1,000 a day? That works, too.
You have to find a platform where you can maximize your high bandwidth or can accommodate your slow-paced writing.
“Pro-tip: You can start stockpiling your chapters even before you sign a contract so you don’t pressure yourself with daily releases.”
Earn Money by Writing Philippines – Novel Writing Experience
I got in touch with a couple of novel writers from several writing platforms.
Dina Fabulosa, a mama writer like me has five novels under her belt, posted across multiple platforms (Goodnovel, Bravonovel, FameInk, Novelcat, BabelNovel, Moboreader, NovelNow) under non-exclusive contracts.
She earns through profit sharing with a daily output of 500-1,000 words a day. The amount is good enough for a part-time gig as she has limited time for writing. She’s also transitioned into an AE (acquisition editor) for BabelNovel to rack up earnings and provide guidance to future writers.
“A good number of AEs came from being former writers so connecting with one will give you better insight on how specific platforms work.”
Shiroi Nami, an exclusive writer for WebNovel, has two ongoing English novels that earn her an average of over 30,000 pesos in the past three months for a single novel.
This woman delivers 2,500 words a day at a minimum and 6,000 at a max. If you can commit to a similar word count bandwidth, I suggest getting in touch with her for an exclusive contract with WebNovel.
‘Exclusive contracts tend to have more demanding stipulations on submission requirements in exchange for higher royalty shares.”
Hurray for the pay! But, we know that earnings can vary greatly from writer to writer so use other’s success to fuel yours!
Earn Money By Writing Philippines – Improving Your Writing Skills
Knowing you grammar, learning how to outline events and editing are among the skills you need in writing. If you are not yet confident in your writing abilities, it’s crucial that you start right away. You can’t improve NOTHING so it’s better to start crappy than not start at all.
Read everything you can get your hands on. Connect with fellow writers and expose yourself to literature. Expand your vocabulary. Personally, I prefer learning things through research and talking to fellow writers in a friendly set-up (through DMs and GCs) but if you want to go the extra mile and experience a formal learning environment, I found courses and workshops you can try.
Creative Writing Courses In The Philippines
Coursera and Udemy courses can provide you with the basics and specialized lessons for your niche.
Creative Writing Workshop In The Philippines
If you’re within the Metro, you can try Story Writing School or find a workshop group near your area.
“Pro-tip: There are platforms like WebNovel that provide their writers with their own writing course materials. Platform-based tutorials are specially formulated to cater to their existing readers’ interests.”
FAQs for Earn Money By Writing Philippines
- What equipment do I need for this?
Mobile phones work if that’s what you have but having a reliable laptop or PC is recommended for long writing sessions and better writing tools optimization.
- How much can I earn in novel writing?
The rate will vary greatly depending on your contract type, basis of earnings, platform, and other factors but a signing bonus can easily be at 2,500 for a 30,000-word initial submission plus royalty and other bonuses.
Your monthly earnings will be based on your novel’s performance which can be somewhere between 30-70% of the profit share.
- What qualifications do I need to earn from writing platforms?
There are no credentials needed for most writing platforms. You just have to have your story ready for publication.
- How do I market my work?
Writing platforms have their own marketing strategies for promoting your story to their existing audience. If you want to go the extra mile, online promotion is the way to go. Post on social media platforms and interact with online groups of the same interests.
- Can I do this while juggling a full-time job?
Absolutely. Dedicate a couple of hours for writing and you’re good to go. A consistent routine works so know your personal word bandwidth and improve.
Why Try Paying Writing Platforms?
Stay-at-home moms looking for another income stream, students looking for an allowance bump, professionals looking for a side gig, and aspiring writers who don’t know where to start just need a little nudge to kick off their writing journey.
Writers are part of the workforce too and are entitled to compensation for their work. We (you and me) just have to be more creative in finding writing routes that pay.
Just as the majority of the world’s commodities are made available online, written content is also taking part in the transformation.
The goal here is earning money but don’t miss the part where writing is an art. Keep true to your passion. As a Thrifty Pinay, I can guarantee that you can earn money by writing in the Philippines.