8 Market Types Writers Can Tap Into to Grow Their Business

Gone are the days when writers were mainly restricted to print-oriented markets. The explosive growth of digital publishing over recent decades has also led to an expansion in market types for writers to tap into. However, more traditional print markets also remain highly relevant in the digital age. 

This expansion of market types, otherwise the democratization of writing, is good news because it has reduced entry barriers and generated more niches in the publishing industry. Today, writers can scale their businesses through strategic diversification into various market niches. To diversify and expand portfolios, we need to identify the primary market types. These are some of the main market types writers can explore today. 

Copywriting content is primarily text for persuasive marketing or advertising. It typically encompasses website, email marketing, and digital ad content that promotes products or services. The primary objectives of copywriting are to describe products and persuade readers. 

Commercial copywriting is a healthy and lucrative market type for writers to tap into. Many business organizations need copywriters for product descriptions, landing pages, promotional emails, and newsletters. Thus, freelance copywriting vacancies, typically advertised on sites like LinkedIn, Indeed, and SimplyHired, are quite prevalent, and some offer more premium remuneration (pay) per word. 

Admittedly, copywriting might not be everybody’s cup of tea because it’s a little different from standard content writing. Copywriting is heavily search engine optimization focused, and including targeted keywords is usually an essential requirement for it. The requirement to describe products in compelling ways also makes copywriting something of an art. 

7 Search Engine Optimization Tips for Website and Blog Articles 

Although the printed consumer magazine market has declined, it remains a big sector for writers to explore. This market type encompasses magazine coverage of a wide variety of consumer interests, such as travel, history, sports, politics, food, gaming, and more. The consumer magazine market type is focused on articles devoted to specific public interests. 

Many magazines are open to freelance pitching and content submissions, with remuneration that can range from $50 to $1,000 for an article depending on length. However, not all magazines clearly advertise that they’re open to freelance submissions. To break into this market, I recommend reviewing magazine websites for pitching and submission guidelines. If you can’t find any guidelines, ask if specific magazines are open to freelance article submissions by contacting their editorial staff via email or phone. 

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Open-platform websites are at the forefront of the democratization of writing. This is a market type accessible to all in which writers retain more thorough content output control. Publishing platforms like Medium, Vocal Media, and Substack are good examples of open-platform websites writers can register on and submit content to without pitching titles or claiming assignments. The biggest advantage of this market type is freedom, as you can submit articles about almost anything to open platforms like Medium and Vocal Media. 

Yet, the caveat of open-platform websites is that they offer completely unpredictable remuneration, typically based on article reads, pageviews, or subscriptions. For example, Medium offers article remuneration for member reads based on a rather complicated and fluctuating algorithm that’s hard to understand. Consequently, writers have no idea how much revenue their articles on open-platform websites will generate. 

An Honest Review of the Medium Publishing Platform Article Market 

I have experience with open-platform websites and generally found them underwhelming from a remuneration perspective. Of the five open-platform websites I have submitted articles to, only one of them has been worth it so far. Note that three of those open platforms I previously submitted content to have now shut down because of unsustainable revenue-sharing models. Nevertheless, with a lot of dedication and persistence, the better open-platform websites can still be lucrative markets for writers who can establish larger readerships on them. 

The digital contributor network market type is based on websites recruiting freelance contractors, rather than internal employees, to submit articles. These can be sites within larger website networks run by larger digital media companies, such as Valnet, or smaller ones owned by individuals. Recruited contributors submit articles directly to the websites, via content management systems, and usually need to format pages in accordance with site guidelines. 

The compensation models within the digital contributor network market vary widely. Many websites offer recruited contributors fixed pay per article. However, some sites offer more performance-oriented remuneration based on pageviews or ad revenue share. 

I have submitted thousands of articles to digital contributor network websites myself. In my experience, this is a more preferable market type than open platform because digital contributor networks typically offer more substantial fixed remuneration. Another advantage of the digital contributor network market type is that it enables higher volume article submissions. However, you’ll need to apply to join websites recruiting contributors, typically with cover letters (or emails) and sample clips. 

Although printed newspapers have declined in circulation, like magazines, they still remain a big publishing pillar. It’s worth noting that this market type also extends to newspaper websites. Many big-name and smaller community-level newspapers are open to freelance article submissions for op-eds (opinion pieces), investigative reports, reviews, and features. The papers typically offer flat-fee pay for published articles. 

To submit an article to a newspaper (or its site), you need to pitch its title to the editor via email. The Guardian is an example of one big national newspaper open to freelance contributors. This freelance contributors page on the Guardian site says: “If you want to offer us a contribution you should consider which section of the newspapers or websites is most likely to be interested. Contact the commissioning editor for this section - ideally by phone or email - and briefly outline your idea.” 

Beyond the digital publishing network market type, there are websites open to submissions from freelance contributors. Such sites operate similarly to consumer magazines open to external freelance article submissions. They don’t frequently recruit regular contributors, but they budget specifically for freelance submissions with fixed-fee remuneration. 

To find websites open to freelance contributors, look for submission guidelines pages on them. For example, Writer’s Digest has this submissions page that provides pitching guidelines for its website and print magazine. Listverse is another website open to submissions that you can send articles to via this input form page. 

Traditional book publishing remains the biggest milestone market type for many writers to break into. It’s one of the toughest market types to break into because you’ll need to find a publisher for your book. To find a publisher, you must craft book proposals (for non-fiction) or send manuscripts (for fiction) to them to review, typically via their websites. Literary agents are also sometimes needed to break into non-fiction publishing. 

Published authors receive a percentage royalty allocated by publishers from their book sales (typically ranging from 10% to 25%). There’s no doubting that traditional book publishing can be a richly rewarding market type for authors who break into it. J.K. Rowling became a millionaire by breaking into traditional book publishing. She also faced numerous rejections, with 12 publishers declining her original “Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone” manuscript before Bloomsbury. 

Self-publishing is the less daunting, more accessible alternative market type to traditional book publishing. This market enables writers to sell books without publishers. Authors can distribute printed books or e-books via self-publishing platforms like Amazon Kindle Direct and Lulu. 

The advantage of self-publishing is that authors typically retain larger royalty shares from books sold. For example, Amazon Kindle has 70% and 35% royalty tier shares for e-books distributed on it. Self-publishing is a good backup option for authors who can’t find publishers, but some might prefer its higher royalty share. If a self-published book sells well, it can provide a significant passive income stream. 

However, self-published authors must handle cover design and book marketing themselves. Not all marketing options are free, and you’ll need to cover the costs of paid ad campaigns. Nor will you have any kind of human editorial support. That is, unless you invest in a self-publishing service to assist with the cover design, distribution, editorial, and marketing aspects of books. 

The eight market types above offer variable strategic advantages to writers. It cannot be said that any one of them stands head and shoulders above the rest as the best market type. From my own experience, I have found digital contributor network websites for regular article submissions to be the best. However, diversifying across some of those sectors can be an effective strategy for writers to minimize potential market fluctuations and expand business growth.