As a developer, there are various ways in which you can make money. More to your chances is you have the skillset and technical know-how to write. If you have experience writing blog posts, articles, and user guides, you can take a leap and try technical writing.
Technical writing involves providing detailed user instructions to help them understand a given concept, skill, or product. As a technical writer, you will be tasked with writing technical blog posts, articles, documents, and documentation for users on a specific topic or product.
The main aim of technical writing is to help the user easily understand the given topic without going through all the technical jargon and barriers. In this piece, I will share some genuine experiences with you on various ways of making as a developer technical writer.
1. Writing for companies/websites
There are a lot of companies looking for technical writers to join their teams to produce technical content. Various companies are now adopting the view and putting their users at the forefront.
With this, they employ technical writers to make the process easier for them and their users. Such companies usually employ on a contract basis or permanent employment for some roles. As a technical writer, this is an excellent way to make money with technical writing as a developer.
2. Contributing to documentation
Contributing and maintaining documentation is also a great way to showcase your skills and expertise. While it can’t be seen directly to make money, it introduces you to people and rewards you with expertise, which is important during the job hunt.
I have got various jobs just by showcasing some of my contributions to technical documentation. On the other hand, some projects may contact you to update and maintain their technical documentation for a fee.
3. Publishing your own book/e-book
Writing digital products such as e-books is another good way to Make Money as a technical writer. You can leverage this and publish your book on a given topic of your choice and sell the products.
This is an excellent way to make money, especially if your book is packed with no-nonsense guides and value. You can make a decent amount of money just by writing e-books.
4. Writing on Medium
Medium dot com is one of the platforms that can make you Money while writing what you love. Having been from the platforms since 2019, I have earned a decent amount of income that has kept me going over this year. With consistent writing and great value, you can make a good amount of money on the platforms.
The platform also houses some of the best publications on the internet with quality writers to learn from and editors. With this, it can help you improve and grow your writing while earning on the side. This is helpful, especially from the beginner standpoint of things.
5. Writing to other publications
This mainly involves pitching to other significant publications and notifying them of what you want to write about. If your pitch is interesting, they will invite you to make an outline and start writing for them.
Such publications also pay you on the final piece and after approval by their pool of editors. Though it might take a while to go through the process of publishing with such a publication, all in all, the effort is worth it. Depending on the piece and topic consideration, they pay a decent amount of money, normally from $150 – $600.
Conclusion
To recap some of the ways we have seen how to Make Money through technical writing as a developer:
- Technical writing for companies
- Contributing to documentation
- Publishing eBooks and digital products
- Writing on Medium
- Writing for other publications.
There are other various ways to Earn Money through technical writing as a developer.