Use Gumroad and Medium to Make Your First $10,000 From Writing

Publish and earn through Gumroad and Medium.

Naouress Akrouti
8 min readFeb 8, 2024
Photo by Emiliano Vittoriosi on Unsplash

Introduction

Making money online is not easy, yet it’s not impossible. You might have heard that it is difficult to make some dollars online as a writer or that it takes a very long time to do so. The reality is that there are successful and unsuccessful people everywhere. Online, you will see both types of people. You will see those who have succeeded, those who failed, and those who are still trying to succeed.

Winning and succeeding in digital money-making is tightly linked to your inner desires, your determination, and your dedication to the achievement of your goals. This article focuses on how to make your first 10k from writing online.

Let’s face the truth!

Most writers are introverts, and this is not a limitation. The truth is that most writers are GREAT writers who possess amazing writing skills and techniques in different writing styles. However, they/we might lack the courage to become great at selling what they/we write.

Writing serves different purposes. You might be writing for fun, or to entertain others. But, if you truly want to make money with your writing, you need to become INTENTIONAL about making money using your writing skills.

Many writers have become millionaires thanks to their writing skills. Were they just being creative? No, they were intentional about writing to sell. They wanted to write to sell and make money. If you do not have this goal clear in your mind, and if you are not aligned with your purpose of making money with your writing, you might not be able to sell your product.

Making money with words is a magical skill nowadays in the digital world. You just write, and you get paid for what you write. Well, the whole process is not passive, and it is not as simplistic at all. You need to do the necessary work to sell your words in the form of digital products. You need to put in the required effort and invest time to achieve your goal.

That being said, making your first 10k online from writing is an achievable and reasonable goal. I am going to provide you with a 10k-writing roadmap.

The only direction here is how to make your first 10k online from writing. I am not going to specify to you the time frame in which you can make this exact amount of money, as this is strictly related to how fast you want to achieve your goal. Yet, I am going to guide you through a very efficient process.

3 main elements to start online writing and publishing

Use your knowledge

But, what am I going to write about? You might think that you need to be an expert in many fields. The truth is that you can monetize any piece of knowledge you have. Knowledge is power. Knowledge is a gift. Anything that you know that can help someone else can be a source of money for you if you know how to sell it through your writing.

You can write about a wide variety of topics: education, technology, lifestyle, hobbies, spirituality, business, literature, and so on. Any topic lends itself to a deep exploration if you know how to elaborate on and expand upon it.

Research is your ally. Research is a crucial skill for successful writers. Most of the information we read online is taken from different sources. Who said what and what is the source? Most of the time, we just consume the information without questioning the source. This does not mean that you should plagiarize. However, you can get as many pieces of information as you need from all the sources available to you on the internet, ethically.

If you want to write about a trending topic that is a bit too technical for you, you can do the necessary research, organize your ideas, and structure your content in an aligned manner that appeals to the reader. Your goal should be to inform, entertain, or educate your audience through what you write. As long as true value is there in your writing, you do not have to worry about the success of your content.

Use your writing skills

If your writing skills are good enough to convey meaning in a linguistically well-structured manner, you can create wonders with your writing abilities. It is not a matter of perfection. Many successful writers writing in English are non-native speakers of English. You don’t need to be a language expert or a professional writer to create and become a successful writer.

What’s important is the value you offer and the correct way you follow in transmitting your ideas. Informing your audience is key. Thus, trusting your writing abilities is of utmost importance. Language is just a means of communication. Maintain the alignment between meaning and form to achieve your goal as a writer.

Choose a writing form

Choose a writing form right from the beginning of your journey. If you want to write articles, you need to know how to write articles. If you want to write ebooks, you should have an idea about what the content of an ebook looks like. You should also learn how and where you can create or buy a suitable ebook cover.

Choosing a writing form makes your vision clearer and helps you set reasonable goals. Writing forms are various, and the choice is totally up to you. All you need to do is opt for one writing form and master it.

How to Make Your First $10,000 From Writing

Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of how to make your first 10k online through writing.

Write an Ebook

Writing ebooks is an effective way to make money online in an easy yet thorough manner. Choose a topic, make an outline, and start writing. Do not be a perfectionist. Just start writing with the ideas of your topic crystal clear in your mind.

Make it your goal to achieve at least 1500 words in writing every day. If you write 1500 words per day, you will have written 15,000 words in 10 days. This is a great number of words that can make a valuable ebook. Always aim for simplicity and clarity of your information. Use simple structures that can be understood by laypeople as well as experts.

Keep your audience in mind, know who you are helping with what you are writing. Address your audience, and provide them with what you have promised. Ethics and value are two prominent factors in writing. Before you think about profit, think about the value you are offering to your audience.

Pricing depends on the value of your content, and the value of your content as well as your price depends on you. You are the one who owns the value you are offering, so you are the only one who can decide on its price.

To make your first 10k from your first 15k-word ebook, sell it for $50 per copy. You will have to sell 200 copies to make $10,000. You can certainly sell more than 200 copies in the long run. The speed of making your first 10k from ebook writing depends on your price as well as your marketing skills. You decide to set the price that you think is most suitable for the value of your content.

Sell on Gumroad

Gumroad is an e-commerce platform that makes it easy and simple for creators to sell their digital products. You can access Gumroad for free, and publish your ebook as a digital product. The minimum fee charged by the platform starts at 30%. You can set a higher fee to make more sales and reach more customers. To make your ebook visible on Gumroad Discover, add a category, and adjust the fee accordingly.

Promote

Promote your work on social media platforms. If you already have an audience base on some social media platform, that’s a plus. If you are a beginner, you can create social media accounts where you can promote your ebook. For example, you can create an account on X or Facebook, where you can provide your audience with useful content related to your ebook, and at the same time, you can promote your ebook and other products.

Your goal should be to reach as many potential customers as possible, as such it is more likely for you to sell. Things might take time, you need to be patient and stay in the game. If your goal is short-term gains and instant gratification that comes from a few initial sales, you might not be able to handle the process until you make your first $10,000. You need to be a believer in long-term benefits, patience, and consistency.

Show up every day, write, promote your work, and interact with your audience. Selling is the result of an interconnected network of efforts and strategies. You cannot sell if you do not have a product. You cannot promote if you do not have an audience base.

Pay attention to all the small details that can help you grow, promote, and sell. Do not expect your product to sell just by sitting there on Gumroad or any other platform. You need to show it to the world through social media marketing, and if you like, any other form of automated marketing. You need to invest time and effort in promoting your digital product so that you can sell.

You can promote your work on various types of platforms. Medium is a community of readers and writers, you can become a Medium partner and pay $5 per month. You can write and publish articles on Medium blogging platform and include self-promotional links. You can attract leads through free content and convert them into paying customers.

Other e-commerce platforms

There are other alternatives to Gumroad with varying fee percentages, such as Podia, SendOwl, Sellfy, SamCart, ThriveCart, Payhip, Etsy, Shopify, WooCommerce, and many others. You can discover which platform best suits your needs. You can sell on more than one platform. You can earn easily and faster through such platforms because their goal is to facilitate for creators the process of creating and selling. You can publish your digital product and start earning in no time.

Other blogging platforms

Other blogging platforms are alternatives to Medium namely, Vocal Media, Hubpages, Steemit, Newsbreak, Substack, Ghost, and others. Some of these platforms offer built-in monetization opportunities to users, while others do not. Yet, you can use any blogging platform to promote your work and connect with new customers. Social media, as well as blogging platforms, are two big channels that you can use to sell your ebooks or any other digital product you create.

Key takeaways

The key to making your first $10,000 from writing is the creation of a solid ebook that you promote thoroughly. Writing, consistency, and hard work are key elements in your success. Speed is important if you want to produce more content and sell more copies. You can resort to automation to make your work smoother, faster, and more efficient. Automation increases the conversion rate and makes you reach your target numbers in no time.

If you want to succeed as a writer, you should pay attention to all of the following areas: writing, publishing, and promoting. Focus on content production, and then the fun part of promotion begins. You will need to use copywriting skills to connect with your audience’s minds and souls. It is important to be good at selling through words. On your chosen marketing channels, publish informational, educational, or entertaining texts that include calls to action to grasp the attention of your audience.

Thank you for reading!

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Naouress Akrouti
Naouress Akrouti

Written by Naouress Akrouti

🌸Content Writer | Copywriter 💰Monetize your skills online🌱 make money online✨self-development✨success✨Linguist☕coffee lover💖

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