7 Best Remote Writing Jobs (With Rates)

Freelance writing has a lot of perks, like being able to work from anywhere on the planet that has Wi-Fi. For much writing work, it’s just you, your laptop, and the internet. Even when you work as part of a team, communication can often be virtual and asynchronous, freeing you up to move from time zone to time zone or adapt your workflow to other parts of your life.

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Sound dreamy? Let’s check out some different writing jobs and what they’re likely to pay. 

Types of Remote Writing Jobs (7)

Because so many industries need written work, anyone with the writing ability and connections to get work can take on a vast range of jobs. Rates vary across writing assignments, but experience levels directly impact rates.

Content Writer

Content writing overlaps somewhat with copywriting, and many copywriters are also content writers. The simplest way to understand their relationship is that all copy is content, but not all content is copy.

Content writing tends to be long-form and is used in marketing to inform, educate, or entertain readers. When a company share’s a blog post on its website, that post was written by a content writer. Content writing is an excellent way to monetize creative writing and storytelling skills. 

However, it can be tough to price because many writers are willing to work for far less than fair compensation. A reasonable rate structure is $0.10 per word as a junior writer, $0.25 per word at mid-career, and $0.75 per word at the expert level. Writers can charge more if they bring technical knowledge or expertise to the table. For example, medical and mental health professionals are paid a premium for writing health content.

Copywriter

A copywriter works in advertising, creating short-form content to sell a brand or tell a story to a target audience. 

Text in online ads, billboards, and product descriptions are all written by a copywriter. Writers that are clever, quippy, and work well with an economy of language are a good fit for a career in copywriting.

Copywriters often charge by the hour or the project, and rates vary wildly. Most junior copywriters start billing between $20 and $50 per hour, increase to $75 per hour at mid-level, and end up at around $100 per hour as senior copywriters. 

Editor

Every piece of text a writer creates passes through the desk of an editor, who serves as a translator between the writer and the client. An editor has a high-level sense of the brand story and works to keep the tone consistent with the brand voice and to elevate each piece of text to its highest potential for the client. Editors can often be perfectionists with strong big-picture thinking. 

There are many different types of editors, ranging from copy editors who charge about $35 an hour to content consultants who charge up to $70 hourly for high-level editing. 

Ghostwriter

A ghostwriter works under another person’s name. They write blogs, articles, and book-length assignments. Projects range from low-paying gigs, such as ghostwriting a personal memoir, to extremely well-compensated celebrity ghostwriting. 

Ghostwriting can be lucrative for creative writers with well-managed egos. For a book-length (100-300 pages) manuscript, most ghostwriters charge between $25k and $75k. 

Proofreader

At the professional level, it’s expected that copy and content be “clean” upon submission (free of grammatical errors and typos). Still, everyone is human — thus, enter the proofreader, who provides the final check to written work. 

Proofreaders review edited text with a fine-toothed comb right before it goes to publication. They look for errors and inconsistencies. Academic and technical writers have particularly strong needs for specialized proofreaders. Like editing, perfectionists with an eagle eye are well-suited to a proofreading career.

Proofreaders charge between $30 and $45 an hour, depending on project complexity and experience level.  

Travel Writer

Travel writing, defined broadly, is writing about travel. What that looks like in practice ranges from the glamorous (being sent by a magazine on an expense-account trip to write a long-form piece about) to the less-so (paying one’s own way to review the Smarte Cartes at the Phoenix airport for a paid blog post). 

The upper echelon of travel writing takes a long time to break into, and some budding travel writers begin their careers via social media. Writing on speculation is a great way to break into the industry. 

Entry-level travel writers can expect to start at $0.10 per word, working up to $0.25 per word once they have solid professional experience, and topping at $1.00 per word for high-budget clients or area expertise.

UX Writer

UX (User Experience) writers are specialty copywriters with technical expertise in user design. They create all the customer-facing text associated with a “digital experience” (which, in layperson’s terms, means a website, an app, a game, etcetera). 

When logging onto Door Dash to order some noodles, a text bubble pops up to help navigate the ordering process in a friendly tone. A UX writer created that text. UX writing has a lot of overlap with copywriting, so writers excelling in short form who have a decent depth of experience in digital spaces might find their niche in UX.  

Freelance UX writers are paid well, starting at $25 an hour and going up to $200, with an average hourly rate of $70.

How to Find Work as a Beginning Writer

It can be impossible to get jobs when starting as a remote freelance writer. How can anyone stand out in the sea of writers out there? Remember that a freelancer’s writing is their brand, and their first priority should always be creating work of impeccable quality. 

Depending on experience level, writers may want to take a class or seminar to hone their skills and access a valuable networking opportunity. Once ready to hit the ground running, writers can start with freelance-aggregator sites like Fiverr, Thumbtack, and Upwork, knowing they are a source of entry-level work that allow room for growth. Initially, writers may want or need to work for less than their goal rate to build a portfolio and start making connections. When finishing a job, writers want to let the client know they’re available for more work. 

Personal websites can help writers put themselves out there by letting their professional and social contacts know they’re looking to take on more clients. University and college alumni networks can be excellent sources of work as well. 

How to Build a Writing Portfolio 

A portfolio is like the display window of a freelance writer’s “store.” Prospective clients will use it to decide whether the work is a good fit for their organization.  

Building a solid portfolio is twofold: doing the work to showcase it and putting it together in an accessible and visually appealing format. 

Every time writers complete a job, they should find or request a PDF of their published work. These PDFs will become the content of their portfolio. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to save a link because the webpage might change or go dark at any time, and with it will go all the evidence of the work. 

Top Portfolio Websites

There are many software options for online portfolios. When choosing one, prioritize clarity and visual appeal, knowing that extra features might be fun but will not likely matter to potential clients. Here are some of our top picks: 

• Clippings.me

With a serviceable free-for-life option and excellent design, Clippings.me is a solid choice for beginning writers. They also have excellent SEO support, positively impacting how a portfolio appears in response to web searches. 

• Squarespace

Probably the most straightforward option out there, Squarespace is a design-forward website builder that can function well as a digital portfolio host. A bonus of opting for a Squarespace portfolio is that the service can also be used as a website. 

• Writerfolio

Explicitly developed for writing portfolios, Writerfolio allows writers to quickly create a portfolio that looks decent (though not as clean as Squarespace) and flows intuitively. This allows potential clients to peruse work by theme, client, or chronology. Writers have a writerfolio.com/yourname address, so they may want to maintain a separate website with a personalized domain name. 

Best Online Tools for Remote Writers

Staying organized and facilitating communication with clients and editors is crucial in a remote work environment. The trope of the absent-minded writer with piles of paper cluttering their desk is not something to aspire to. Instead, use the astonishing array of tech options available to create a smooth, professional workflow that serves everyone well. 

For collaboration, nothing tops Google Drive and Google Docs. It’s used as a word processing and collaboration tool by everyone from first-year college students to global corporations. It’s simple and userfriendly, allows multiple people to work simultaneously on a project without lags or discrepancies, and never loses a draft. 

For content writers, SEO tools like SemRush and Yoast SEO make simple suggestions to increase the SEO score of a piece of content. Grammarly is useful for double-checking grammar and spelling before submitting work.  

Is Freelance Better than Salary?

Freelancing and getting hired full-time are two ways of doing the same work, each with their own pros and cons:

Pros 

Freelancers have a lot of control. They decide what kind of work to do, how much work to do, what to charge, and whether to add work like SEO optimization or image sourcing. Even taking a month off of client-based work to focus on professional development or creative work is normal.  

Salaried writers don’t have to hustle or network for work. Their paycheck is still obligated to arrive on Fridays if assignments dry up.  

Cons

On the other hand, a freelance writer must always wear two hats: writer and small business owner. They must source their own clients, maintain relationships, and complete tedious tasks like invoicing, time tracking, and accounting. Their income may be highly variable (especially when first starting). If a recession or other belt-tightening event occurs, a writer’s fee is often the first line item a client cuts. 

Salaried writers have to write for any client their employer sends their way. Disagree with a client’s mission or business ethics? That’s the writer’s personal problem. Feel like the client asks for too much work outside the contracted scope? If the boss disagrees, the writer doesn’t have much recourse.

How Many Clients Does a Freelance Writer Have?

There are many business models for freelance writing—some born out of intention, others out of luck. If one major client provides steady ongoing work, a freelancer might not have time or necessity for more. If, on the other hand, a freelancer has a lot of clients who give small or infrequent projects, they’ll need many clients to earn a full-time income. 

The majority (63%) of full-time freelance writers have 1-3 clients at a time, and only a tiny minority has more than nine clients at any given time. The type of work done will affect how many clients they can take on. If a writer’s expertise is research-heavy, it’s simply impossible to give quality engagement to an unlimited number of clients. 

Best Practices for Remote Writers

Workflow and Quality Control

Naturally gifted writers can easily fall into the practice of “winging” assignments. This will work for a while, but at a certain level of volume or complexity, it won’t. Avoid this from the start by establishing a standard workflow, including quality control. A workflow does not have to be complicated—it can be as simple as articulating the following steps:

• Outline the piece;
• Research the piece;
• Write the rough draft;
• Edit the draft;
• Proofread the draft;
• Proofread the draft again;
• Share the draft with the client for their edits;
• Make revisions per the client’s notes;
• Proofread the final draft;
• Submit.

Moving methodically through these steps avoids sending work to clients that isn’t quite ready to be viewed. Writers afford themselves the ability to juggle multiple clients at once without missing critical steps.

Client Interactions

Freelancers are the client-facing branch of their businesses. Every email and line of their website represents the skill writers are being paid for. It’s crucial to keep content clean and tight. 

When starting with a new client, offer a contract outlining rates and payment policies, as well as the scope of the project’s work (including, for example, how many rounds of revisions are included with the listed rate). Some clients will have their own contracts, as well as NDAs, for freelancers to sign. Read these carefully to understand them thoroughly. 

Once a writer receives an assignment, it’s wise to request a creative brief: a document outlining everything meant to be included in the final piece of writing. A brief ensures all parties are on the same page before initiating a project. This can save everyone involved a lot of “that’s not quite what we had in mind” down the road. 

After submitting a final piece of work, invoice the client promptly. It’s a good practice to check in with the client a week or two after submission to solicit feedback or ask if they are satisfied with the work. 

A Great Job—but also a Gamble. 

Remote freelance writing has many selling points—flexibility, scalability, and freedom to start. It can sometimes pay well, but it can also be a hard way to make a living, especially if your cost of living isn’t low. Talent is essential but doesn’t guarantee a substantial income, so it’s wise to consider all the angles.

Before packing your laptop and quitting your day job for the fully out-of-office life, dip a toe into the freelance writing world to find out if it’s a good fit.