This is a list of the average salaries for a number of writing and editing professions. The figures represent typical scales for a mid-sized metropolitan area in the United States. Larger markets tend to pay more and smaller markets tend to pay less. Remember that these are typical salaries for people who are employed by other companies. There is a much greater income variation among people who freelance or own their own businesses.

Note: These figures were compiled using a variety of sources including salary information at indeed.com, salary.com, stc.org and labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov.

• Acquisitions Editor: $37,000 to $57,000
• Assistant Editor: $26,000 to $40,000
• Associate Editor: 33,000 to 44,000
• Blogger: $17,000 to $38,000
• Copy Editor: $21,000 to 42,000
• Copywriter: $41,000 to $63,000
• Editor: $37,000 to $54,000
• Editorial Assistant: $24,000 to $38,000
• Editor-in-Chief: $51,000 to $95,000
• E-learning Developer: $42,000 to 75,000
• Fact Checker / Researcher: $25,000 to $37,000
• Grant Writer: $35,000 to $47,000
• Junior Copywriter: $29,000 to $44,000
• Junior Technical Writer: $31,000 to $42,000
• Legal Editor: $36,000 to $45,000
• Managing Editor: $37,000 to 49,000
• Managing Editor: $40,000 to $64,000
• Medical Copy Editor: $29,000 to 44,000
• Medical Editor: $37,000 to 52,000
• News Editor: $25,000 to 35,000
• Newspaper Reporter: $24,000 to $51,000
• Online Editor: $31,000 to $50,000
• Proofreader: $29,000 to $41,000
• Proposal Writer: $41,000 to 69,000
• Public Relations Writer: $34,000 to $46,000
• Publications Assistant: $25,000 to $37,000
• Senior Copywriter: $54,000 to $80,000
• Senior Editor: $42,000 to $66,000
• Senior Technical Writer: $56,000 to $81,000
• Speech Writer: $51,000 to $73,000
• Technical Copy Editor: $36,000 to $52,000
• Technical Editor: $36,000 to $57,000
• Technical Writer: $42,000 to $63,000
• Web Editor: $22,000 to $44,000

Whether you are a freelance copywriter, a contract technical writer or a full-time reporter, you should be considering the financial sustainability of your career. There are many types of writing careers, and there are issues to be faced in every one of them. Even the safest sounding of careers can have sustainability issues. Much of it depends on you, and the way you approach your career.

How long do you need your career to be sustainable?

When considering the sustainability of your career there are some questions you need to ask. The first question is how long do I want this career to last? Most people don’t intend to stay in the same job, or even the same career for their entire life. You might want to be a freelance writer today, but you may not want it ten years from now. When considering sustainability, it is good to have a finite period of time in mind. If you don’t have a specific idea of how long you want your career to last, then a good time period to use is twenty years. Feel free to pick your own value though. If you do have an idea of what you want to transition to next, and when, part of your consideration should be about how you are going to position yourself for that next change.

How much money is enough money?

Money will always be a primary issue. You not only need to consider your income, but you need to consider your spending as well. You also need to ask how much damage a major crisis would have on your income.

For almost three years, I managed to live strictly off money I made from my web sites and money I made freelancing. I never had enough money to put much of anything aside. I just managed to meet my obligations and no more. There was more than one point at which I thought I wasn’t going to meet my obligations, but somehow money always came through. That doesn’t mean that the career choice itself was unsustainable. I was very careful with the money I did have coming in, and that helped. I spent money only on essentials, and made do without almost anything else.

Now, I work full time in addition to blogging part time. I make a considerable amount of money, so income isn’t a sustainability issue. That doesn’t mean that finances are no longer an issue. When I hade very little money coming in, I spent very little and I did my best to avoid debt because I knew how difficult it would be to pay back debt with so little money coming in. Unfortunately, the lessons I learned as a frugal freelancer did not carry over when I moved to a full time income. I have acquired debts and spent money on items I never would have considered when I had less income. Financially, there are still sustainability issues in my life.

Can you weather a crisis financially?

One of the key improvements that a full time job has provided, is insurance. As a web publisher and freelancer, I lived without it. If I had gone through even a minor medical emergency, it would have crushed me financially. Now, I have a job with paid time off and good health insurance as well as short and long term disability insurance. I can handle a minor or even a substantial health emergency.

Can you save for your future?

Another advantage of my current situation is that I now have retirement savings. I have access to a 401k, a pension program and even a profit-sharing program. Saving for the short term has been a problem for me, but saving for the long-term has been somewhat better because of all of these programs. There are similar steps that freelancers can take, but it is more difficult.

It isn’t about career choice, it is about career development

It may sound as if I am knocking my career as a freelancer. I am not. Being a freelancer was not the central problem that I had. The central issue was one of income. I did not take the steps that would have added to my income and helped me save for emergencies or get insurance. Had I run my career more wisely then, I may never have needed to move to a “more secure” job.

Next time I’ll look into some of the ways that you can make your career more financially sustainable.

Here is a list of the most popular articles from Poewar.com over the past year along with the number of page views they have received. I’ve added a few thoughts on why I think they were successful. Get on the bandwagon and take a look!

How to Write a Query Letter – 60,334 Page Views

This is a fairly exhaustive article with plenty of tips and a sample letter. It offers good advice that many writers need. It has been a top performer for years.

Poetry Writing Tips — 48,344 Page View

This was my first big hit on the Internet. It’s been generating traffic since 1993, and you can tell it’s good because poetry.com stole most of their tips from it.

Want to Write a Novel Badly? Here’s How! — 41,544 Page Views

I love giving people good advice that looks like bad advice. The sad thing is that writing a bad novel is almost as hard as writing a good one.

10 Ways to Make Editors Hate You Before They Even Know You — 36,232 Page Views

I am detecting a trend here. Once again, bad advice draws in the crowds. I need to write more of these. People make a lot of mistakes when they send queries, and this article basically reverses everything I said in my number one article.

7 Easy Steps to a More Pretentious Poem — 33,917 Page Views

Once again, I try to disguise good advice as bad advice, and the people seem to love it. I think the photo is what really sells it though.

Get Rid of Ugly Wordiness: How to Cut Your Novel Down to Size — 28,860 Page Views

Lillie Ammann wrote this hit article during the month when I was out “resting”. The StumbleUpon readers love it. A well edited story is a thing of beauty.

What is a Stanza? — 17,523 Page Views

This is just a straightforward definition of a stanza. I wrote it because people kept asking me, and no one else seemed to have written about it. Sometimes you just need to answer a question.

Glossary of Writing Careers — 16,558 Page Views

This is another straightforward article that gave out information I couldn’t seem to find elsewhere. A lot of schools link to this one.

Poetry in Forms Series: Cinquain — 12,090 Page Views

This is a simple guide to writing cinquain poetry. It is also popular with schools. For about three years, this was the most popular article on my site. When I converted to a blog though, I had to change the URL and I lost some key links. It still does well, but it isn’t the superstar it used to be.

Fifteen Craft Exercises for Writers — 10,959 Page Views

People like to practice their craft and this list of writing exercises has been a steady performer since the nineties. I hope it has helped people.

I recently posted a list of MFA programs for writers. Those programs are great for graduate students, but what about students who are just entering college with a writing career in mind? There are so many directions for students to go in. Some people even think that writers should study something besides writing. For example, a person who studies history will get plenty of opportunities to write while in college, and by learning about history they will learn about something that they could actually write about. Choosing a major is a difficult task for any student, aspiring writer or not. If you are interested in studying writing, here are a few majors that you should consider:

Creative Writing

This is the most common and highly recommended major for writers. Students take reading and writing courses in fiction, poetry, drama and composition. They also take several literature courses. This major is a solid preparation for a variety of writing careers, but is more artistically oriented than journalism, media arts, marketing or communication. If your goal is to become a novelist or a poet, this major is probably the best fit for you.

Journalism

This major is focused on writing for newspapers, magazines and in some cases broadcast news. Classes focus on reporting, editing, publishing, photojournalism, design, Internet research, ethics and media law. While the world of journalism is not necessarily in opposition to creative writing, the emphasis here is on discovering, working with, and presenting factual information in a news setting. If you are interested in a career as a reporter, this is the major for you. You might also consider it if you want to enter the field of public relations.

English / English Literature

The English major is all about reading, understanding and forming opinions about literature. The focus is on the analysis of such aspects of literature as cultural influence, historical perspective, rhetoric, symbolic meaning and the development of language. Students gain an in-depth knowledge of classic (and sometimes modern) literature and learn how to analyze and write about literature in an academic setting. While this major is less focused on writing than journalism or creative writing, it will give you an excellent perspective on literature. Potential novelists and poets should give this major some consideration. It has the added benefit of preparing people to teach English.

Theater Arts

Theater Arts focuses on the the entire theater production process from writing to performance to stage building and show promotion. While some creative writing programs have play or screen writing aspects, this major delves completely and thoroughly into the performance arts. If you hope to write for the stage or the screen, this is a major you should consider.

Media Arts

Media arts focuses on film, video and new media. You will study media history, theory, and criticism as well as film and video production. If you are looking to write for television or film this is an excellent major. It can also be beneficial if you are looking to move into public relations or advertising / marketing writing.

Liberal Arts

Liberal Arts is a broad major that offers students the leeway to study topics in several different departments. For example, a liberal arts major may take several classes in English, languages, philosophy, humanities, religion and even business or economics. If you are looking for a well-rounded education that allows you to focus somewhat on writing, you should consider a liberal arts major.

Linguistics

Linguistics is the study of human language, encompassing particular languages and properties common to all languages. Linguistics majors must generally become conversant in multiple languages. Unlike an English or creative writing major, this major allows you to focus on how language works. It is more scientific than creative, but a deep understanding of language can contribute to your writing skills in many ways. Because linguistics focuses on such language fundamentals as Phonetics, Morphology and Syntax, linguistics can be a surprisingly good choice for aspiring poets and people who wish to approach writing from a deeper level.

Communication

This is the study of communication and social interaction — its processes and effects. Students analyze interpersonal communication, social influence and persuasion and the social effects of media and information technology. This is a rare and rather specialized major for most creative writers, but it can provide a solid background for writers interested in technical writing or persuasive writing such as speech writing.

Marketing

If you plan to write sales material, you should either major or minor in marketing. This subject will prepare you for every aspect of developing and promoting a product or service. While marketing isn’t as romantic a writing field as poetry or fiction, it is an excellent way for writers to pay their bills.

Technical Writing

Technical writing majors are growing in popularity. These majors teach document design, audience analysis, editing, project management and communication on a technical level. Many new programs are springing up because of the demand for people who can write in a technical or professional manner. The field is broader than it looks on the surface. Besides the obvious technical writing fields such as software documentation, a technical writing major can also prepare you to write about science, medicine or the law. A technical writing major teaches you how to communicate complex subjects in a clear and concise way. If you have interest in these areas of writing, give a technical writing major a try. It isn’t glamorous, but it will help you pay your bills.