How To Sell Your Story For Cash
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Are you looking to make some extra money this year? You could consider selling your story, whether it’s about a cheating husband or a miracle baby.
Here’s how to sell your story for cash.
Have you ever thought about selling your story for cash? If you have a good story then selling it to a magazine or newspaper could be quite lucrative.
In recent years, I’ve sold stories to newspapers and magazines and been a PR case study for a big brand.
However, there are lots of things to consider before you get started.
What To Consider Before Selling Your Story To A Magazine Or Newspaper
While selling your story to a magazine or newspaper can be pretty lucrative, there are some things you need to give serious thought to beforehand.
What Will Your Friends And Family Think?
The first story I sold to a magazine was about a rare health condition that I had which was something all my friends and family already knew about however.
However, if your story involves other family members or is something a bit out there or saucy, you may want to discuss it with them first.
How To Sell Your Story For Cash: Be Aware Of Potential Online Abuse
With even the most innocuous and lovely stories there will be trolls out there ready to pounce and make comments.
This is particularly prolific when it comes to newspaper stories which are often shared thousands of times across social media.
Are you strong enough not to read the comments section?
Can you deal with strangers potentially messaging you abuse?
All worth considering beforehand, especially if your story is controversial in nature.
Your Story Will Be Out There Forever
There used to be this saying, about how today’s Newspaper stories are tomorrow’s fish and chip wrappers. And that used to be the case.
But with the internet, it’s likely your story will around for years to come.
It may also become the first thing that pops up when someone Googles your name, as Newspapers and Magazines tend to rank very well in search results.
Consider whether potential employers might be able to find the story and whether it could impact your future career.
Should I Sell My Story To A Magazine Or Newspaper?
If you have a story that you think will sell, then you can absolutely try pitching it to a newspaper or magazine.
Typically newspapers prefer sensationalist, relevant stories that will often be given a clickbaity headline and will appear online as well as in print.
Magazine stories tend to be less sensationalist but it will depend on the type of magazine. For example, stories about partners leading double lives, miracle survival stories and psychic pets tend to be popular choices for weekly women’s magazines.
Even if you don’t think you have a story to sell, you could think about joining a group such as Feature Me U.K in which they are always looking for case studies and people to interview about their experiences with different things.
How Much Will I Get For Selling My Story?
How much you get paid will depend on a lot of factors but could be anywhere in the region of £50 to £500 depending on the type of story and the publication involved.
This is usually paid a few weeks after the story is printed and you will usually be asked not to sell the same story anywhere else for at least a year.
Contacting a newspaper or magazine directly will usually get you the best price, but you could try going through an agency if you really want to. While this may help you get a better price, the agency will probably take a cut, so it might not be worth it overall.
You can read about my experiences of doing this in the posts below:
Make £200 Being featured in a Women’s Magazine
Make Money: Sell Your Story To A Newspaper
What Sort Of Story Can I Sell?
Newspapers and magazines are interested in all sorts of stories. You might find you get more interest if you pitch something topical – for example when Princess Beatrice wore a dress belonging to The Queen as her wedding dress, lots of media outlets were looking for people who had done the same thing.
Amazing weight loss, charity fundraising, home hacks and money-saving stories are popular.
Do I Need To Be Pictured To Sell My Story?
Most magazines will require you to be pictured to sell your story. They may also require additional pictures, for example for a story about weight loss they may require you to provide before and after pictures.
Depending on the type of story and publication you may be asked to go to a studio to be made up and photographed or a photographer and make-up artist might be sent to your home instead.
How To Sell Your Story For Cash: Can I Sell My Story Annonmously?
Sometimes you might have a story you want to sell anonymously, especially if the subject matter is sensitive.
It’s always worth asking if you can remain anonymous if this is what you would prefer.
You may be offered less money for remaining anonymous although this isn’t always the case.
Will I Get A Readback Of My Story?
I’ve found that when I’ve worked with magazines they’ve been keen to offer a readback before the story goes live, usually just to make sure all the details are accurate.
This is less likely with newspapers unless the story is of a particularly sensitive nature. Bear in mind that newspapers tend to make stories more sensationalist and will pick out tiny details and sometimes blow them out of proportion.
How To Sell Your Story For Cash
If after reading all of the above you still want to sell your story for cash, here are a few of the ways you can go about it:
- Follow magazines on Facebook – they often shout out looking for stories about a particular subject and will provide and email address to be contacted.
- Join a Media group such as Feature Me U.K
- Search #JournoRequest on Twitter
- Google ‘Sell My Story’ – Contact Email addresses are there for most of the big U.K. newspapers.
Should I Ever Sell My Story For Free?
If you’re reading this post then it’s probably because you’re hoping to be able to sell your story for money.
However, there are times when it might be feasible to share your story or provide a quote for free.
As a blogger, this is something that I do frequently as it helps to raise my profile as an expert in my specialist areas such as frugal living and yellow sticker shopping.
If you can get a mention for your small business in a National Publication then it might be worth forgoing the fee for the business or new social media followers this could bring.
Help! A Newspaper Has Used My Story Without Permission
This is something that has been happening a lot recently, with a huge increase in newspapers using people’s Tik Toks or Instagram Reels and turning it into content without asking permission from the creator.
If this is something that has happened to you there are two things you can do.
Firstly, you can message the newspaper and ask them to take it down. There are lots of newspapers that people don’t want to be associated and I can totally understand why. They should remove the article that includes your video within a day or two.
The other option is to ask for monetary compensation. They may say that the information they have used is in the public domain and if they have credited your website then they might say that is in lieu of payment.
However, if they’ve not credited your website and just linked to your social profile or not linked to you at all, I think you would have a strong case for asking for a retrospective payment.
