Turning lifelong love for writing into a full-time income

I want to share this story with you… [The Writer’ s Life]( August 18, 2021 Hi {NAME}, It's inspiring to watch AWAI members go from yearning to become a well-paid writer … to making it happen. Each week, our resident success curator, Melissa Everett, puts together a newsletter of all the member wins she's uncovered, and sends it to the team at the end of the day on Friday … It gives us the chance to celebrate your successes … and close out the week with a reminder of why we do what we do here at AWAI! It's my favorite email of the week. 🤩 And it's fun to watch those wins progress to big success … ultimately being featured as case studies on the AWAI website. Case studies — like Melissa Gouty's which I share with you today below — are a great way to see the details of the journey. They highlight turning points — like where they started from, what challenges they faced, what learning or training events made the biggest impact on their career, where they are now, and provide tips and insights to help other writers hoping to follow in their footsteps. Melissa's story is just one of many case studies you'll find on the AWAI website ([you can check out others here](). I recommend you pick a few to read this week … No matter what your circumstances, there's a very good chance AWAI has helped someone else overcome them to achieve success. We've built an extensive track record in our almost 25 years of helping writers make a great living — and we can help you too! Now, if you're not familiar, case studies are a great way for companies to showcase their "before-and-after" stories … and are a great starter project for writers to take on. As you'll see below, they follow a basic formula, and don't require any "selling." They're generally only 1-2 pages in length, yet they pay $1,000-$1,500 each! Expert Casey Hibbard has written over 1,000 case studies (including today's example) for a variety of industries. One note before I turn it over to Casey … Today's your last chance to take a test-drive of [Wealthy Web Writer for just $1](. Wealthy Web Writer is our popular membership site that helps writers make a great living writing specifically for the Web. And for just one buck, you'll have access to all the roadmaps, webinars, articles, and popular templates that can help you be a huge success as a web writer. >> [Go here for details.]( To your success, [Rebecca Matter’ s signature] Rebecca Matter President, AWAI College Professor Turns Lifelong Love for Writing into a Full-Time Income — from an RV By Casey Hibbard [Mountain view from out on the open road in an RV] For some, becoming a writer is a straight-line decision. For others, like Melissa Gouty, it's a lifelong passion that's burned bright since childhood but could never be fully explored. "I've been a writer since the day I was born," she says. "I was one of those kids who had her nose in a book and was always writing little poems and things." That passion led her to majoring in American literature at college, a master's degree, and a professorship at a community college. And her writing blossomed in a different way as a columnist for her town's newspaper. But after 23 years of mostly grading papers, she yearned for a change. Soon, she and her husband turned an abandoned nursing home into one of the largest sewing retreat centers in the Midwest, bringing in $1 million a year in tax revenue. Yet, the center required them at all hours of the day and night — including most weekends. So their dreams changed. Her husband wanted to travel. And for Melissa … she wanted to become a full-time writer. While running the sewing center, Melissa had nourished her passion by writing product descriptions, marketing flyers, and their popular weekly newsletter. But she needed help actually turning it into a real income. "I chose writing to make enough money for my husband and I, who are retired and have no real income, to live a simple life," she says. "Being able to travel around in our camper and then stay at home when we want for the rest of our lives is my dream." She Found Her What, Now the How For Melissa, a lifelong writer who subscribed to multiple writer's magazines, the answer landed on her desk in the form of an American Writers & Artists Institute (AWAI) mailer. The more she read, the more it inspired her. "AWAI was positive and they showed examples of people who were making a living as writers," she says. "I thought, 'AWAI seems like the right place and this is the right time.'" She started The Accelerated Program for Six-Figure Copywriting. But the real prize for Melissa was registering for FastTrack to Copywriting Success Bootcamp and Job Fair. This was her opportunity to be around the writers she read so much about, to ask questions and learn as much as she could to jumpstart her own full-time writing career. "I remember sitting in our little camper with pencil, paper, and a little calculator, trying to figure out how much money it would cost to go to Bootcamp and whether it would be worth the investment," she says. "It definitely was. Going to Bootcamp was the best decision I ever made[.](" Within minutes of walking into Bootcamp, Melissa knew she had found her tribe. The atmosphere was positive. The people made her feel welcomed. From the experts to the members, they all knew their stuff and Melissa took full advantage. She attended every session, listened to every speech, got inspired by speakers like Ann Handley, met writers that she remains close with to this day, and entered eight copy challenges. Her dedication paid off: she won three of the challenges. Melissa pocketed $750 in cash prizes which, luckily, covered a good portion of what she had put on her credit card to cover Bootcamp. But more importantly, these wins were an affirmation for Melissa, like someone in the business telling her personally that she could do this. A Lifelong Writer Becomes a Paid Writer Confident and ready, Melissa left Bootcamp on a high. She completed The Accelerated Program within a month, got certified and started looking for writing jobs. She landed her first job by responding to a posting for a medical company. Melissa rewrote an entire piece on the sleep cycles of Alzheimer's patients. When the client reviewed what she had submitted, they hired her. Though it was her first copywriting job, it proved to be the best paying job she would have to date. The company was happy with her copy. But two months into it, the medical director quit the project. So, they shut it down. "I had this fabulous dream job for two months and then it disappeared," she said. "But that happens in the industry. You just learn from it, pick up, and move on." Again, she turned to AWAI and learned why it's important to post all her articles on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. This simple act drew eyes to her content and netted her jobs at companies like Amazon Web Services, Newsbreak, and Elite Editing. Writing Full-Time, While Traveling With her full-time writing career off the ground, Melissa is focused on learning the many aspects of her craft. "I think what fuels me as a writer — I have a curious mind and writing satisfies that," she says. "I'm learning something in all kinds of fields every day." Melissa seized on every opportunity she had to write and built confidence in the process. That helped her land a full-time position as the marketing manager for a large HVAC and plumbing company in Central Florida, and she is thrilled. She's generating content, doing SEO optimization on blog posts, writing Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads, and managing social media posts. Not only is she making a full-time income, but Melissa and her husband can live anywhere — including their RV. "I love not having to deal with office politics, managing a staff, or commuting," she says. "I can take my dog for a walk, work at night, listen to my own music, or work in my socks and slippers. We have an income we can rely on in 'retirement' as we travel. And next, I'm turning my website into a Money-Making Website. It'll take time." Like all good things. Melissa's Tips for Copywriters - Put in the work every day — For most people, writing is a process and it's every day. It's not fast, but you have to put in the work every day to get to where you want to be. - Have fun — Don't forget to have fun while writing. "I got this marvelous response from a person who said if you've done one thing right today, it's sharing your joy with me," Melissa said. - If you want it, go after it — There are some days when you have to fight through it and keep putting words out there. You can read more about how Melissa is living the writer's life, including some tips on how she found her first clients [here](. Do you have any questions about getting started as a writer? [Share with us in the comments.]( Editorial Note: Now that you've seen how simple the formula is for a case study, are you ready to learn how to get paid to write them? This is your chance to be mentored directly by expert Casey Hibbard! Join the full-immersion experience to help you master this special kind of copy, and in just four weeks, you'll have the knowledge and skills to become Certified as a Case Study Specialist. You'll be set to earn $1,000-$1,500 writing just 1-2 pages of copy! [Check out all the details, while you can still grab a spot.]( LAST CHANCE: Get Everything for $1 Everything you need to make $2,500 to $8,000 (or more) a month as a writer is in the Wealthy Web Writer membership site … And you can get FULL ACCESS for just a dollar! You'll get roadmaps … tutorials … how-to videos … job board access … an active member forum … 320+ training webinars … All for $1. If you want to make good money as a writer, this is where you'll do it. But the price goes back up at midnight. [Get It All Now for $1!]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Trouble viewing this email? [View in your browser, here](. For questions or requests: [contact us online](. --------------------------------------------------------------- ©2021 American Writers & Artists Institute Do you know of someone who would benefit from reading The Writer's Life? 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