It’s been a while since I’ve done a list post, so for my final substantial post of the year, I figured it might be fun to list a few ways you can turn your passion for reading into a profession.
Write Books
Perhaps the most obvious career choice for one who loves to read books is to write your own! After all, that’s sort of what this whole blog is about. It’s not as straightforward as it might appear, but if you’ve got the determination (and lots of time), you can definitely make it happen.
Publish
It goes without saying that to make money from writing anything you’ll have to publish it eventually. Therefore, some might choose to combine this career with the first. However, if writing is not exactly your forte, but you still have a passion for well-written work, then maybe you could use your discerning eye to pick out some good prospects and see them through to publication. Whether it’s full-length books you publish or just magazines, if you can do all the hard work necessary to bring an author’s work to the public eye and do it well, then you’ve got a definite future ahead of you.
Edit
One of the many intermediate stages in the production is the dreaded editing process. There are many types of editing, of course, from copyediting and proofing to actual in-depth story editing. But all of them can become very tedious to authors and publishers alike. And sometimes the addition of another perspective can turn an otherwise okay story into a masterpiece. So, as with all careers where there is high demand and a dedicated few to take it all on, if you’ve got the time and patience, this could be a gold mine for an avid speed reader.
Write Freelance
There are any number of magazines, newspapers, and other periodicals out there that are looking for content to fill their pages. If writing long-form stories or discourses isn’t for you, then maybe you could consider writing a lot of shorter pieces on numerous subjects and sell them to various publications. It helps if you’re an expert in a particular field who can contribute at least semi-regularly to a couple particular periodicals as a mainstay, but there’s nothing to stop you from trying out all kinds of avenues. This might be a good option for those who like to explore all sorts of things and don’t like to get bogged down researching any one topic for too long.
Scriptwriting
This is one for the truly ambitious, but the opportunities do exist. If you’re not satisfied with merely seeing your work appear in print, perhaps you could have it brought to life for audiences of thousands or even millions on stage and screen. This takes a very particular talent, as you not only have to have good plotlines, but also the ability to put them down in a very particular way that gets the point across but that still leaves plenty of wiggle room for potential directors to put their own unique spin on it. This might be the hardest avenue to pursue as a long-term career, but with the current dearth of creative output in the television and film industries, I would certainly encourage anyone with half a notion to try to give it a go.
There are plenty of other career options for avid readers out there, but these are the ones that came to mind just now. Perhaps in future I will make a second part to this, but for now, I will bid you all have a blessed day, and I will talk to you again in the new year!