April 30, 2008

Confess Your Way to Extra Cash By Diane Sonntag
printable version

As a single mother, I was desperate to make some extra money. I tried working a second job, but after I paid child care for my two young children, I pretty much broke even for my time and trouble. Plus, I missed my kids. All of the work-at-home jobs I found turned out to be scams and I truly didn't know what to do.

My kids and I were hanging out at Barnes and Noble one evening - pretty much the only entertainment in my price range! - and I spotted a magazine called "True Story." I flipped through it while my kids played with the wooden train set, and I was intrigued to see a blurb that said the magazine would pay for readers' stories.

After my kids were asleep that night, I searched the internet for information on True Story and the other magazines in this group, collectively known as the Confessions. I found several articles which described how to write a successful confessions story. They said to write in the first person and to write as though you were talking to a friend. Armed with this information, I typed up a story of something rather traumatic that had happened in my life. The story had a happy ending and I learned an important lesson from it - two things I'd noticed about the stories in the magazine - so I sent it off. Three weeks later, I had a contract in my hands. They offered me five cents a word for my story, for a total of $170. Not a huge sum of money, but enough to pay my electric bill or better yet, to take my kids somewhere special every weekend for a month. Also, because I was able to write the story from home, I didn't incur any child care or travel costs, so for me, it was like found money.

Needless to say, I'm now hooked. I write regularly for all of the magazines in the confessions group. I write about my own experiences, as well as things my friends share with me. Writing confessions stories is fun and easy, and the extra cash sure comes in handy. Just ask my children!

Diane Sonntag makes her movie money by writing for the confessions market. She lives in Indiana with her two young children.

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: For more info. on the Confessions market, see Confessing for Money by Peggy Fielding.