Breaking into freelance writing or writing to make money is not hard. Maintaining the pace required to make significant income isn't so easy, though. If you're wanting to make money writing, this guide will help you get started.

Keep in mind, though, making money writing isn't easy. Everyone thinks they can write, but learning to write for a living, meet submission guidelines, build a portfolio, networking and more takes time, commitment and dedication to the craft. To make good money writing, you have to be willing to constantly grow and improve in your writing craft.

Below, learn the steps to make money writing!

The first step to make money writing is to define your niche, that is, decide what you enjoy writing about and also what you're qualified to write about. Once you know that, it will help you determine where you are a good fit to submit your writing.

The next step is define the type of writing you want to do: print magazine, print publications/periodicals, web content, newsprint, print books, technical writing, newsletter articles, humor, etc. Knowing the type of writing you want to write can narrow down the places you search for to submit your writing.

If you plan to write to magazines as a freelance article writer, you're probably going to want to query the magazine first, or in conjunction with your submission. This link will help you with learning how to query a magazine.

If you are asked to submit your article upfront or on specification along with the query, read how to query a magazine and then follow the rules and submission guidelines for the article submission along with the query.

Query wide and to as many places as you can, but be sure you are targeting your query to the content each publication offers its readers.

If submitting to a place that accepts articles on spec without a query, such as web content submission site, move on to step three.

The next step is to write the an article based on the publisher's submission guidelines. Read these guidelines carefully, because they will change from one publisher to another. For example, one publisher might like things written in first person with a personal angle, while another publisher might like to accept things written only in a more professional but impersonal third person. How-to articles are often written in second person or (you) understood viewpoint.

It's important to get or read other content published by the publisher to get a feel for their style, tone and feel before you write the article.

If the publication is an online publication, be sure to proof and edit and submit regularly. Most content websites review quickly and pay at least monthly (some pay daily or weekly), and you will usually earn residual income from page views on the content for the life of the website. For content websites, see the sidebar of this guide for links to popular writing sites where you can make money writing.

Following the publisher's guidelines and edit proofread and perfect the article. Format it per the submission guidelines.

Different publishers accept article submissions different way. Web content websites might want you to submit through an online submission template process while a print publication might want you to mail the printed/typed article to them via the mail or send via email. The publisher determines how you submit the article, so be sure to read the submission guidelines carefully before submitting to ensure you are submitting properly.

Keep a log of all your submissions with a note of the date you submitted it and the date the publisher said they expect to make an offer. Not all publishers will send rejection letters, so you sometimes will just have to move forward after a certain period of time has passed.

Logging your queries and submissions can help you keep track of them, so that, if they are not accepted, you can tweak them to submit to another publication, publish on your own website or blog, or submit to a web content site for compensation.

The next step is to go back to step one and start all over again. Continue doing this for every article you wish you to write. If you can submit two or three articles per day, every day to a major print publication, expect about 60% to be rejected, 40% accepted, you can make decent money from writing.

If you're submitting to web content sites, a steady stream of articles is required to make good income from writing, so be prepared to write a lot if content sites are all you use for your writing income. Content sites are also a good place to put up articles written for other publishers that you couldn't sell.

Monetize and write a blog. If your topic is popular, you can put ads and affiliate links on the blog and make money writing blogs.