What does it mean to be a professional writer? Well, one obvious thing to say would be: a writer who gets paid. But that would largely exclude academic writers, unless you count receiving a copy or two of your book as reimbursement. No, there has to be more to being a professional than money, important though that is.

One important aspect of being paid is the fact that someone was willing to pay you. Think of it this way: I can send a pitch to an editor, or a book proposal to a publisher, along with links to a few blog posts I’ve written, in order to prove that I can write.

The thing is, why would any busy editor waste their time looking the unknown website of an unknown writer? I can write any old rubbish on this blog, because I’m the one who is publishing it. There’s not gatekeeper, in other words.

Now, that is brilliant from one point of view: everyone can have a platform. But not having a gatekeeper also means there is no obvious external quality control, and therefore no independent proof that you can write, meet deadlines, or fulfill any other requirement for being considered a professional writer.

But if a magazine or newsletter is prepared to pay you for your work, that suggests the editor thinks it’s worth spending their money on. (Although academic journals don’t pay their writers, the same thing applies in a way. The editor or peer reviewers have deemed the article worthy enough to be published, and not a risk to their reputation.)

Therefore, even if you are in the wonderful position of not needing extra money, you should ask for, and expect, payment in return for your work. I think this especially applies to hitherto unpublished writers.

See also the series called 10 attributes of professional writers.