NewsBreak: A Step-by-Step Guide For Writers to Create Another Monthly Income Stream
My detour on the way to Substack
We are writers; we want our work to be seen. Can we agree on that? It’s crushing to pour hours, heart, and soul into a story to see it ignored.
Like many of us, I began writing online on Medium. I banged my head against its algorithm for several years. I submitted stories again and again, with the same results. I even tried a few of Tim Denning’s suggestions—God knows he has plenty. Nothing was working.
Nine lousy views and a dozen claps — can you relate? The meager Medium earnings barely covered their $5—monthly membership fee.
So, when a site rumored to pay better and offer exposure hit my radar, it piqued my interest.
NewsBreak
NewsBreak (NB) it is a platform that pays freelance writers to submit “news” stories. It also links professional, local, and national news sources, such as local TV stations and web outlets.
Let’s be clear, they are in the business of distributing news. They are more interested in substance than style.
NB looks to freelancers (us) to fill in the gaps and report on stories that larger outlets overlook. They encourage writers to focus on local happenings, but it is not a rule. Writers can choose their subject matter and distribute it to any American city, county, or state; stories can also be set for national exposure. That sometimes pisses off the algorithm.
There are restrictions involving decency, accuracy, and plagiarism, among others. NB takes those seriously. Violations will jeopardize an account. However, if writers stay within certain limits, there is considerable editorial freedom.
Topics that freelancers could cover include:
Restaurant Reviews
Store openings and closings
Local events
TV Reviews
Favorite Beaches
Horoscopes
Fishing techniques
Travel tips
Celebrity News
Hobbies
You name it somebody is writing about it
Making Money
NB is for US writers only— content creators from other countries are not eligible.
There are a couple of other hurdles to clear before raking in the cash.
Contributors must publish 10 articles before being considered for monetization. Writers also need to attract 100 registered followers— “registered followers” are readers with the NB app and account. Followers are not difficult to come by; one well-viewed story could net 100 followers.
Once those requirements are met, writers can apply for monetization. This can take a while, and it is not guaranteed. I was approved 3 weeks after application. I understand it has taken longer for others.
I don’t know anyone who’s been refused monetization, but I hear it happens occasionally. It would be fair to say that it could take 2 months or more from the first article to monetization. I was approved 5+ weeks after my first article—time frames will vary.
Analytics and pay
There are 2 vital metrics that every paid contributor on NB pays close attention to.
Impressions — The number of times NB shows a headline to its audience.
Views — The number of times someone clicks on an impression and reads your story.
Contributors are paid based on view count. Views are impossible without impressions.
In my experience, the pay rate has been between $3 and $6 per 1K views — most of my stories earn in the $3.30–4 range. Although, some have been higher. How NB determines that rate is anybody’s guess, and they are not saying.
A shit-load of views are needed to make any money.
My NewsBreak journey
I signed up in early September of last year. I have been at it for 10 months.
The first story I published was a list of my 3 favorite local pizza places (Charleston, SC). Of course, minutes after publishing, I went to my analytics tab to see how it was doing. To my amazement, it already had over a hundred impressions and a handful of views, and every time I refreshed the numbers grew. Here are the final numbers for that first story: 11K impressions, and 664 views. It also received 5 likes, 2 comments, and 19 shares — wow, the first story!
I was hooked, so I kept writing. My first 10 stories had varying levels of success.
My 9th article was about popular baby names that I published nationally. It took off. Every time I refreshed it had dozens more views. NB claims 45 million subscribers, I was a believer. To this day that story has had 764K impressions and 58K views, I have earned money on it every month since I have been monetized ( even if a story is published before monetization — you get paid for views that occur after you are approved). NB keeps giving it impressions, I keep getting views and a few dollars added to my monthly total. Most stories have a shelf life of a week or so, the baby story proved evergreen. I have since written several more successful pieces than the baby name story.
NB requires articles to be at least 100 words, most of mine are 150–250 words. It is also necessary to attribute sourcing.
None of it is difficult or time-consuming, with attributions, proofreading, and adding an image it takes me about an hour a story.
In 10 months, I have written 350 articles with over 32 million impressions and nearly 3 million views. I have been monetized for about 2 million views. I have a following of a little over 15K.
These are not atypical numbers many other NB writers have done this and more.
You have all the information to do the math — I work on NB for a couple of hours a day, 5–6 days a week. I made 10X more in my first monetized month on NB than my best-ever month on Medium. I have only broken $100. on Medium once. I have been over $1000. on NB several times. My highest earning story on NB is a bit over $400. It was a 200-word story about The Golden Bachelor. Some stories are duds, earning pennies, but that doesn’t happen often. In my first 9 months on the platform, I have earned just over $7K.
Final Thoughts
NewsBreak is not for everyone. For those writers with an established income, here on Substack, or elsewhere, NB may be more trouble than it’s worth. If you are new to online writing and could use a few hundred dollars a month NB may be worth considering. It takes time to ramp up, but it is a reliable side hustle to a primary writing gig once it gets going. NewsBreak taught me that it was possible to make money writing online—don’t underestimate that lesson.
I am all in when it comes to Substack. I love the community support and publishing alongside such great writers is a trip. That said, traction does not come easy here to all of us. NB is a great diversion and 50K+ views next to your name can be a well-needed ego boost.
If any of this interests you, let me know in the comments. Or, shoot me a DM with any questions. If you would like to give the site a test drive, use the referral link below. I get a finders fee, but it is free to you and carries no obligation.
I have several other side hustle articles coming soon. Please consider subscribing, all of my content is free.
Hey, you did it, cool!
You might want to make that referral link clickable. Good luck!
My pleasure, use my link if you do check it out,