Writers and Authors

Median salary

$76,910

Average salary

$86,090

Employment

47,940

Projected growth

3.6% growth

Annual openings

13,400

Typical entry education

Bachelor's degree

What Writers and Authors Do

Originate and prepare written material, such as scripts, stories, advertisements, and other material.

See full salary breakdown & percentiles →

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 2024–2034.

Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Long-term on-the-job training
Self-employed: 62.9%

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

How Much Preparation Does This Take?

Job Zone 4 of 5

Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed

Experience: A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations.
Education: Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.
Job training: Employees in these occupations usually need several years of work-related experience, on-the-job training, and/or vocational training.

Source: O*NET Job Zones.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

Sales and Marketingimportance 4.3/5
Communications and Mediaimportance 4.2/5
Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 4.0/5
Computers and Electronicsimportance 3.5/5
Mathematicsimportance 2.9/5
Administrativeimportance 2.8/5
Administration and Managementimportance 2.7/5
Sociology and Anthropologyimportance 2.6/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

E-Mail5.0/5
Contact With Others4.9/5
Time Pressure4.7/5
Telephone Conversations4.7/5
Frequency of Decision Making4.5/5
Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.5/5

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

Correspondence Clerks98% skill match
Credit Counselors98% skill match
Paralegals and Legal Assistants97% skill match
Customer Service Representatives97% skill match
Concierges97% skill match
Substitute Teachers, Short-Term97% skill match
Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors96% skill match
New Accounts Clerks96% skill match

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

Time Managementimportance 3.6/5
Social Perceptivenessimportance 3.4/5
Coordinationimportance 3.4/5
Persuasionimportance 3.4/5
Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.3/5
Service Orientationimportance 3.1/5
Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.0/5
Negotiationimportance 2.9/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Hot Technologies

In-Demand Technologies

Adobe Premiere Pro

Other Software Used

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

Innovation
Achievement Orientation
Intellectual Curiosity
Dependability
Initiative
Adaptability
Tolerance for Ambiguity

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

ArtisticHigh
EnterprisingMedium
ConventionalMedium
InvestigativeMedium
SocialLow
RealisticLow

This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where writers and authors make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).

1Wilmington, NC3.13× national avg
2Kingston, NY3.12× national avg
3Ann Arbor, MI2.80× national avg
4New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ2.47× national avg
5Amherst Town-Northampton, MA2.25× national avg

Related Education Programs

Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.