Part One
I've been writing in (and about) Web3 since 2021, and have published short stories, poetry and literary journals across multiple blockchains - ETH, Polygon, Tezos.
I led a panel on writing in Web3 at NFT NYC 2023, and the foundational ideas and issues we discussed then are still relevant. But a year later, the Web3 writing space - from the perspective of getting paid for the time an author invests in writing - has changed significantly.
Some of the projects that earned me the most income in previous years (such as Readl) have gone under, like BookCoin did before. But new projects and platforms have emerged - and several of these are exciting enough for me to invest some time in.
Warpcast
You can get paid in various ways on Warpcast, which now allows for longer posts of 1024 characters - with the first 320 visible above the "show more" option. And since readers who like what you write can tip with $DEGEN or gift you Warps, it's possible to earn some money for this kind of writing.
Warpcast is the Web3 answer to Twitter / X - and I personally believe that any author serious about a future of writing in Web3 should start building on this emergent platform as soon as possible.
I had a Warpcast account early on, but was focused on some big IRL projects this year and didn't put much attention towards it - however, since I started getting active on it in the first three weeks of June, I've earned about $69 in "tips" for my various posts / comments / pictures / memes.
If you don't already have a Warpcast account, you can join with this link and get a sign-up gift of 50 Warps (the platform's native currency).
Paragraph
This is the latest of the platforms that I'm exploring - and if Warpcast is the Web3 answers to Twitter, Paragraph is setting itself up to be a Web3 alternative to Medium. One of its big strengths is that it's already got a solid integration with the Base ecosystem, which is one of the big reasons that I'm starting to publish here.
It's too early for me to comment on the earnings potential through this platform - but the number of people I see using it to write tells me that it's going to be an important player in the Web3 writing ecosystem - and so I've decided to invest the time to get started on it as part of the "Farcaster Writing Hackathon" that I participated in this week.
An example of how you can get paid - I minted one of Danica Swanson's articles for about $3 USD (paid in Warps thanks to Paragraph's integration with Warpcast) - and checking OpenSea, I noticed that 20 other people had done the same. That's $60 USD earned on one long-form article for Danica, which highlights the potential for writers to earn money on Paragraph. It should be noted that works out to about 5.5 cents per word, which is on par with the entry-level rate for freelance writing for IRL / Web2 publications in the US.
Paragraph also has an interesting referral program which rewards those who share the work of their peers and promote the platform - so if you're not already publishing or cross-posting there, I highly recommend signing up and getting started.
t2
I've been publishing here since December 2023, earning "time points" as well as over $700 in USDC from the various prizes won in Season 1 and Season 2 of their "Friends Who Write" contest.
They've got a good, clean UX for both writing and reading, "Territories" aligned to various niches/subjects and a leaderboard for both readers and writers (see example below).
Their "time points" approach is interesting, since it rewards both readers and writers for the value of the time spent writing and reading each article. Currently, those "TP" don't have a value attached, but I have a feeling that in the future, that will change. Like Paragraph, t2 is a potential Web3 replacement for Medium, and they are doing a great job bridging the gap between Web2 and Web3 - and for that reason, I highly recommend that writers of long-form content (essays, articles, short fiction, etc.) to consider joining t2 and publishing/cross-posting there.
More to Come...
So, that's my roll-up of the latest platforms where Web3 writers can currently earn money for their writing - there are a lot more ways to do that as well, and I'll share my experience with those in Part Two.
Thanks for reading this, and best of luck with your writing!
