5 Surprisingly Practical Reasons to Write for News Break
By: Chira Lois
Tags: Money, Startup, Writing, Business, Remote Work

5 Surprisingly Practical Reasons to Write for News Break

Photo by Paige Cody on Unsplash

Updated Feb. 6, 2021. Every so often an opportunity comes along that creates a lot of buzz in the freelance writing world. Next thing you know, there’s a stampede and every freelance writer wants a piece of the action.

Who Publishes Newsbreak?

Particle Media, Inc., with headquarters in Santa Clara, CA, publishes Newsbreak. The app is a news content aggregator, serving popular news and personalized content to readers worldwide. News Break also hires freelancer writers to publish unique local news stories.

Here’s my take on why News Break should be on your radar as a potential egg in your basket for 2021.

Guaranteed pay

The thing that has writers talking — the site offers $25 or $60 per article, based on article quality, for the first three months you write for News Break. During your first three months, News Break caps your guaranteed earnings at $1,500 per month.

After your first three months, you can earn anywhere $4/1000 views and $10/1000 views, based on article quality.

Getting views, not reads, might not be so difficult since according to the website Mobile Action, “News Break was the most downloaded app in the App Store with almost 4 million downloads in March 2020. Over in the Google Play Store, it again took the lead with more than 2 million downloads, reaching about 6 million downloads overall.”

Is there a catch, you ask? Absolutely! You’ve got to write to earn!

Writers who write quality, local articles with catchy titles have the best chance of succeeding on News Break. Though News Break publishes articles of all kinds, the company days it would rather publish local news.

So who couldn’t use a few extra dollars in 2021? The year 2020 was terrible to say the least. So many people lost their jobs and their homes/apartments.

If you have some writing experience, and you enjoy writing, having one more income stream can’t possibly hurt. If you’re already having success on websites like Medium, and you have a lot of clients, write for News Break in your downtime. If you don’t need the money, stash it for a rainy day.

Easy reads

News Break’s readership is mostly conservative men. The editorial guidelines say to write at an eighth grade level. The company also asks writers to use short sentences and bullet points to help readers navigate articles. Your article also must be at least 250 words in length for News Break to publish it.

Reposting in an option

I’ve been a ghostwriter for the past 10 years, so the vast majority of articles that I have written belong to the people who paid me for them. But if you’re smart and have been writing for yourself on a website like Medium or if you have a blog, you can repost your articles on News Break.

I recommend browsing News Break to see if anything you’ve written in the past might be a good fit for the site.

Don’t underestimate yourself

So you’re a new writer and don’t have a huge portfolio. Don’t shy away from applying. The worst that could happen is that News Break says no. Big deal! Rejection is part of being a writer. We’re already used to it. Right?

The best that could happen is that the company says yes. Reality check — News Break isn’t the New Yorker. You don’t need Ronan Farrow’s writing chops to write for the site. If you’re new to freelance writing and you get accepted, build your portfolio with the articles you publish on the site.

Be aware that the company seems to be contracting mostly U.S. residents to write for the website. The company also seems to want to see that you have a United States address and a U.S.-based payment account.

If you’re interested, follow this link to check out News Break and apply to be a content creator for the website.

Keep in mind that News Break is a relatively new company and is evolving with each passing day. Everything I’ve discussed in this article is subject to change. I’ll try to update as I learn more about the company.

Exciting as this opportunity may be, try not to look at it as a marriage at first sight but rather as a first date with potential. Disclosure: This article contains my News Break writer referral link for which I may receive a commission for successful signups. Thanks