My Experience With Newbreak After Almost Three Months

I’m sure most writers have heard of Newsbreak by now, but I had not heard of it until one of my fellow writers in a writing forum suggested it. I have to admit that I was very skeptical. So I began doing some research about the platform and discovered that there wasn’t a lot of recent Newsbreak information. Most of what I found was dated 2020 and 2021 when it first started taking off. So I thought I would share my experience with those that are late to the game like I was.

Writers are a different breed. We don’t give up easily. Our tenacity and our passion for our craft keep us going even in the darkest of times. For me, I have been trying to launch my writing career for the better part of three years now. I have a writing gig that pays me occasionally, but not enough to make it my only source of income. Now, things are starting to look up.

Getting started

I began my Newsbreak journey on April 3, 2023. My very first article was a story I recycled from my other writing gig about materials used in home construction. It’s not in my wheelhouse, but I had written it for a client that decided another writer’s take on it was better than mine. More on that later. Later that day, I posted another story about pet dental health. Again, another story that was declined by the client it was originally written for.

I didn’t think anything was going to come of it, but I always give new side hustles a good fighting chance before I abandon them. The first day wasn’t great. I think I got about 80 impressions and four views between the two. However, on the second day, those articles began to pick up traction. Now, I’m not saying those articles weren’t great, but I can tell you they weren’t in my wheelhouse and I knew I could do better, so I was encouraged to try a few more.

Consistency pays off

When May rolled around, I decided to commit to publishing at least once a day. I was beginning to get a few followers and was starting to see a lot of potential. Soon my followers grew to 10, then 25, then 37 until I finally reached to the required 100 followers. I will say that you will likely hit the required 10 articles before you hit 100 registered followers, but it won’t take long. For me, I had written 12 articles when I hit the 100-follower milestone and was able to apply for monetization.

I applied for monetization on May 2. I continued publishing every day and kept building my following. I was approved for monetization on June 2, 2023. For me, it took a month. However, I have read stories of people getting monetized within a few weeks. I wasn’t expecting much, maybe a few cents since I was just getting started.

However, my very first 24 hours gave me a total earnings of $26.14. I know it doesn’t sound like a lot, but it was considerably more than I had hoped for. As of the date of this writing, June 20, eighteen days after being monetized, I am now up to a whopping $704.44.

What can you write about on Newsbreak?

Newsbreak likes coverage of local stories, but you can literally write about anything as long as it doesn’t go against their rules. For example, I write about gardening because it’s what I know a lot about. It’s easy for me to come up with fresh ideas. Also, they allow writers to use AI-assisted content as long as it is disclosed at the top of the article.

I have personally tried writing locally, but it didn’t perform as well as my gardening articles so that’s what I stick with. I may pivot when those articles are no longer performing as well, but that’s the beauty of it. You don’t have to stick with one topic.

Pros and cons of Newsbreak

Newsbreak is a great platform, but there are good and bad factors to consider. Here are some pros:

You choose what to write about

You choose how often you want to write

You can turn off comments

There is really no limit to how much you can write or earn

You can earn money with referrals

One of the best pros, in my opinion, is that you aren’t directly competing with other writers for work. I work for another platform that might have up to five writers working for the same client. At the end of the day, one is bought and four are declined. Good for the client, but horrible for the writers who have wasted their time and energy for nothing.

Here are some of the cons I have noticed:

It only pays out once a month on the 15th for earnings in the previous month.

There are, unfortunately, a few trolls on the platform, but you can turn comments off if it becomes an issue

There can be a substantial upfront investment of time to get started.

Being relatively new to the site, I’m sure there are others that I am not aware of, but this is what I’ve noted so far.

How do you sign up?

If you want to try your hand at Newsbreak, you can use my referral link and I will get a small referral bonus.