How to make hundreds of pounds from your life story

You can make cash from talking about your life - but is it worth it? (Copyright: REX)

Did you give birth to a miracle baby? Discover your spouse was already married? Travel the world looking for love only to marry the boy or girl next door?

Because across the UK there are magazines, newspapers, websites and even TV shows that want real-life stories – and some are willing to pay big money.

However, many people hesitate to contact the press with a story and many more find it hard to get the best price for their tale. So how should you go about selling your story – and how much can you hope to make?

Do you really want to do this?

Before you get carried away by the thoughts of a fat cheque and the chance to have your say about an experience, take a step back and consider whether or not you really want to do this.

Think carefully about whether or not you could cope with negative reactions, or how you would feel about friends and family reading the story. What if the story is picked up by the wider press, how would you feel about national press attention? What if the spin goes against you and you are depicted badly, how will you cope?

Of course, the risk of national press attention really depends on how important, antagonistic or unusual your story is. You’ll have to decide if it’s a risk you’re willing to take.

Will you agree to photographs?

Journalists prefer case studies who are willing to be photographed and who will give their full name. You might have the most exciting story imaginable, but if you’re asking for anonymity you will dramatically reduce the price that publications are willing to pay – it may even be the reason they don’t take your story at all.

If you’re not keen to be photographed then maybe it’s time to question whether going public is the right thing for you to do.

How much can you make?

Well, how good is your story? When mum-of-two Elaine Jewitt left her husband for a teenage friend of her daughter’s, she needed money to help with fertility treatment. A few enquiries to magazines led to a journalist appearing at her door with an offer of £1,200.

However, she used a professional feature writer via the Feature World agency, who placed her story in The Mirror and then several other magazines, netting the family a total of £4,000 for their story and giving her daughter a chance to discuss how the events had made her feel too.

Some magazines pay between £50 and a couple of hundred quid for smaller stories; some TV programmes will pay a few thousand for an appearance if your story is compelling enough. That’s why some story sellers prefer to use an agent to help them find the best price and manage the press attention if the story gets picked up more generally.

Would you be happy for strangers to read about your life? [fotolia]

How do you find an agent?

You have a few options when it comes to selling your story. You might decide to approach a magazine or paper directly, or you might decide to go through an intermediary who can potentially get more for your story – although they will also take a cut.

Real life magazines usually have contact information on their websites, allowing readers to get in touch directly, while some newspapers advertise for real-life stories.

An internet search for ‘sell my story’ will throw up hundreds of websites all claiming that they can get you the best price for your story – choose one that looks professional and use your instincts when contacting them. If you don’t have confidence in the agent then look for someone else; you need to have faith that you won’t be misrepresented.

Finally, another option is to contact a journalist directly. If there’s a writer that you admire or who you have confidence will cover your story sensitively then look for their contact information or get in touch via Twitter.

What if you don’t have a story?

Everyone has a story, but not everyone has a standalone story. However, magazines and newspapers are often looking for case studies of relatively normal people, perhaps who are moving house or budgeting for a new baby or who have lost a lot of weight.

You can find these opportunities by following feature-writer journalists on Twitter, or by checking out the ‘stories wanted’ pages of the many websites that offer to sell your story to the press.

Some companies and businesses will even pay customers to appear in the press, if they have an interesting story of how they used a product or service; it’s important to keep your eyes open for opportunities.

Would you ever sell your story to the press? Have your say using the comments below.