Writers and Authors
Arts, Audio/Video Technology and CommunicationsO*NET 27-3043.00United States
Originate and prepare written material, such as scripts, stories, advertisements, and other material.
- Median annual earnings
- $55,867
- Projected change
- +12.5%
- Typical education
- Bachelor's degree
- Employment
- 136.95K jobs
50th percentile, United States
2025 to 2035
47% of the workforce
Growing to 154.01K by 2035
Explore this career by location
Compare nationwide estimates with state or county job-market data.
Showing United States
Loading available locations…
Build the skills
ASU learning related to this career
These courses and certificates are connected through catalog career relationships and Lightcast skill tags.
Loading related ASU learning
The work
What writers and authors do
Tasks reported for this occupation, ordered by how often they come up in the role.
- Develop advertising campaigns for a wide range of clients, working with an advertising agency's creative director and art director to determine the best way to present advertising information.
- Vary language and tone of messages based on product and medium.
- Discuss with the client the product, advertising themes and methods, and any changes that should be made in advertising copy.
- Present drafts and ideas to clients.
- Write articles, bulletins, sales letters, speeches, and other related informative, marketing and promotional material.
- Review advertising trends, consumer surveys, and other data regarding marketing of goods and services to determine the best way to promote products.
Pay and outlook
What the job pays and where it is heading
Annual earnings range
Reported earnings by percentile, United States
- 10th percentile
- $19,291
- 25th percentile
- $32,378
- 50th percentile
- $55,867
- 75th percentile
- $94,411
- 90th percentile
- $170,670
The gold marker shows the median. Half earn more than $55,867 and half earn less.
Employment outlook
2025 to 2035 projection
+12.5%faster than average
2025136,950 jobs
2035 projected154,012 jobs
17,062 more positions over the decade, before replacement hiring.
Preparation
Education levels
What people currently working in the career hold. These are not entry requirements.
- Bachelor's degree
- 47%
- Some college
- 35.4%
- Associate degree
- 17.7%
Skills
Skills employers ask for
Technical skills appearing most often in job postings for this occupation.
How the work gets done
Core competencies
Broad capabilities associated with strong performance in this occupation.
- Writing
- Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
- Reading Comprehension
- Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
- Active Listening
- Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Speaking
- Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Critical Thinking
- Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
- Time Management
- Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Persuasion
- Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
- Active Learning
- Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
- Social Perceptiveness
- Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Coordination
- Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
- Service Orientation
- Actively looking for ways to help people.
- Monitoring
- Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Complex Problem Solving
- Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
- Negotiation
- Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
- Instructing
- Teaching others how to do something.
- Learning Strategies
- Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Systems Evaluation
- Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
- Systems Analysis
- Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
In the market
Job titles and employers
Recent job postings in United StatesCommon job titles
- 01Social Media Content Creators1,933 postings
- 02Copywriters1,685 postings
- 03Content Creators1,413 postings
- 04Writers537 postings
- 05Customs Entry Writers507 postings
- 06Content Writers471 postings
- 07Digital Content Producers435 postings
- 08Social Media Managers/Content Creators389 postings
- 09Digital Content Creators310 postings
- 10Ticket Writers213 postings
- 11Entry Writers208 postings
- 12Video Content Creators188 postings
- 13Content Specialists156 postings
- 14Operations and Policy Analysts155 postings
- 15Marketing Copywriters150 postings
- 16Specification Writers144 postings
- 17Social Media Producers121 postings
- 18Content Producers110 postings
- 19Digital Copywriters106 postings
- 20Procedure Writers103 postings
Top employers
- 01Robert Half295 postings
- 02GovCIO154 postings
- 03Beacon Hill Staffing Group134 postings
- 04Nexstar Media Group122 postings
- 05Fox News Network111 postings
- 06GPAC106 postings
- 07Teleperformance100 postings
- 08Caesars Entertainment92 postings
- 09SitusAMC90 postings
- 10Skill78 postings
- 11Insight Global77 postings
- 12System One77 postings
- 13Tiktok71 postings
- 14Publicis Groupe70 postings
- 15CVS Health66 postings
- 16TriWest Healthcare Alliance61 postings
- 1724 Seven57 postings
- 18Maximus57 postings
- 19Pearson Education56 postings
- 20Aquent54 postings
Keep looking