Your Guide To The Baltimore Writing Scene

If you had to make a list of some of the cities with the highest demand for talented, passionate writers on the east coast, Baltimore would undoubtedly be right at the top. This has been true for much of the city’s history and as you will soon come to learn, it will be doubly true for the foreseeable future as well.

Making a Living as a Baltimore Writer

According to research conducted by Glassdoor, the average base pay for a technical writer in Baltimore City is $62,484 – or about 2% above the national average. Content writers in and around the Baltimore area (including in Baltimore County) bring home about $48,627 per year, or right at the national average for that profession.

A large part of this has to do with the fact that content writing and copywriting in general are expected to enjoy a significant amount of growth over the next decade – growing at a rate of between 8 and 9% according to some estimates. As more and more industries leap across the digital divide with open arms, the need for freelance, part-time or full-time talent is only going to explode.  Glassdoor alone lists hundreds of job openings for technical, content and even science writers and editors in the Baltimore area – underlining a critical trend that is only going to get stronger as time goes on.

Educational Opportunities for Writers to Advance in Baltimore

Whether you’re talking about Baltimore City or Baltimore County, there are no shortage of educational opportunities just waiting for area writers to take advantage of them. Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, Baltimore and Towson University all make up a massive portion of the state’s total college enrollment and all have writing classes or programs that can help take your abilities to the next level.

Likewise, there are a wide range of additional opportunities to empower your creativity and innovation happening all across the area on a regular basis.

Writing Meet Up Groups in Baltimore

• Charm City Writers. This is a writer’s group that meets once or twice a month in Baltimore City. It’s always looking for new members and writers interested in exploring any and all genres are encouraged to attend.
• The Writer’s Center. Located in Bethesda, The Writer’s Center has been doing its part to help turn local area writers into published authors for nearly four decades with no end in sight.

Baltimore Conferences for Writers to Consider in 2019

• National Association for Poetry Therapy 39th Annual Conference. Taking place from April 11 to April 14 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor location, this is a great chance to promote growth and healing through language, symbol and – of course – story.
• Maryland Writers Conference. Taking place from March 29 to March 31 at the BWI Airport Marriott, this is a conference designed to bring together aspiring, emerging and even established writers for the type of networking opportunity that must be taken advantage of.
• Creatures, Crimes & Creativity Literary Convention. From September 13 to 15 at the Sheraton Columbia Town Center Hotel, readers and writers of mystery, thriller, horror and sci-fi will gather to share stories, spread their love of genre and network with people of similar minds.
• Baltimore Comic Con 2019. Taking place from October 18 to 20, Baltimore Comic Con regularly holds panels with working comic book writers and artists regarding how to further your abilities, how to break into the business and more – right in the convention center in the Inner Harbor.

Workshops, Classes and More for Writers in Baltimore

Get those calendars ready – these and other upcoming events aren’t just great networking opportunities for Baltimore area writers, but they’re also an incredible chance to help further your own talents and abilities as well.

• Literary Club: Creative Writing. This upcoming event will take place on Friday, March 22 at 11:00am at the Christ Episcopal Church in Columbia, Maryland.
• Writing For My Sanity: Therapeutic Writing and Medication Workshop. This will take place on Tuesday, February 12 (though more sessions are coming up, too) at Impact Hub Baltimore in Baltimore City.
• Unblocking Your Entrepreneurial Voice: Writing Intensive for Female Entrepreneurs + Creatives. Taking place on Saturday, March 2 from 10:00am to 11:30am at The Lemon Collective in Washington, DC (just a short 50 minute drive from Baltimore City), this female-centric workshop helps women entrepreneurs in particular unlock the true power of their voice and words.

The Best Places to Write in Baltimore

Any quality place to write needs to be A) quiet, and B) inspiring at the exact same time. Luckily, Baltimore has no shortage of places that meet both of these core requirements, including but not limited to ones like:

• The George Peabody Library.
• Enoch Pratt Central Library.
• Towson University.
• Cylburn Arboretum.
• Federal Hill Park.

Of course, if working in a local coffee shop is more your speed, Baltimore has you covered where it counts to that end, too. Be sure to check out Artifact Coffee in Woodberry, R-House in Remington, The Bun Shop in Mt. Vernon (a second location up in Towson is expected to open in the not-too-distant future) or even Ceremony Coffee in Harbor Point. All of these will give you the space you need to work… and the caffeine injection you need to keep going well into the night, too.

Community Groups for Writers in Baltimore

Thanks to the fact that it’s such a creative area, Baltimore is also home to a wide range of different formal community groups. Some offer free events and classes, others give you an opportunity to surround yourself with like-minded individuals in an effort to improve your own abilities. Regardless of what it is that you’re looking for, there’s certainly something for everyone:

• The Maryland Writers’ Association. Whether you’re looking to have your work critiqued in a helpful, constructive way or you’re looking to provide that same assistance to a fellow wordsmith, the Maryland Writers’ Association regularly holds events that are absolutely worth checking out that are open to members and non-members alike.
• Words on Water. Located in Annapolis (which is just a short drive south from Baltimore City), Words on Water is a creative non-fiction writing group dedicated to the inspiration that lives inside us all that was born out of being near (or even on) the Chesapeake Bay.
• The Writing Hour. This is an invaluable project that was originally founded to give people a regular space to not only work on their writing projects, but to help empower and grow the writing community in and around the Baltimore area.

Local Companies Hiring Baltimore Writers

Regardless of whether you’re a copywriter, a freelance writer, a journalist or even an editor living in and around the Baltimore area, there’s certainly no shortage of opportunities for you to put your talents to good use. Agencies, businesses and even entire platforms exist that are looking for both full-time and part-time work, all in an effort to help keep up with the incredible surge in demand that the content marketing industry is going through that shows absolutely no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

Digital Marketing Agencies

If content writers are the fuel that keeps the proverbial engine of digital marketing moving forward, digital marketing agencies are the engine itself. Baltimore has no shortage of these types of organizations, including but not limited to notable names like:

• WebFX.
• SocialSEO.
• Hibu.
• ACS Creative.
• WebMechanix.

Content Platforms

• WriterAccess (hey, that’s us!). Also based on the east coast, WriterAccess is one of the leading writing services providers operating on the Internet today. A vast network of over 15,000 freelance writers, editors, content strategists and even translators dutifully serve an audience of more than 25,000 customers on a daily basis and they’re always will to take advantage of an opportunity to bring a talented new contributor into the fold. If you’re a Baltimore-based writer and you want to become a new member of the WriterAccess family, all you have to do is apply now.
• Scripted. This is an innovative digital content platform designed to bring freelance writers and the businesses who need them together, helping both parties achieve just the right fit when it comes to marketing, content creation and everything in between.
• Skyword. As a collaborative content marketing platform, Skyword contributors have helped to craft content for some of the biggest brands in existence – including but not limited to Anthem and even IBM.

Join the Ranks of Some of the Best Writers in the World!

If you’re still doubting Baltimore’s rich writing history, that will no doubt come to an end when you realize just how many famous authors were born there or spent an appreciable amount of time there during its history. Edgar Allan Poe may have been born in Boston, but he spent a significant amount of time in Baltimore before passing away there in October of 1848. David Simon began his career there as a journalist for The Baltimore Sun, before publishing his book “The Corner” that would become the basis for his critically acclaimed HBO series “The Wire.” He and his wife Laura Lippman still live in the area, and she’s notable for being the mastermind behind the “Tess Monaghan” series and other detective fiction novels.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, Upton Sinclair, Frederick Douglass – they all have ties to Baltimore and they’re all invaluable parts of the rich, storied history that is just waiting for your contribution.