Jobs with major book publishers, magazines, broadcasting companies, advertising agencies, and public-relations firms are concentrated in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. Jobs with newspapers, business and professional journals, and technical and trade magazines are more widely dispersed throughout the country.

Thousands of other individuals work as freelance writers, earning some income from their articles, books, and, less commonly, television and movie scripts. Most support themselves with income derived from other sources.