Poetry is one of the most underestimated professions globally despite the beauty surrounding every ounce of the profession. If you are a poet or creative writer seeking how to make money from poetry, this article will surely be very useful.
If you love writing and have been in the business of writing for some time, you probably would have noticed that poets don’t make much money from the beautiful art of poetry.
To some people, it is a mystery why poets don’t rake in so much money compared to other established publishers. If you are a poet or probably have one for a friend, the reasons why poets don’t make so much money shouldn’t be too difficult to figure out to you.
So do follow me very closely on this journey to discover the endless ways you can make money from writing poems.
Meanwhile, here below is the table of contents for an overview of what to expect in this article.
Table of contents
Does Poetry Really Sell?
Yes, you can actually make tons of bucks as a Poet. The truth is you may never get to discover or learn of all the possible ways you can do this if you are not shown.
Often times, the common way poets make money is by winning poetry awards or by publishing a book of poems. While these ways are cool, they are not as easy as they sound. Sadly, in most cases, poets don’t make their expected returns from publishing books despite the sleepless nights and resources invested to ensure their books get published.
I assure you, as you follow through in this article, you need not worry again about making money from your works. I would share with you in subsequent sections – !3 proven hacks to earn money writing poems.
Some of these ways may require you to invest some token before you can make money from poetry but again, you don’t have to fear. Read our post on How to make $300 fast as it is sure to help you raise fast money.
Do Poets Make Good Money?
Yes! You can make some good money as a poet. Although this is largely dependent on the level of your experience and expertise.
Many of the most successful poets these days are poetry professors. They basically make their money teaching others. Some of them make up to $75,000 average teaching others how to become top notch poets.
Conversely, the artist-in-residence poets might just get a stipend, they don’t actually make so much income.
How Much Do Poets Charge?
Like I already stated above, how much a poet can make largely depends on how their expertise. So let me just advise, if you earn big bucks writing poems, learn to be top-notch in what you do.
People will definitely love to pay anything provided they are getting commensurate value for their money.
So here’s what you can expect as a poet: $1.50 to $300 per poem, depending on your expertise. That might not sound like a lot, compared to copywriting but you can become more by publishing your works online.
Why Most Poets Don’t Make So Much Money From Poetry
The major reason why poets don’t make so much is largely due to the fact that poems are usually published mainly in literary journals and magazines.
Often times, these literary journals and magazines have small audience such that not so many people get to read poems contained therein. This has been the case over the years leading to the resulting low pay poets get when they finally get their poems published despite the hard work and creativity invested to come up with beautiful pieces of art.
But do not fear if you are reading this article as an aspiring writer or you have been for some time but you haven’t made any appreciable income from your poems, this article contains 13 Easy guides aimed at showing you how to make money from poetry.
I have searched the internet extensively as well as other important resources to come up with these proven ways on how to make money from poetry.
Now let’s get straight to the point on how to make money from poetry.
13 Easy Hacks on How to Make Money From Poetry
I have always imagined that if one is creative enough to be a poet, he should have the creativity to figure out how to make money from poetry, but in reality, this is not always the case so I thought to come up with this article to help poets earn fat from their career and make good money.
With this article, you don’t have to crack your head so much for ways to make money from your art. You can now focus entirely on writing breath-taking poems as our team of researchers has come up with proven and lasting ways to monetize your poems.
Let’s look at the hacks below…
1) Sell Songs, Not Poetry
As a poet, you should know there are different forms of poetry. There are poets whose works are basically writing and publishing while some other poets compose songs to pass their message to audience.
If you are a poet who falls in the latter, then this section is for you. Have you noticed most poets who compose poems don’t meet the expected returns in terms of revenue?
After brainstorming to come up with beautiful poems and you go to a studio to do a recording only to realize your work never enjoyed the airplay you had imagined meaning you never made the expected return from your investment.
If you are poet who composes poems, here is an advice for you. You have got to start selling songs and poetry. There is a say that if you can’t beat them, you join them.
Am not in support of abandoning your poetry totally, am simply saying you need to tweak your mode of delivery. Try to commercialize your pattern of singing. If you are good at rapping, try to infuse poetry into rapping and see wonders of what this could do.
Visit a studio and do recording different from the conventional poem. Do something different, maybe a fusion of poetry and rap or a fusion of poetry and RnB and upload it unto YouTube for a start.
Studio sessions would surely require you to pay a certain amount of money. You don’t have enough money at the moment, do not be disturbed, see our post on 35 sure ways to make 200 dollars daily to raise the money needed for studio sessions.
2) Sell Your Poetry Directly
Often times, poets go through the long process of applying for their poems to be published in journals in order to reach a waiting audience and make money in return.
Well, I can confirm to you that while the conventional way of making money from poetry explained above is a way to go, there are other effective ways of making money from your poems.
You can make money from your poetry by binding your poets into a book by having them printed and bound in cardstock using one of the many Print on Demand (PoD ) services such as Amazon’s CreateSpace.
You should seek ways of reaching potential audience directly instead of waiting for poem to be published on journals. Go to pubs and events and showcase your work to the crowd.
If your book is priced fair enough you are sure to make sales and money because people actually love poems but they are not readily available.
3) Sell to magazines
Do you know that some popular magazines and journals actually buy poems from creative poets? You could make good amount of money by selling your arts to these journals willing to pay for your services.
Most people don’t know this fact and I think you should seize the opportunity because there won’t be much competition. Even when there is competition and you are sure to know your onion, you certainly would receive bids from these magazines and journals.
If you wish to sell poems to magazines and journals from the UK, visit the links Poetry Review, Poetry London, and PN Review. There you would find publishers willing to pay for your work if they are top-notch
If you wish to sell magazines or journals in the U.S, then you may need to check the links Poetry and the American Poetry Review as they contain a list of publishers that would pay for your poems.
Most of these magazines and journals buying poems from poets have websites where they publish their content. You must ensure you don’t publish poems you wish to sell online on Facebook, Twitter, or any other website.
4) Attend Poetry Slams
The number four method on our list of how to make money from poetry is by attending slams. You have to be on the lookout for poetry events and open mic slams to attend in your neighborhood.
Take your book to such events and read a few lines. Let the crowd know you have the books for sale and it would amaze you at the patronage you get.
Although, ensure works are top-notch before attending poetry slams. If you work is casual and lack depth, you may get more than what you bargained for.
Personally, I know a few poets who despite being of a high standard would prefer to get their work destroyed than attend slams. So you have to be extremely certain that your works are likable before heading for a poetry slam.
5) Print Poems on Boxes
Making money from poetry involves more than meets the eyes. To make good money from poems, you have got to be creative. You’ve got to be creative.
The 5th method on our list of how to make money from poetry involves printing poems on items like mugs, book covers, boxes, etc. You can sell these items with imprinted poems on platforms like Etsy.
6) Print on T-shirts
Another way of making money from poetry is by printing your poems on Tee-shirts. If you look at the shirts of people when you walk around, you may notice printings on their shirts but I assure you, you would rarely see t-shirts with poems printed on it.
This can help you stand out, especially when you print on shirts with a signature thumbnail attached to it. You can make a good amount of money doing what you love to do. Read more hacks for making money doing what you love.
7) Print Poems and Frame Them
If you visit stores, you would see beautiful wall frames with many imprints on them. You too, can become a maker of frames. You can print your poems on paper and buy frames to set it up.
Display the beautiful frames on websites and social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. You’d find people who love the frames and willing to buy them. Try to make the price fair enough and you are certain to get patronage.
8) Teach Poetry courses
One way of making money is to get people to pay to learn what you know. Teaching is one of the best ways to make money as a poet. I understand that teaching is not for everyone. Not everybody loves to teach but if you are good at teaching, then you have to consider making money from teaching poetry courses.
You can teach poetry courses online or in-person depending on your choice.
9) Entering a Poetry Contest
Entering a poetry contest can be a means of making money out of poetry. There are several poetry contests online to enter. All you need to do to make money out of a poetry contest is to pay a small amount of money as an entry fee.
You would compete with other poets who also pay the same entry fee. A panel which is usually the contest organizers, would select which of the poems by the contestants is the best and the winner would have their works published and go home with the prize money.
10) Podcast
Having a podcast show occupies the 10th position on our list of how to make money from poetry. You could start a podcast show where you read your poem to an audience.
At first, it is normal to have a few audiences, but with consistency and quality poems, you can build a large audience. Also, you could invite other poets to feature on your show and read their own poems.
A podcast about poems is what you see often, but I assure you, there is a waiting audience who want to listen and buy your poems.
11) Sell e-books
e-books are another great way to monetize your poetry. e-books are not expensive to make. You can make ebooks and sell them on social media or an online marketplace like Etsy.
Try to make the price low enough to attract buyers. Also, you may do a giveaway for a start.
12) Sell poetry as Audio Books
Just like ebooks, you can make audiobooks of your poetry and sell them. This is a good way of monetizing your art. To get started, you must write down your poem and read it into a recording.
Please note that you don’t have to do the reading. If you figure you have a friend who has a great voice, you can ask them to help out with the reading.
The voices on audio books are the best marketing tools and you must ensure the reader of your audio book has a beautiful voice.
13) Create a website
You can create a website that focuses entirely on poetry. write beautiful poems and posts on your site. Also, construct your site so that it accepts guest posts.
Monetize your site by applying for Google AdSense policy and you are on your way to making money every month for doing what you love.
Exclusive: How Poets Make Money on Instagram
Instagram is one of the social media platforms where you can make a hell of bucks from your poems. Trust me.
According to one market-research group, 12 of the top 20 best-selling poets last year were Insta-poets, who combined their written work with shareable posts for social media; these poets wrote nearly half of poetry books sold in the United States last year.
Rupi Kaur is a case study in how dramatically Instagram can help your career as a poet. The 25-year-old Canadian poet outsold Homer four years ago: Her first collection, milk & honey, has been translated into 40 languages and has sold 3.5 million copies, stealing the position of best-selling poetry book from The Odyssey.
Rupi actually started her career by posting her work to Tumblr in 2012 and then gradually switched to Instagram, but her social-media strategy wasn’t yet making her nearly enough money to live but she kept pushing. Currently, Kaur now has 3 million Instagram followers.
In a nutshell, here below, I summarize how you can earn money writing poems on Instagram.
- Use Hashtags Strategically. Hashtags help your Instagram posts be seen by people not following you
- Run Giveaways. Giveaways help you gain followers while marketing your book at the same time
- Engage Engage Engage
- Make Opportunities
- Post Often
- Ask Questions
- Sponsor a Post
- Study and Experiment
You can read all here 10 Instagram Tips for Writers.
Conclusion
Making money from your poems is an achievable task and you don’t need to be a known publisher to make money from poetry.
Once you figure you are good in poetry, I encourage you to apply the enlisted hacks to make money.
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