Are you a poetry lover with your own notebook full of prose? Do you want to get paid for writing poetry? You are not alone; A recent study Poetry has seen it reach new heights of popularity, with 28 million adults a year indulging in the ancient art form.
That’s a lot of haikus!
Not surprisingly, there is a healthy market for freelance poets. There are more opportunities than ever to submit poetry for money.
So if you enjoy writing poetry, you’ll be interested in these opportunities to channel your inner Emily Dickinson for extra cash. Depending on your income goals and interests, there are a few different strategies you can try to make money with your prose.
8 Ways to Get Paid to Write Poetry
1. Online Poetry Submission
There are several online and print publications, literary journals, and literary magazines that pay well for poetry, such as:
- Poetry Foundation – Pays $10 per line with a minimum payment of $300.
- Kenyon Review – Pays for poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and multimedia pieces.
- the fire – Pays $40-$300 per poem.
- Fiddlehead – This Canadian magazine pays $60 CAD per published page.
- 50 haikus – You can submit up to five original poems a month and earn between $1.50-$10 per poem.
- US Kids Magazine – accept poems, jokes, personal essays, fiction, crafts and more for publication in their magazines Humpty Dumpty and Jack and Jill. Publication rates range from $25-$40.
- Ork Poetry Magazine– This publication pays $50 per page.
- Chicken Soup for the Soul – This popular publication pays $250 for an accepted poem or short story for print.
- Black Warrior Review (BWR) – Pays a one-year subscription and one-time fee for published works such as poetry, prose, non-fiction and graphic prose.
- The Iowa Review – Accepts poetry, fiction and non-fiction, published poetry rates $1 per line (minimum $100) and prose $0.08 per word (minimum $100).
- Iron Horse Review – Accepts essays, short stories and poems. Payments are $50 for a published poem and $100 per story or essay.
- Boulevard Magazine – Accepts submissions of up to 8,000 words of prose (no science fiction, erotica, westerns, horror, romance, or children’s stories) and up to 200 lines of poetry. Publication rates range from $50-$300.
- Palette poem – Pays $50-$150 for featured published poems and $500 for winning challenge poems.
- Poetry magazine – Published poems will receive $10 per line with a minimum payment of $300.
Submission guidelines
In most cases, your submissions cannot be reprints or anything previously published. Some publications, however, will allow submissions from your own blog or social media channels but not other third-party publications.
Some websites accept submissions year-round, while others are only open periodically throughout the year. You should also keep an eye out for submission fees that some publications charge for administrative duties and reading time. Always thoroughly research the publication you are submitting to and understand their submission guidelines.
2. Book of poetry
If you already have a large body of work, creating an anthology of your best poems can be a great option for you. Sort through your poem and see if you can find a collection of pieces that work well together; A good poetry book focuses on a specific theme or idea.
You can then submit your collection to a publisher or self-publish.
Traditional book publishers may take a more challenging route, but there are still some small presses looking to publish poetry books, e.g. Milkweed And The Four Way Book.
Thanks to Amazon, self-publishing a book isn’t nearly as difficult as it was 20 years ago. You can easily upload and self-publish your poetry book by creating one Kindle Direct Publishing Account.
Although self-publishing gives you full creative license, it also means you have to handle the marketing for the book yourself, which can be quite a learning curve if you’ve never done it before.
Related Content: How to Make Money Selling eBooks Online
3. Poetry competition
There are many publications that organize annual or seasonal poetry contests, e.g Book of Saturnalia, The nation of poetry, Plowed at Emerson College, RattleAnd Breakwater.
Granted, winning a poetry contest is no easy feat, but winners can earn anywhere from $500 to $2,000 or more for their efforts.
Other publications may offer poets free magazine subscriptions, tickets to writing conferences, and other non-cash prizes. For a huge list of places to submit your poem, see This is the list.
4. Greeting cards
This idea of submitting poems in exchange for money is out of the box, but when you think of some of the meaningful greeting cards you’ve received, they’re pretty poetic, right?
Choice of greeting card companies RSVP And Nobelworks Open to outside submissions.
Some card companies publish more humorous prose, while others stick to serious sentiments. Research the company and their greeting cards before submitting your own to make sure their style matches yours!
5. Fiverr
Fiverr is a huge online marketplace for a wide variety of freelancers, and that includes freelance poets.
Some freelancers offer lyric writing, while others provide custom poetry for any occasion. The downside of Fiverr is that although you can price your services however you like, there is a lot of competition.
But if you find a unique angle for your poetry-writing services, you can do quite well.
6. Etsy
If you’re crafty as well as a poet, you can print your poem on fancy paper and frame it to sell on Etsy.
You can also express your prose on other items such as greeting cards, t-shirts, platters, cricket crafts or coffee mugs. The possibilities are endless! (If you’re new to the platform, these five tips can help you get started on Etsy.)
Of course, Etsy isn’t the only place to sell your poetry online. You can use print-on-demand sites such as Teaspring And Spreadsheet. With these platforms, you can start selling your poetry stuff for free. Once you create an account, you design your products, set your prices, and promote your items online When an item is sold, the platform takes a share of the profit, including shipping the item to your customer, and then you keep whatever is left over.
7. Your own poetry blog
You can earn money with your poetry by publishing it on a blog and collecting income through advertising and affiliate links.
This is definitely not the fastest way to make money with your poetry, as it may take months to build traffic to your site where you are earning enough.
And to do that you need to be willing to learn some online marketing techniques.
But once you have steady traffic coming in, you can enjoy passive income for months or even years.
Related Content: How to Start a Blog and Make Money From It
8. Become an Instagram poetry influencer
Have you ever noticed how popular quotes are on Instagram? Poetry is another popular niche on the platform, and a favorite of poets Kaur of Rs used it to share their writing with the world. Not only does she use Instagram to share her poetry and sell her self-published books and merchandise, but she also uses it to promote her Netflix show and sell tickets for her world tour. You may not have 4.5 million followers on Instagram, but you can still use the platform to make money with your poetry. Whether it’s selling your own products, using affiliate links, or establishing relationships with brands, there are many ways to make money using Instagram. To start using Instagram to make money online, check out this in-depth tutorial.
Conclusion
With a little research and a solid game plan, you can turn your passion for prose into a healthy source of income. Just remember that submitting poetry for money is a freelance business, and like any business, it can take a lot of time, practice, and patience to succeed.
But if you’re a poet at heart, this is a trip you’ll really enjoy!
Originally published on February 18, 2020. Content updated on February 2023.
No Comments
Leave a comment Cancel