Last Updated on September 28, 2022 by Ava
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How to publish your poetry!?! Ava has finally lost her mind!
No, no, I assure you, I’m here and intact.
Sometimes, when I set out to write a new episode of The Candid Cashflow Podcast, and I open up my notebook of ideas, I totally deviate and pull something out of left field.
This is one of those times.
Over this last weekend, I spent quite a bit of time creating a place for my poetry on my website. I hope it doesn’t seem out of place.
What you may not know about me is that my background is in art. It’s what I found out I was good at first. I actually studied Graphic Design in college.
What I found out is that I’m not so great when I’m disconnected from the actual art in order to create it. I am decent with a pencil to paper, but find creating digital art difficult to master. Needless to say, I made a poor Graphic Designer.
I’m a little better at it now, but still just okay.
Then, I started writing poetry. I just started, I didn’t try to find out how to write poetry for beginners or how to self-publish a poetry book. I just started, and I was pleasantly surprised by the genre.
Poetry, as with all art, is difficult to monetize, but for those wondering how poets can make money, there is hope, so stay tuned!
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If you’ve spent any time at all in writing communities, then you’ve probably heard that there’s no money in poetry. There’s a famous quote by Robert Graves that says:
There’s no money in poetry, but there’s no poetry in money, either.
It’s so true.
When I first started writing poetry regularly in the mid to late 90s, I was still fresh on the idea that I could be anything I set my mind to, blah blah blah.
I thought I was going to be famous. It wasn’t something I strived for, and I certainly had no confidence in myself to become a famous poet, I just thought it was possible.
I remember I took my best piece, now among the worst of the worst, and submitted it to a poetry journal thing I think through Poetry.com back in the day. It got published in one of those anthology scam books. They didn’t even send out a free copy of the book.
It was literally a scam. They made their money by publishing your poem and then selling all the poets the book. The price was so outrageous, I never bothered to buy it. So, I guess there is a poem by me in some obscure anthology book out there somewhere.
I guess like with Graphic Design, I thought I was going to turn my art into a business, but I had no idea what I was doing…so has gone my life.
Get a Relevant Mentor
My first piece of advice if you want to earn money writing poems is to get a relevant mentor. I cannot explain to you the benefits of a mentor, but I can certainly explain the directionless wandering you will do without one!
Do as I say, not as I do!
There a few young poets out there doing quite well publishing poetry. The first one that comes to mind is Shane Koyczan. He’s a Canadian poet who found fame when his spoken word piece To This Day went viral.
He turned that momentum into albums, videos, books, and more.
Erin Hanson is one of the most prolific poets I know. Other than that, I know absolutely nothing about her. She writes a lot, shares a lot, and self-publishes poetry books.
Lastly, I bring you Clementine Von Radics. Her Mouthful of Forevers quickly became one of my favorite poems. She is an American poet, who like Shane Koyczan has spun her brand of spoken words into a business. She does events and also sells her books.
So, you see, if you treat your poetry like a business, you can earn money writing poems.
Find someone who does or has done what you want to do, and follow them. Try to duplicate their success. Get a relevant mentor!
Go now, and grab the show notes, my friends! You’ll want all the links and bonuses included there. Grab them at HeyYoAva.com/Episode34.
How To Write Poetry for Beginners
I’m sure there are many poetry tutorials online. I never looked for any. Not because I think I’m such a great poet, but because my methods usually work for me.
My poems usually stem from a thought or phrase that I build upon to develop the feeling further. If I’m feeling a bit blocked, I like to use Magnetic Poetry to help work past it.
Magnetic Poetry was invented by Dave Kapell. When he was suffering from a bit of writer’s block, he printed out some words and cut them apart. Then he got to work arranging them into phrases and poems. He noticed the scraps of paper wanted to fly around, so he added a sheet of magnet before cutting them apart and MagPo was born!
I’ve downloaded all of the word lists for all of the Magnetic Poetry products available from Dave. There are
kinds of different themed kits of words like:
- Apocalypse
- Bacon Poet
- Pirate
- Geek
- and so many more!
There are more than 110 PDFs in the zip file of all the themes! Grab the show notes and get the link out of the Bonus section at HeyYoAva.com/Episode34.
Other than just beginning with a word or phrase, the best way to get good at poetry is to practice. As I said earlier, I started in the 90s, and when I go back and read my work from then, it makes me nauseous.
Of course, I thought they were good then.
I assure you, they were not. No, you can’t read them. But, you can read some of my newer stuff, and if you get my book, some of my older stuff is in there. I just added some of my poetry to my website, so you can check it out at HeyYoAva.com/poetry/. This will be an ongoing project.
Simply decide what you want your approach to your poetry to be, and go with it.
5 Ways to Earn Money Writing Poems
I recently researched and revisited this topic because I was genuinely interested in knowing how I might make money writing poems.
I care nothing for fame, and I’m not looking to create a fortune. I simply want to share my words.
If I can get paid a little in the process, I’m always about that.
Believe it or not, you can make money writing poems in this day and age. The Internet is a big help in spreading the word around and marketing your content.
1. Greeting Cards
First, and maybe most obvious would be the greeting card industry. There is a multitude of greeting card companies that accept submissions including recognized names such as Hallmark and American Greetings.
If you’re looking for a get rich quick scheme, or to get rich at all, this probably isn’t the avenue you want to travel. However, I did find an article while researching this episode saying that greeting card writers make up to $50,000 per year. That’s certainly nothing to sneeze at.
Get links to the many resources containing links for submitting your greeting card copy in the show notes. There will be a huge Bonus section this week, so don’t miss out. HeyYoAva.com/Episode34.
2. Songwriting
Songs are merely poetry set to music. If you have a knack for rhythm and rhyme, you’d probably make a very fine songwriter even if you’re not musically inclined.
A staggering number of famous crooners don’t write their own music from Elvis Presley to Beyonce.
Ghostwriters can write a lot more things than books. Expand your horizons! Links. Show notes.
3. Printables
Have you ever noticed how quotable poetry can be? You can pull a few words or phrases and make an amazing statement. You do know where you should put all of your amazing statements, right? On t-shirts of course! We talked about that a little bit in Episode 16 of The Candid Cashflow Podcast, and I guarantee you we’ll be revisiting it soon.
The myriad of printables doesn’t stop with t-shirts. You can print your words on any number of great products mentioned in that episode. One of my favorites outside of Amazon Merch is RedBubble.
Create products with your words and sell them on any number of platforms including Etsy. It’s just a matter of what you create and how you want to share it.
4. Poet for Hire
If you can create poetry on the fly and you can channel the feelings of others enough to write poems for them, that’s an option as well. You can find people who might want to hire you via Fiverr. I’ve seen a lot stranger things on there!
I recently came across an article on FastCompany talking about this writing trio who got a few vintage typewriters, some blank index cards and commenced to make $225 per hour writing Haikus at an event.
They are what I would call unicorns. To be fair, I stole this term from Kelli Roberts of Kelli Publish. Anyway, to put it in my own words, they are exceptions to the rule. However, it’s that kind of out-of-the-box thinking that creates unicorns!
5. How To Publish Your Poetry? Self-Publish!
I couldn’t just throw this in with #3 because self-publishing is my gig. In fact, I just released my first book of poetry this year called Pens of Blood.
Of course, self-publishing doesn’t have to entail books. I’m also in the process of publishing some of my work on my website.
Back in the day, I actually self-published a volume of my poetry for my family as gifts on my home printer.
Self-publishing can entail publishing your work on any number of platforms.
So, Is There Any Money in Poetry?
Absolutely.
Will you get rich?
Probably not, but hey, don’t let me limit your horizons. You never know what you can do until you try.
I’ve basically turned my poetry into one of multiple income streams. If you’re a regular listener of The Candid Cashflow Podcast, then you know the key to online success is creating MULTIPLE income streams.
I’m currently building it up, so I’ve added it to my website, and I’ve created images for Instagram as well. I’ll be looking to see where else I can share my words. I recently added several apps to my smartphone that are poetry related. Where are you sharing yours? Leave me a comment and tell me all about it!
That’s a Wrap
That’s it for this episode of The Candid Cashflow Podcast. I know this was a step away from the norm, and I have a lot more to share on this topic if you’re interested. Let me know your thoughts at HeyYoAva.com/soundoff!
It means so much to me to pull up my stats each week and see that you stopped by to listen. The only thing better would be to hear from you, so don’t hesitate to give your feedback. You can be featured in a future episode!
If you enjoyed this episode, I hope you will consider subscribing in your favorite app at HeyYoAva.com/candidcashflow.
If this didn’t really trip your trigger, check out our archives at HeyYoAva.com/candidarchives to see the other great money-making opportunities we’ve covered on the show.
Don’t forget to grab your copy of the show notes so you get all the links and bonuses! That’s HeyYoAva.com/Episode34. Also, can get the first 10 episodes in one PDF at HeyYoAva.com/First10 or the next 10 at HeyYoAva.com/Next10. Replace the Episode number in any show notes URL to view the show notes for that episode!
Remember, we release a new episode each when? That’s right! Wednesday!
Until next time…turning your passion into cashflow!
Pls I really need help on how to publish my poem in any way I can can pls lead me
So um, all of that ^^^^ wasn’t helpful to you?