If you have a creative bent that leads you to write poems, you may wonder if you can make money from writing verse. Unless you get a job at a greeting card company, you may have to get creative again to sell your poems online. The internet is rich with opportunities to sell poems.
Thanks to the internet, you can make money online doing a lot of things – including sell poems online. Many internet outlets welcome submissions of poems and even pay you if they publish your work. In this article, we will show you how to make money from your poems, where to sell your verse, and how much poems sell for. Keep reading to learn more.
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How Can You Make Money From Your Poems?
Many creative people love to express themselves by writing poetry. While this artistic endeavor remains a hobby for most, there are a variety of ways that turn writing poetry into a lucrative side hustle. To do so, you can sell them online, print your poems on merchandise and sell the merchandise, publish a book or poetry, or participate in poetry contests.
Do Greeting Card Companies Hire Poets?
Yes, some greeting card companies hire poets. Some companies, like Hallmark, do not accept unsolicited submissions, but others welcome them. If you enjoy writing poetry, you may enjoy working with a greeting card company where greeting card buyers and recipients see and appreciate your poems.
Just make sure to familiarize yourself with the submission guidelines and the published work of these companies if you want to be a successor contributor.
1. Blue Mountain Arts
Blue Mountain Arts encourages communication through greeting cards and accepts both long and short submissions of poems from 50 to 300 words. They specifically seek “contemporary prose or poetry written from personal experience that reflects the thoughts and feelings people today want to communicate to one another, but don’t always know how to put into words.” Rhymed poems, religious verses, and hackneyed sentiments get rejected.
2. Oatmeal Studios
Oatmeal Studios offers “unique cards that feature bright, colorful artwork and on-the-mark humor.” They are looking specifically for poems with humor. If you enjoy writing funny poems, this may be a great fit for you. However, they refrain from card ideas based on puns, gross ideas, or meanness and reject submissions that are too long or too narrowly focused.
3. Warner Christian Resources
A publisher and distributor of “non-denominational Christian products worldwide, including ministry resources, church supplies, kids’ teaching resource books, and greeting cards,” Warner seeks upbeat, Bible-based material. Their most accepted poems average 4 lines in length. Their popular themes include birthday, anniversary, baby congratulations, sympathy, get well, kid’s birthday, thinking of you, friendship, praying for you, encouragement, and Christmas.
How Do You Sell Poems Online And Get Paid?
Many literary journals and magazines allow you to sell your poems online. Here are some of the top online publications.
1. The Three Penny Review – Pay is up to $200 per poem. You can only submit one poem submission at a time, and they require entries to have less than 100 lines.
2. The Boulevard – Boulevard Magazine is a popular literary magazine that accepts unsolicited poetry submissions. According to their guidelines, you can submit previously unpublished works, with each poem including a maximum of 200 lines. They pay a minimum of $25 and a max of $250 for accepted poems.
3. Leading Edge – Leading Edge is specifically looking for Sci-Fi or Fanasty poetry. The pay is between $5 to $20 per poem.
4. The Capilano Review – The Capilano Review is a literary magazine. You can submit poems up to five pages and earn $50-$150 if accepted.
5. AGNI – AGNI is another magazine that accepts poetry. Their standard rate for poetry writing is $20 per page. You can submit a maximum of five poems per submission.
6. VQR – VQR accepts poetry submissions of any type and length. VQR offers a high payout of $200 for up to four poems. Or if you submit 5+ poems and they are all accepted, you could earn up to $1,000.
7. The Sun Magazine – The Sun Magazine pays $100-$250 per published poem. They request that your poem be a surprise to them.
8. Chicken Soup For The Soul – To get a poem published with Chicken Soup For The Soul, your poem needs to tell a story. They typically pay $200 per accepted submission.
9. Arc Poetry Magazine – Arc Poetry Magazine accepts submissions from poets at all stages of their writing careers. So if you are a new writer, you can still have a chance for published poetry. They pay $50 per page.
10. Poetry Foundation – The Poetry Foundation is a magazine that pays a minimum of $300 for submissions.
11. Crazy Horse – Crazy Horse requests that you send a set of 3-5 poem submissions at a time. They pay $50-$250.
12. Ploughshares – They accept submissions from June 1 to January 15. The pay is $25-$250.
When submitting your poems to any publication, be sure to read the submission guidelines and follow the requirements. Some companies prefer online submissions, while some prefer mail submissions. Following the guidelines will increase your chances of getting accepted.
How Can You Use Social Media To Sell Poems?
You can use social media to sell your poetry by building an engaged audience. In turn, this can help you to sell your poetry, promote events you are attending, or promote anything you are selling. If you print your poems on shirts, mugs, or posters, you can use social media to promote your art and artistry.
The biggest tip for building a social media audience is to create content and post consistently. Social media is also a great place to collaborate with other writers and poets. Collaborating with others on social media is a great way to leverage someone else’s audience.
Rupi Kaur is a prime example of a poet who grew her community on social media. Her poetry career wasn’t always thriving, but after cultivating a social media fan base, her career has taken off.
Where Can You Post Your Poems And Earn Money?
If you want to post your poems online and earn money, here are some of the best online platforms to get started.
Self Publishing
You could self-publish your poetry or short stories by creating your own website or poetry blog. Though it takes time to make money as a blogger, it can be worthwhile. Additionally, it can be helpful to have all of your work in one place and serve as a portfolio.
Social media can help you promote your work by driving visitors there.
Etsy
If you want to print your poems on merchandise like mugs, t-shirts, or even framed artwork, consider opening an Etsy shop. This is a great way to share your creative writing with a broader audience.
As with self-published poems, items you sell on Etsy can be shown on social media to build demand and get buyers to your shop.
Poetry Contests
Poetry contests are another way that you can make money selling poems. Here are a few popular poetry contests to check out:
- The Ruminate Broadside Poetry Prize – Every year, Ruminate awards $500 and publishes the winner’s poem. You can submit two poems per entry, each being 10 to 30 lines.
- Neil Postman Award for Metaphor – This contest by Rattle honors Neil Postman. There are no specific guidelines and no entry fee. The winning poem is awarded $2,000.
Amazon
You can self-publish your poetry or book of poetry on Amazon. Amazon has various options, including a print-on-demand option that allows you to self-publish your work. If you have dreamed of being a published poet, this is a low-risk option.
Fiverr
If you want to make some extra money to supplement your full-time work, you could also sell your poetry and creative writing on Fiverr. You could offer to write haikus, non-fiction, or any other writing services you may offer. There are other apps similar to Fiverr as well if you want to try your hand at different platforms.
How Much Does A Poem Sell For?
Poems can sell for anywhere from $25 and up. It depends on the publication, contest, or where you sell your poetry. While you won’t get rich selling a $25 poem here and there, you can turn your writing into a profitable side hustle if you regularly submit pieces that are accepted.
Studying what the suggested outlets require should help you improve your success rate and turn your creativity into a regular income.
