“…you should ask yourself what your poetry serves. Being aware of the spaces you take up when you are penning poems gives you an idea of just what you have to offer in other spheres besides literature.” – dimitrireyespoet.com
Just yesterday I ran into an older conversation while finding pictures on facebook for the YouTube video that compliments this blog and it was on the topic of book sales. A long time New Jersey poet, and recent compatriot expressed that he was on his sixth published book he’d only sold a total of 30 copies throughout this extensive writing period. Now this pains me as an artist, especially when I know how much of ourselves go into our work— and I’m not even talking about our experiences and narratives— but there’s this intangible energy left on every page that isn’t accounted for: our trauma, our obsessions, our desires of success (whatever your definition may be), but most importantly our time! With the countless reclusive hours put into our work, it’s the most rewarding when we create a poem or a collection of poems that people can recieve.
So this is where the idea of audience building comes into play. An audience is just as important as the poet who wants to get their work in the hands of others because without people to read your work, there will be no hands to put your work in. Poets are set on publishing being the way to gain an audience and that still is true, but unless you are publishing in The New Yorker, on Buzzfeed, Button Poetry, or any similar outlet that reaches thousands upon thousands of viewers, your poetry won’t be highly visible. That’s not to say that other top tier publishers, second tier publishers, other mags, and indie presses shouldn’t be sought out and published in because it is important to keep these outlets alive and build their readership. It’s also how the poet finds community, other networking opportunities, builds their CV, and there are people reading those magazines, journals, and blogs and that is important to note.
But these publishing outlets aren’t enough and the conversation becomes one of how the poet can push themselves into a larger readership and gain an audience. And though I’m still busy at work building my own audience, here are 6 Ways to Share Your Poetry with an Audience.
1) Performances
As I mentioned, publishing with journals is one thing, but being the recluse writer blocks you off from a sea of people waiting to hear your work. I know some poets who have never published in a journal and aren’t even interested in doing so because they’ve had so much success performing in front of audiences.
There are a few ways you can enter the realm of performing your work but this is the easiest way I’ve seen people develop. FIRST, you start with the open mic circuit. This is an event that holds a performance weekly, biweekly, or monthly. You show up, sign up for the open mic list, and when it’s your turn you go up on stage, you have your 3 minutes (more or less) to rock the mic. I find the open mic to be essential because this your “sampling” as a beginner poet, where the host of the open mic or someone else in the audience may find you intriguing enough to bring back as a feature or use you for other programming.
This is where you enter the SECOND stage of performance, the feature. When you are a feature, you get an introduction by the host, you get allotted more time to read, and this is how audiences start appreciating your work more. Do well, and you’ll start getting more features and more people will be seeing you. Eventually with luck, you’ll move onto the THIRD movement in the performance process which is the paid feature. This runs similarly to the feature except now YOU WILL BE PAID TO DO YOUR ART which is an amazing feeling. Once poets start receiving paid opportunities, what they do next depends on the individual. Some still do the open mic circuits because they love engaging with an audience on any level. Some wait for features, paid or unpaid, to come along, while others begin solely relying on paid opportunities (one usually has an expansive network before they become that kind of poet.)
2) Podcasts & Radio Shows
In the conversation of unique opportunities, being a guest on a radio show or a podcast is another way to share your work with a different audience, particularly one that doesn’t know too much about poetry. Thus far, I’ve had the pleasure of being on three radio shows this year and they were very different experiences. One radio show spoke on the politics of people of color in writing communities, while the other talked about a public arts project I was a part of, while the last one discussed Brick City Collective, the artivist collective that I am involved with.
With that being said, radio shows and podcasts can be on a number of different themes. As the poet, the radio personality would call upon you to chime in on certain topics of discussion. It can be anything from current events, to food, travel, love, loss, family, entertainment, or whatever else you’d be able to bring to the conversation. This is a good time to mention that you should ask yourself what your poetry serves? Being aware of the spaces you take up when you are penning poems gives you an idea of just what you have to offer in other spheres besides literature.
3) Podcasts & Radio Shows
Awesome Poet and Yogi Melissa West and I had 2 poetry interviews on the subjects of— you guessed it!– poetry and yoga. You can watch those by playing these videos below.
Partaking in video interviews or having parts in documentaries are great opportunities to have some of your personality permanently recorded. Often times than not, poets who are being interviewed or have parts in documentaries will be able to see those tapings somewhere online. This will allow the poet to share their work with their own audience as well as the audience who is connected to the individuals in charge of video.
4) Panels & Roundtable Discussions
Panels and roundtable discussions are also themed dialogues. These panels usually happen during festivals, celebrations, or large scale events that take place over the course of a day and are centered around a particular theme. Like with radio and podcasts, it’s a good idea to know what spaces your work fits in. The more well versed you are on different subject matters, the better chances you have to sit in on a panel or roundtable discussion. Great places for poetry panels are Split this Rock, The Dodge Poetry Festival, and AWP.
I have a FULL LENGTH panel posted on my YouTube channel.
Click on the video to watch!
Don’t have time to sit through the whole thing? Just listen to it on your drive home, washing dishes, or while taking a walk.
5) Workshops & Classes
If you are unfamiliar with workshops, please peruse the blog 3 Types of Writer’s Workshops to find out more.
There are many reasons to take a writers workshop and I encourage you to read my blog 6 Reasons you NEED to Take a Writer’s Workshop.
By participating in these, your peers and classmates become your audience as well. But workshops and classes aren’t the only way to share your work with an audience If you are feeling more ambitious and have the (very ambiguous and circumstantial) credentials, you could teach a workshop or a poetry course yourself. This opportunity allows you to flex your artistic talents in a myriad of ways and actually influence a writer’s community.
Another good idea is to also check your areas for different workshop and poetry course opportunities taught by master teachers. Poets.org is a great research to find out about poetry happenings in your area.
6) Social Media
This one may feel obvious. Though most of the mediums mentioned thus far put you in the face of at least a couple of individuals who will lead you to more individuals, nothing can multiply your contacts like social media can.
According to my Youtube analytics, here are my top 10 highest locations of viewership:
- United States
- India
- United Kingdom
- Canada
- Philippines
- Australia
- South Africa
- Pakistan
- Germany
- Malaysia
I wouldn’t be able to be helping different poets with their work around the world if it wasn’t for social media. My YouTube channel and social media handles puts me in front of those who need assistance and feel the work I produce and it’s the most amazing feeling. Every writer deserves to build their own audience and through consistency and a bit of marketing, you can grow yours too.
On the subject of helping, please be sure to check out my Services page, which displays all of my services offered as well as my contact information. Send me an email and we can discuss how to make your literary dreams happen.
Did I shout your country, province, or island? Let me know in the comments below. I’m also curious to what your poetry community is like where you’re from.
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