I Made $30,000 as a Poet in 2020

02Jan 2021 by admin

“Being a poet is a job of utility and creativity— using what makes up their entire being in order to make a living. ” – dimitrireyespoet.com

So with my most recent 4-Year YouTube Birthday I made the announcement that I just got monetized! I’ve also had a successful year with virtual teaching, paid publications, & paid performances. So the question stands— Can You Make Money As a Poet?

The short answer is yes, but the follow up question is how much? It isn’t simply writing a few poems and collecting a check.

Being a poet is a job of utility and creativity— using what makes up their entire being in order to make a living. Many will say the money poets make in poetry is supplemental, and my yearly review of How Much Money I Made as a Poet will illustrate how good of a financial year it was in regards to poetry money making.

Once you’ve looked over my spreadsheet, compare this year’s to 2019 & 2018.

How Much Money I Made as a Poet in 2020

"How do I become a successful poet?"

It’s taken me years to get organized and fall into a good groove. I’ve been “poeting” professionally for 6 years now and it hasn’t been until mid-2020 that I have fallen into a comfortable system of keeping track of everything; ie readings, submissions, opportunities, my own products, classes, and projects. And I know this is just the beginning!

To be a successful poet you have to be the Active Poet and you need to be organized. In this case, excel spreadsheets will be your friend! This is how to read mine:

Date
The date the event/job took place.

Location
The location where the event/job took place.

Type
What the event/job was.

Time
How long it took to complete event/job (prep time is accounted for here, too.)

Transaction
How much did I make & spend? (This includes for honorariums, parking, & other fees.)

Study this spreadsheet and see how you can apply it to your life. My YouTube video explains each opportunity step-by-step and will give you secret industry tips along the way in order to help coach your success.

So is being a poet a career?

By watching my YouTube interviews with writers and learning more about writing professionalism from my other tips and hacks, you’ll realize the majority of money made from a poetry career is supplemental. Yet, I’m convinced that poets can make a career out of their passions! A poet who combines their other skills with their artistic disciplines will appear as a hot prospect for an employer or a top contender for a competitive position on an art project.

I’ve had some luck and know other poets who have made money (sometimes significant amounts) in performances, poetry competitions, poetry prizes, and literary magazines. These opportunities also lead to more people being familiar with their work, therefore giving them access to better paying opportunities. When a poet is really lucky, they have a career in arts administration or education.

Can I sell my poems?

Of course, poets always would like to rely on publishing their poems with magazines and journals that pay their contributors but this isn’t always the case– I have great tips on how to increase your chances of publication.

There are also other ways to sell your work, too. You can make artist books. I’ve also known some of the poets I work with, like Nathan Tluchowski, to have entire Etsy’s dedicated to personalized poetry cards. Other writers like Tatiana Figueroa Ramirez and Porta Rock have had quite the success self publishing and being Active Poets to get their work into the hands of readers.