How Poets Are Monetizing Their Work on Social Media

Only a decade ago, poetry was not meant to bring in money. If you were in a creative writing class 10 or 15 years back, every professor of poetry would have told you the same story, “You do not write poetry to earn money.” Whether art was for art’s sake or it was aimed at teaching and delighting people, it was not supposed to be a replacement of a profession for earning a livelihood.

It was a fact that in the old days, only a few literary giants earned royal commissions and won the favours of the printing press. If you wanted to pursue the craft of poetry, you had to look elsewhere for your financial needs. You had to get a job for funds and write poetry as a hobby.

Everything changes. The second decade of the 21st century witnessed a huge change in sources of income for poets. Poets emerged on Instagram and YouTube and took advantage of digital opportunities by building a dedicated fan base online and making money. Usage of social media is ever-increasing and poetry is continuously flourishing on Instagram. Thousands of poets are using Instagram and YouTube to support their art and earn a substantial amount of money.

If you are a poet, and you are wondering how you can earn using social media platforms for your poetry, then this article is for you. This guide will provide strategies for monetizing poetry on Instagram and YouTube, but these techniques can also be used to support your work on other social media platforms like Twitch and Facebook.

Before we proceed further to examine how social media monetizing works, remember there is another side to the coin too. Social media is addictive, and it can become a bad habit if not used wisely. A recent documentary, "The Social Dilemma" examines the dangers of social media in detail. It also acknowledges the positive effects of social media like the #MeToo Movement. Social media is a platform where you can waste your time and be anti-social, or you can use it to exhibit your craft and make money from it.

Poets are Building up a Fan Base Online

Making money with poetry may sound out of this world to many poets and artists. Unless the poet is born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he has to earn either with his poetry or with a job. As soon as you choose to publish poetry, you will realize that building and maintaining an audience by engaging with them is an important aspect of your life that commercial presses consider before choosing their authors.

Although literary presses look into the aesthetic pleasure and sublime content that poetry provides instead of counting the followers, still many literary presses want their poets to conduct book tours, advertise, and promote their artistic work. Social media offers an opportunity to provide virtually flawless analytics of the engagement your audience is exhibiting with your poetry. These analytics work in your favour while negotiating a publishing contract for your poetry.

Many published and successful poets do not use social media, but they have to interact with their audience in a couple of other ways. They attend writing conferences, conduct book tours, and recite their poetry in reading sessions. All these activities are meant to engage with readers, promote their work, and sell their books.

Social media offers these benefits to poets without physical proximity. Considering the modern turbulent times when physical presence is discouraged all over the world due to COVID-19, many poets are using YouTube Live and Instagram Live to recite their poetry and keep the audience engaged. Many poets have also become influencers on social media, and they consistently post on YouTube shorts and YouTube stories, actively responding to comments and questions through direct messaging. The same is true of Instagram stories. The scope of social media is greater in this sense that fans who live abroad or at far-off places can also attend live sessions of YouTube and Instagram.

Poets are Posting with Consistency

You might have come across the adage that consistency is the key to success. This key works fine with fan building on social media. Keep posting consistently and frequently on social media if you want to create a substantial fan base on social media.

It is recommended to post on YouTube at least once every three days and daily on Instagram. Furthermore, the algorithm of these sites will bring more viewers to your videos if you engage with viewers via likes, comments, and suggestions. Your video will rank higher if you get likes, hearts and viewers watch the video till the end. You can earn money from YouTube Partner Program, your sponsors, and affiliate links simultaneously if you produce quality content as a content creator and stay committed to your channel. Make a consistent schedule for releasing videos and let viewers know about your schedule so that they can make frequent visits to your channel. "Button Poetry" has been posting a video every day and this consistency has won this channel 1.3 million dedicated subscribers. The channel pays the poets for their appearance.

Poets are Commoditizing

Collaborating is fun and an amusing way to write poetry, and it can also make money. Commoditization, like it or not, is directly associated with bringing in money. You can print your verses on coffee mugs, paintings, decoration pieces, photo albums, love gifts, and other merchandise. Atticus is a well-known published poet, but his verses are found on different commodities and that merchandise is also available on his Instagram page since the poet can add a shop feature on the author's page. Putting poetry on commodities is not limited to young poets. Some seasoned poets like Ada Limon are also embellishing her art on coffee mugs.

Poets are Collaborating

One with another one makes eleven. Poets are collaborating with other poets, and both parties are reaping the reward of this collaboration. Arrange a live reading session with other poets and promote your work to a wider audience. Share the recording as a post and as a story as well on all the social media platforms.

Poets are Teaching their Craft

There is an adage that poets are born, not created. Still, you can teach your skill to many young minds that have a natural aptitude for poetry. Conduct a workshop, create a course, and write a guide for aspiring poets to sell it on social media platforms, Amazon, Skillshare, Daisy, and Teachable.

Social media has brought a revolution to the ways we distribute our art. Self-publishing has never been this easy. If you want to monetize your poetry on social media, it will require a lot of energy, patience, consistency, and continuous effort. But you will eventually start earning if you put your efforts in the right direction in the light of the guidelines given above. Keep in mind that money is not an end to writing poetry. It is an expression of emotions surfacing in tranquillity, criticism of life, the catharsis of all your sufferings, a gift from God, and love for aesthetic beauty. Do not raise your expectations much higher and do not stress yourself over it. Some beautiful lines of arduous thinking are a reward in itself. Keep writing poetry and let the world hear your voice. The world will eventually pay heed to your voice, muse over your words, like your verse, and follow you on social media. Your craft will keep getting better and will eventually earn you a name, fame, and money.