Writer's Edit

Getting exposure as a poet, and getting paid for your work, can be a more difficult task than finding opportunities for fiction.

When you write in prose, you cook the rice. When you write poetry, you turn rice into rice wine. Cooked rice doesn’t change its shape, but rice wine changes both in quality and shape. Cooked rice makes one full so one can live out one’s life span… Wine, on the other hand, makes one drunk, makes the sad happy, and the happy sad. Its effect is sublimely beyond explanation.” – Wu Qiao

1. Social Media and the Internet

Below but a few of the social media outlets and platforms one should have a foothold in and experiment with if they wish to get their poetry read.

These platforms allow writers the opportunity to publish poems and excerpts of their work to build both a name for themselves and to gauge readers’ interests.

Whether or not you find it frustrating or liberating, learning the ins and outs of social media networking, trending, and connecting is an absolute must in today’s day and age.

It has priceless benefits, including the possibility of commenting on others’ and your own work, building artist relationships, and finding new material to inspire and influence your own.

Tweet your poetry and gain a following

Choosing the right hashtags can help authors find exposure among other authors and readers alike. For example, simple hashtags like #poetry and #poem will work, but being more specific is important as well.

If the poem is about gender equality, #feminism or #genderequality are a good idea. You might also want to sneak in a hashtag relevant to a contemporary story gaining media attention for its controversy or impact, such as #emmawatsonUN, for example.

Post on WordPress, Instagram, Tumblr and YouTube

These platforms allow for a broad range of creative control. You can change the layout and aesthetic of your page with widgets and pre-made designs, to suit the type of author you want to be and work you want to create.

Forming a unique identity helps to stand out and get noticed, which is especially true on blog platforms like Tumblr and WordPress.

Starting a YouTube channel is an extremely popular way of getting your poetry heard – numerous poets have made themselves famous through YouTube, and the comment and like/dislike section is excellent for feedback.

One such spoken word poet is Savannah Brown, who touches on gender equality issues through her passionate slam prose.

Chat on Forums

Besides blogs and social media sources, there are numerous forums dedicated to poetry and words on the web. Some of the more popular websites include Pig Pen Poetry, The Poet Sanctuary, and All Poetry.

Websites with alternative or subculture-focused user bases often contain poetry and word message boards where users can submit their work and receive constructive feedback with editing and commenting capabilities.

One such example is the extremely popular drug harm reduction website Bluelight, which has a forum called ‘Words’.

2. Attend poetry slams and readings

There are numerous competitions and open-mic events held on both local and national/international scales around the country. One of the most popular poetry slams in Australia is the Australian Poetry Slam (APS).

Tryouts are held in urban and regional centres throughout the country, and it’s easy to find your closest audition location and date.

On the first Tuesday of every month in Sydney, there’s a poetry night at the Red Rattler Theatre in Marrickville, called Word in Hand. The event has been run for over a decade and is an opportunity to hear some of Australia’s best (and less well-known) poets perform.

These kinds of events are designed to give both start-up and established poets an opportunity to both listen to and have their work heard.

They are great places to gain both confidence and constructive feedback from like-minded people, and great places to expand one’s network in the poetic community, face-to-face on a personal basis.

3. Self-publish an e-book

Ebooks and digital publishing are two areas that are becoming increasingly important to utilise and understand in our technologically driven world.

Within the ebook world are two common formats: epub and mobi files. These are simply two different types of software you can use to convert your manuscript.

Online Convert can help you change PDF files into the epub format, while mobi files are simply another software format, created by software company Mobipocket, which can be used to do the same thing.

Createspace is a company owned by Amazon which can help you complete your work and make it accessible to potential readers. There are both free and paid services and tools, including KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing).

No matter which route you take, unless your work is picked up by a publisher and they offer to do it for you, you are still ultimately going to be responsible for your own marketing.

Createspace helps, offering free advice for marketing, editing and publishing, as well as the opportunity to pay for professional consultation.

4. Sell your poetry at markets        

Self-publishing can take you down what might be considered a more grass-roots path. One might self-publish and sell their work at a local community fair.

Two popular Sydney markets are the Bondi Markets (every Sunday from 10am–4pm) and the Glebe Markets (every Saturday from 10am–4pm), while garage sales are another outlet for poetry self-publishers.

Collaborate with friends or go solo selling used items and keep a table with your work available for free or for purchase (that’s up to you).

As with all writing, keep your expectations in terms of profit and revenue gain realistic.

Indeed, some people gain stardom and success from self-publishing and do make money; however, one should be prepared to spend the time and effort necessary to push and hustle their work to as many people and places as they can if they hope to succeed.