25 Ways to Get Paid to Write Poetry

Want to get paid to write poetry? You might be surprised at the myriad of literary publicists eager to pay unknown writers for their content.

If you’ve notebooks full of entertaining poems or have always wanted to write poetry. In that case, you might consider this side hustle opportunity as a way to make extra money.

25 Real Ways to Get Paid For Your Poetry

As you peruse the website links listed below, you should know a few things about submitting poetry for pay and publication. First, many literary publications only accept poems that haven’t been previously published. If they only accept non-published work, it will say that on their submission guidelines page.

Second, reviewing and accepting or rejecting poetry submissions can take a while. Waiting for weeks or even months to hear back regarding your poetry submissions is common. I’ll share more information about how to submit poems to increase your chances of getting published and paid.

1. The Three Penney Review

The Three Penney Review is a prominent literary magazine. They accept poetry submissions that are unpublished and are 100 lines or less. While other items should be submitted double-spaced, you can submit poetry entries to the Three Penney Review either double-spaced or single-spaced.

The payout for poems chosen for publication in the Three Penney Review is high – $200.

2. The Boulevard

Another well-known literary magazine, Boulevard, also accepts unsolicited poetry submissions. You can submit previously unpublished works, up to five poems at one submission, each including a maximum of 200 lines.

Boulevard pays a minimum of $25 and a maximum of $250 for each accepted poetry submission. This is an excellent option to get paid to write poetry if you want to submit multiple poems at once.

3. Arc Poetry Magazine

Arc Poetry Magazine has published “the best in contemporary poetry” for over thirty years. They accept unsolicited submissions of previously unpublished poems on any subject, in any form. Submissions can include a maximum of three poems.

They will pay around $50 per page for any poems they publish in their magazine.

4. Chicken Soup for the Soul

The famous Chicken Soup for the Soul book publishers are seeking submissions for poems for upcoming books. The poems they are looking for should contain an exciting, funny, or heartwarming story written in the form of a poem.

Submitted poems should be written in the first person and tell about an incident that happened to you or someone you know.

They pay $200 for all accepted poems.

5. Ploughshares

The staff at Emerson College publishes Ploughshares, a print and digital literary magazine. They accept poetry submissions of one to five pages and pay a minimum of $45 for each accepted submission.

Related article: 12 Ways To Sell Short Stories For Money

6. The Southern Review

The Southern Review accepts unpublished poems for review to be accepted in their national literary magazine. They require that you limit submissions to five poems or fifteen pages as a maximum.

Their payment for works published in their magazine is $25 per page with a maximum payout of $200.

7. The Capilano Review

The Capilano Review also accepts only unsolicited poetry works for their leading literary magazine. You can submit poems of up to five pages for publication consideration.

Accepted contributors are paid $50 per published page with a maximum payout of $150. With compensation like this, The Capilano Review can be a great way to get paid to write poetry.

8. AGNI

AGNI is a decades-long-running literature magazine that also boasts an online magazine version. Their standard pay is $20 per page for poetry, however they occasionally pay more based on grants and donations that are sometimes applied.

The company accepts a maximum of five poems per submission.

9. U.S. Kids Magazines

The U.S. Kids Magazines company publishes two famous kids’ magazines: Humpty Dumpty and Jack and Jill. The publisher currently accepts poetry writings for Humpty Dumpty magazine, which focuses on kids aged two to six.

Poetry submissions should be 4-12 lines; accepted submissions pay $25 and up.

10. Orion Magazine

The Orion Magazine, self-dubbed “America’s finest environmental magazine”, accepts poetry submissions that “offer fresh insight into the intersection of nature, culture, and place.” Their guidelines allow writers to submit one to three poems at a time, each with a maximum of forty lines.

They pay $100 for accepted poetry submissions.

11. New Myths

New Myths is a quarterly published “ezine” edited by a community of writers, poets, and artists, according to their website. They require that all submitted poems have a science fiction or fantasy element to be considered. Writers can submit up to five poems of any length at a time.

They pay 1.5 cents per word, with a minimum payout of $30 for published poetry submissions.

12. SubTropics

SubTropics is a literary journal published by the University of Florida. They accept submissions of up to four poems at a time via their online submission service. They will not consider previously published works.

The payout is $100 for each poem accepted for publication.

13. The Sun Magazine

The Sun Magazine is an ad-free magazine publisher that accepts submissions for essays, fiction, interviews, and yes, poetry. There’s no minimum word count for poetry submissions; they pay between $100 and $200 for published poetry works.

14. Alaska Quarterly Review

The Alaska Quarterly Review, a popular literary magazine, accepts poems up to twenty pages long in traditional and experimental styles.

They pay $10 to $50 for published submissions and accept simultaneous submissions as long as they are identified in your cover letter.

15. Blue Mountain Arts

Blue Mountain Arts is “one of the premier independent card and book publishers in the world” in Colorado. They’ve been holding bi-annual poetry contests for over thirty years. They accept any type of poem for their contests and assess entries based on originality and uniqueness.

They accept rhyming poems but also mention that non-rhyming poems read better, so you might have a higher chance of your poems being accepted if you write them. There’s no limit to the number of entries you can submit, and payment is high: $350 for first place, $200 for second place, and $100 for third place winners.

16. Black Warrior Review

The Black Warrior Review is a publication of the MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Alabama. They pay a one-year subscription and a “nominal lump-sum fee” for all works published in their magazine.

17. Rattle

Rattle’s mission, according to their website, is to “promote the practice of poetry.” They have both an online version and a print version of their publication. Rattle likes to see poetry submissions that are “unique, insightful, musical, and that stand out.”

They pay $50 for poems published in their online publication and $100 for poems that appear in the printed version.

18. Grain Magazine

Grain Magazine is a literary journal that publishes four times per year. The guidelines suggest you read an issue or two of their magazine before submitting your poetry to understand better what types of poetry they’re looking for. They accept submissions of poems of up to a maximum of six pages.

Pay is $50 per page with a maximum payout of $250 per published submission.

19. The Iowa Review

The Iowa Review is run by the staff of the writing and literature programs at the University of Iowa. They accept previously unpublished poetry works for consideration for publication in their thrice yearly published journal.

Although they are open to considering all types of poetry, they do ask that you consider reading an issue of the Iowa Review before submitting a piece for possible publication so that you can understand the type of content they prefer.

Pay for accepted poetry submissions is $1.50 per line with a minimum payout of $40.

20. FunforKidz

FunforKidz publishers accept poetry submissions for their Hopscotch magazine, which focuses on girls aged 6-13.

The company wants submissions on subjects such as:

Pets
Nature
Hobbies
Science
Games
Sports
Careers
Simple cooking

Since the target audience is younger girls, they do not accept poems with themes related to dating, romance, or fashion. The company pays a minimum of $10 per poem.

21. VQR

VQR is a self-described “national journal of literature” that accepts poetry submissions of all types and lengths. Like most companies, it only accepts work that has not been previously published.

The payout is high; $200 per poem for up to 4 poems, or, if you submit 5 or more poems that are all selected, they’ll pay $1,000 if your poems are chosen for their print magazine.

22. Iron Horse Review

The Iron Horse review is a literary journal founded in 1999 by students and faculty at Texas Tech University. They publish six issues per year and accept poetry submissions for publication consideration at rolling intervals, which you can find on the Iron Horse Review submit page on their website.

Like many other poetry publishers, Iron Horse has a personal submission page on Submittable where you can use to enter your poems for consideration. They ask that you submit three to five poems at a time. Pay for published poems is $50 per poem.

23. Poetry Foundation

The Poetry Foundation is the publisher of the long-standing Poetry Magazine. The company pays for previously unpublished works accepted for publication in their magazine. Submission is limited to four poems per submission.

They pay out at a rate of $10 per line for published poetry works, with a minimum payout of $300. This is one of the highest-paying options to get paid to write poetry.

24. The Nashville Review

The Nashville Review literary magazine accepts all types of poetry submissions for consideration in their magazine, including “tight formalism alongside sprawling, experimental work.” In other words, they love traditional poetry as well as wild and unique poetry.

Pay is $25 per published poem.

25. Slice Magazine

Slice Magazine is a Brooklyn, NY-based non-profit print magazine founded in 2007. The team at Slice accepts poetry submissions through Submittable and suggests you read an issue of the magazine before submitting your poems in order to get a sense of the type of content they like to publish.

Like many other literary magazines, Slice accepts only previously non-published works for consideration. Payment for published poetry submissions is $75.

What to Look for Before Submitting Your Poetry

When searching for organizations to submit your poetry to, you must know their guidelines before sending in your work.

By knowing the guidelines for each company you submit to, you can determine which publications are the best choices for submitting samples of your work.

Simultaneous Submissions

Many companies seeking out poetry submissions allow you to submit your work to other publications as well as their own; however, most require that you notify them in your cover letter that your work has been submitted to other publications for consideration.

Not all companies allow simultaneous submissions, however, and those that discourage them generally state this on their websites.

Previously Published Works

Most companies that allow poetry writers to submit poems for publication require that the work has not been published online or in print in any other venue, including a personal blog.

Make sure your poetry has not been previously published before you send it for consideration to a publishing company.

Poetry Submission Avenues

There are three general avenues that publication companies use for poetry submissions from writers. The first is by email form, which is usually included on the publication’s website.

The second is via snail mail: many publishing companies still use snail mail to receive proposed literary works, such as poetry.

The third submission avenue is through an online third party, such as Submittable, which acts as a go-between for individuals and companies. Be sure to read thoroughly how each site requires you to submit your poetry for consideration.

Poetry Submission Fees

Some literary companies—not all—charge a submission fee for poets or other writers who wish to have their work considered for publication.

It’s important to understand if a fee is charged for submitting poetry pieces, and be prepared to pay the fee even if your poem doesn’t get accepted for publication with the literary company.

Other Guidelines

Literary companies usually have other guidelines for poetry submissions that should be carefully heeded to increase your chances of having your poetry accepted for publication.

Other guidelines include poem genre, number of lines in the poem, and the dates in which queries are accepted. In other words, not all literary companies accept submissions at all times during the year.

Some have windows during the year when poetry submissions are accepted, and others accept submissions all year round. Knowing the details of each literary publication’s submission guidelines will increase your chances of being accepted for publication.

Where To Get Paid To Write Poetry – Summary

If you have a knack for writing poetry well, submitting your poetry to organizations like the ones listed above can be a great way to get paid to write poetry.

Turn your passion for poetry into profit by sharing your soul through beautiful verses. Submit to journals, win contests, self-publish heartfelt collections, and craft custom poems for special moments. Build your brand, inspire others, and let creativity pay.

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