The Value of Poetry

Seeking financial gain as a poet is getting a closer look this year at the blog Poetry Has Value.  The blog's owner Jessica Piazza is submitting her poetry only to paying markets in 2015 and welcomes posts from people with a variety of views on the subject.  It is an interesting read.

One of the posts linked to mentions one key difference between novelists and poets... readers.  There are many more people reading novels than writing them.  Not so with poetry.  Poetry breaks about even in the reading versus writing.  While the numbers given in the post aren't accurate, the sentiment is.

Poets are one of the groups pushed hardest to support our own.  Throw the money off your personal lily-pad so it may ripple and touch another in the small pond.  All artists should support art anyway, but most other types of art has outside consumers.

So... as a poet... the best thing you can do is market and network.  Reach out to other poets and editors, yes, but seek out connections with people who aren't associated with poetry circles or even writing.  Of course, if you're highly introverted, find creating a platform distasteful, or can't seem to expand the platform... I suppose you can still get lucky.  

You just have to have more luck than a novelist.  Novelists must find their audience.  Poets must create one.