poetry for money?

[greenthumbnails]

Does anyone here write poetry or short stories?  And, if you do do you submit it for publishing or income?  Where would be a reputable source? 

[mascot]

I've writen poetry and short stories, for which I have been pain (mostly just local circulars/weekly newspapers) and can't tell you what's reputable, but I can tell you what's NOT reputable, and that is Poetry.con.  er, I mean, com.

rather than retype it all, please see this article:
http://www.mascotgraphics.com/poetry_dot_con.htm

best wishes...

[Esther]

What an experience.!!!

[Julles]

I have published magazine articles for money, and, for a while, thought I could earn my living doing that. 

Let me tell you, it is EXTREMELY hard to make any appreciable money at writing.

There ARE people who do it.  But they work very hard, pitch ideas constantly, know how to rework information, and have a huge file full of rejections.

Most major markets (say, a magazine like Cosmopolitan) won't even take queries from someone unless he has had quite a number of articles published in major magazines.  Medium markets (I've been published in RV Times, Cat Fancy, and others) will consider your idea, but you have to follow specific guidelines (study the lastest copy of Writer's Market).  To save work and heartache, you don't write the article unless an editor is interested in the idea.  Once you get the go-ahead, you research the article, write it, find photographs, then submit it.  All this can take a year or more.

The last article I had published took more than two years from pitching the idea to seeing it in print, cost me about $200 in research and materials, and I made a whopping $400.  This was in the '90's; you might make a LITTLE more these days.  But, as you can see, a writer would have to be mighty industrious and work at a breakneck pace to actually make enough money to pay the bills.

That's why so many people write their stories and poetry just for the fun of it, and hope to see them printed in smaller magazines that don't pay more than $50 or so, if anything.

But it's a thrill to see your work in print.  There ARE places out there looking to print stories and poems.  Good luck to you.  Oh, and how's about sharing some of your work with US?   

[reddad35]

My wife sent one of mine into that scam. I of course was accepted. I was for a bit excited. I am glad I never told anyone of this. Turned out they wanted me to buy a book. I never followed up by writing a terrible poem.(at least I thought the first one was good) Would be interesting to find out. I did not buy the book knowing then it was a scam. I actually asked my wife, "why would they ask us to buy a book if they are using my poem."
Live and learn

Couple of mixed drinks and I might post it here. I will have my wife type it though so you can at least read it.

[mascot]

There is actually a site where they have capitalized on making fun of that scam site.  Someone sent a gibberish poem, and it was actually published.  Others have sent horrible renditions poking fun of the web site and claim that those were published as well.  You'd think they would be sure to read everything, but that costs money and all they want to do is make money.

There is also a scam photography site that runs just about the same way...submit, win, pay, get spammed with offers to be a better photographer....

The only reason that poetry site gets away with it is that they do exactly as they say, but you have to pay big bucks to win anything.  I was told flat out that I was selected as a semi-finalist.  Period.  Then when I told them I cannot attend I was told that I was no longer a finalist.  Their conference was $700, so it was apparent to me that my $700 was what made me a finalist, not my poetry.  I mean, does a musical artist need to be present to win a grammy?  An actor, to win an oscar? 

I'll bet if they queried all the big $$winners they'd find that they all paid lots and attended seminars.  It's like the lottery...gotta play to win, and in order to play you gotta pay.

[greenthumbnails]

Hi guys,

  Haven't checked my email etc in a while here.  I had been mourning the loss of my favorite feline that died around Thanksgiving, hence the poetry.  I seem to only be able to write when I am sad or depressed.  When I am happy I paint in oils.  Been sort of a recluse since November.  Anyways, thanks for your posts.  I too was scammed at that site.  I submitted an entry back in 1996 and bought the book with my poem in it somewhere amoung the swished in entries on a single page.  Then I fell for the recent scam where I was on page one for a book that was not titled the same as what they said it would be in.  Tried to call to ask about this and never got a human on the phone or even an answering machine for that matter.  Also fell for the photography contest too....at least I didn't buy anything from there.  I blacklisted their email address from my inbox as I was getting spammed constantly. 

  I have since found a more reliable source for my submissions...I will know if it gets published in an edition that gets published in 3 yrs, not sure when I am notified if it gets selected though. 

[mascot]

I'm kinda like you are, I used to only write after I got jilted or got my heart broken.  I have written a few more that were happier and not about heartbreak and they turned out (I think) pretty good as well.  I used to write poetry, but for the past several years they have all become song lyrics, and some friends of mine are working on one currently so they can perform it soon.

So what site did you find for submissions?  I often wonder about whether it's worth it...I mean, you just don't see that many top sellers that are full of poetry, and I can't think of any current "famous" poets who publish regularly, so I don't know if anyone can actually benefit financially from it.  I think that's why I went to writing my poetry as song lyrics...I felt there was a better chance that way to get some additional income from what I write.  But so far...just a local band showing interest...but at least it's something! 

good luck to you....

[Julles]

That's too bad about all the scams out there.

Another thing you might try is going to a large book store and peruse the magazine stand, looking for ones that print submissions.  If you see the magazine in a store's shelves, rather than in cyber space, there's more chance it's a legit market.  Whether or not you get paid, you may at least see your piece in print.