Get Paid to Write Poetry: 35 Sites that Pay for Poems in 2024

Here are a few poetry markets to get you started:

1. The Sun Magazine: Pays $100 to $200
2. Poetry Foundation: Pays $150
3. Goblin Fruit: Pays $10
4. Leading Edge: Pays $10
5. Clubhouse Jr Magazine: Pays $50 to $100
6. Crazy Horse: Pays $20 to $200
7. Agni: They pay between $20 to $150
8. Ruminate Magazine: Pays $15
9. US Kids Mag: Pays $25 (minimum)
10. VQR Online: Pays $200
11. Alaska Quarterly Review: Pays $10 to $50
12. Three Penny Review: $100
13. Boulevard Magazine: Pays $25 to $250
14. EPOCH: Pays $50 (minimum)
15. Dreams and Nightmares: Pays $10
16. Grain Literary Magazine: Pays $40 to $70
17. Antigonish Review: Pays $30
18. The Pedestal Magazine: Pays $40
19. Fun For Kidz Magazines: Pays $10 (minimum)
20. Arc Poetry Magazine: Pays $15
21. The Capilano Review: Pays $50 to $150
22. Chicken Soup for the Soul: Pays $200
23. New Myths: Pays ¢ 1.5 with a minimum $30
24. Orion Magazine: Pays $100
25. Clean Sheets: Pays .03 (per word)
26. Ploughshares: Pays $25 to $250
27. Rattle: Pays $50 for online submissions – $100 for print submissions

2. Submit to Poem Contests to Win Cash

Another option is entering poem contests in hopes of winning some cash.

Here are a few current contests:

1. Boston Review Fourteenth Annual Poetry Contest: Prize = $1,500
2. Bellevue Literary Review’s Marica and Jan Vilcek Prize in Poetry: Prize = $1,000
3. Poetry.com Contest: Prize = annual $5,000; monthly $250; daily $25
4. Fanstory: Prize = varies based on contest (they have a few contests for different genres.)

3. Write Poem for Greeting Cards Companies

Let’s not forget the poems on greeting cards. Most greeting card companies pay you for your submissions. It could be a poem, a quote, a very short story, basically anything that is a good fit to put on a greeting card. Of course it has to be your own work.

Here are a few:

1. Blue Mountain Arts: Pays $300
2. American Greetings: Pay varries

4. Sell Your Poems on Fiverr

You can even use gig sites like Fiverr to offer custom poems for clients. Fiverr is a small tasks sites where you can sell any kind of service for $5. But you can add extras and make up to $160 on each gig.

Register with Fiverr for free and create a gig offering custom poems to clients.

5. Put Your Poems on T shirts

I have talked about making money by designing T-shirts and other customizable items before.

You can actually use your poems to create unique and customized products on sites like CafePress and Zazzle.

6. Use Etsy to Sell Poems

Yes Etsy, the big marketplace for handmade products!

Not only you can sell prints of your poems, but you can also put your poems on handmade stuff like a wooden sign.

If you are not handy and don’t want to deal with creating stuff to put your poems on, contact a few Etsy sellers (especially woodworkers) and offer to work with them. You supply the poems, he or she supplies the product on which your poems get printed. It could be the perfect home business for both of you.

Your Turn

Are you a poet? Have you ever submitted your poems for money? Have you ever used any of the sites mentioned here?

I would love to hear from you and about your experience in trying to make money from your poems.