Do you get paid if one of your poems get published?

Question

If you do get paid, how much?

Answer 1

I have been writing and publishing poetry for over 15 years, and in that time, I have received a total of exactly $25.00 from various literary magazines. Small sums of money like this are called "honoraria" (that's the plural -- singular is "honorarium") and it means the magazine is throwing a couple of bucks your way to show their appreciation and goodwill.

If you read a copy of "Poet's Market," an excellent reference book for poets, you'll see that most of the listings say "payment in copies." That means that when your poem appears in a certain magazine, that magazine will send you one or two free copies of the issue in which your poem appears. These are called "contributor copies" and they're the standard "payment" in the poetry world. You will see some listings that mention honoraria or an actual monetary payment, but these are few and far between.

Poets generally do _not_ get paid for their work, unless they win a contest (of which there are many, with prize money ranging from $50 up through tens of thousands of dollars).  You generally have to pay a "reading fee" or "entry fee" to enter these contests. Entry fees range from about $7-$25. There are many legitimate contests that charge entry fees, and there are also a few scams out there that charge fees. You have to be very careful to make sure you know which is which.

There really is no money in poetry. Poetry is not big business. Only a few thousand people in this country even bother to read poetry, and that's who's buying poetry. Truly not a lot of people.

Here's the thing: Anybody interested in publishing poetry will only succeed if they truly LOVE poetry. That's why people work on poems for years and years, then send them to tiny little magazines that only a couple hundred people read. Getting paid is beside the point. Poets do it for the love of language and the love of the genre of poetry.

Answer 2

Almost always, you get paid, but do check the fine print; sometimes, if it's to enter a contest or an anthology, you don't get paid, unless you win a prize. (I once won $1,000 for a winning poem, and then when it wasn't a contest, I would only get $25 per poem.)

With poetry, you *usually* get paid by the word, and it varies so much, from 10 cents a word, up to a flat rate of $1000 or $1,500 for a whole poem. The amount depends on the publication. Very well-known magazines--usually, this would be mainstream magazines--pay more than small, literary mags, but they don't accept poetry very often. Most prefer fiction, which pays better.

Pick up a Writer's Market in any bookstore, or check on-line "writers' guidelines" or "submission guidelines".

Answer 3

Well let's see. I just got a note that I made $2.28

I have submitted to places where you make anywhere from $10 a poem to $200.

In most cases though it's recognition and a free copy of the magazine or journal it appears in.