7 Publications that Pay for Your Poetry
There’s a lot poetry can do for you—like challenge your creativity, support your mental health, and improve your empathy. But let’s be honest; it may not pay the bills. While writing poetry is often a labor of love, there are a handful of publications that offer a small sum of money to poets they publish. Submitting your work for publication can be a bit of a waiting game, but if you have the passion and the patience, these seven outlets might be well worth your time.
POETRY Magazine
The oldest monthly magazine devoted to English-language poetry, POETRY magazine fields over 150,000 submissions per year. While this is quite a competitive place to send your work, it’s also one of the best paying. If your poems are published, you will receive $10 per line with a minimum honorarium of $300.
The Sun Magazine
This 40-year-old indie mag combines photos with fiction, poetry, and prose to celebrate life in all its complexities. Work from The Sun has been selected for a Pushcart Prize as well as a place in Best American Short Stories and Best American Essays. The Sun pays $150 and up for selected poems.
Threepenny Review
This non-profit monthly mag publishes offbeat combinations of the tried-and-true and the unexpected and surprising. Poets can submit to The Threepenny Review through mail or through their online submission system. The Threepenny Review pays $200 per poem.
Rattle
Rattle is a quarterly magazine that aims to publish accessible, interesting, moving, and memorable poems. Their main goal is to cultivate a community of active poets from a variety of backgrounds. They receive about 50,000 submissions per year, and all poets in the print edition receive $200, while poets in the online categories receive $100.
Ploughshares
Based at Emerson College in downtown Boston, Mass., Ploughshares has been published quarterly since 1971. Stories, essays, and poems from the magazine have appeared over 150 times in some of the most coveted anthologies, including The Best American Poetry, Best New Poets, and The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses. Upon publication, contributors will earn $45 per printed page at a $90 minimum per title and $450 maximum per author.
The Southern Review
Founded in 1935 at Louisiana State University, The Southern Review strives to discover and promote engaging and challenging literature from a diverse set of authors. The journal also features visual artists from around the world. Published poets will receive $50 for the first printed page and $25 for each subsequent page, with a maximum payout of $200.
AGNI Magazine
Named after the Vedic fire god, AGNI publishes explosive and imaginative literature. Housed at Boston University, the print magazine appears twice yearly. However, their online site hosts a trove of published writing. Published poets will receive $40 per printed page up to a maximum of $300.
If you’re feeling inspired and ready to start submitting your work, don’t miss our guides on how to submit your poetry for publication, how to write a cover letter for poetry submissions, and how to track your submissions once you’ve sent in your work. Best of luck!
