Poetry has the ability to move people in ways plain prose seldom does, yet most readers shy away from poetry because they think it is difficult to understand, boring, or not as informative as prose books. But a poetry book can sell if it has a gimmick or hook to entice readers.

Poetry is a beautiful form of self-expression that can lead readers to new insights as well as entertain readers, make them laugh, and move them deeply. That said, poetry books are very difficult to sell, and many poets fail to write marketable poems or present their poetry collections in a marketable way. While a poet may get a great deal of self-satisfaction from writing poetry, publishing a poetry book is of little purpose if no one is going to buy or read it. Here are a few guidelines for making a poetry book more marketable.

Have a Theme

Many poets just write a poem about whatever strikes their fancy at the moment. Then they end up with maybe fifty or a hundred such poems and decide it’s time to compile all the poems and put them in a collection. The problem is marketing such a book. When people ask, “What is your poetry book about?” most poets scramble for answers. Typical responses might be, “It’s about life” which is vague and boring, or more specifically, “It’s a collection of poems that explore love, death, Nature, growing up, having a dog, gardening, old age, visiting France, and sailing.” Boring, confusing, too many topics, and too little of any one thing. There might be one poem in that hodgepodge that interests a reader, but will he want to pay $15 for a book so he can read one poem about sailing? Doubtful. Throwing together a bunch of unrelated poems into one volume isn’t going to help you sell your poetry collection.

Most poets would never think of writing an essay, a short story, or a book without a theme, so why publish a poetry book without a specific theme? It may be that you have fifty unrelated poems, but on closer look, perhaps five or six of them can be worked into a collection with a specific theme along with writing some new poems so your book has focus. Your theme might be as general as poems about movies or about the seasons, or as specific as poems about your battle with cancer or a poem about each president of the United States. A theme is a hook. It will answer the inevitable question—“What is your book about?” and it will give readers something to grasp onto so they can make a conscious decision about whether to purchase your book.

Have Organization—even a Plot

Frequently when I ask poets how they decided to arrange or organize the poems in their books, I get back blank stares or they respond, “Well, I just put them in the order I thought they went in, or the order they were written in, or there’s no specific order.” Even if you don’t have a theme for all the poems, you can at least organize them into specific sections based on what they are about, such as putting the five poems about sailing together, or the eight poems about love lost, or the three poems about raising children into their own sections.

If you are writing about your own life or experiences, why not make the poems chronological from childhood to old age? Maybe you have an autobiographical novel in poem form. Maybe you have a whole book that can be made from your poems. Or maybe you want to write a novel in verse. Victorians often did so—Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “Aurora Leigh” is one such example. A simple short poem might quickly be forgotten, but a series of poems that build one upon another are not likely to be forgotten.

Ask yourself, “When readers have finished reading my poetry collection, what new understanding do I want them to have?” Make your first poem the introductory one and your final poem a conclusion, one that sums up your collection with each poem in the process continuing the theme and progressing toward the collection’s climactic final insight.

Have a Gimmick or a Hook. The terms “gimmick” and “hook” might sound a bit crude, but they do illustrate my point. A collection of poems isn’t going to attract most readers, but if you have something special to hook readers, you’re more likely to get attention.

Numerous possible tactics can be taken to make your poems interesting so they will appeal to people who may not otherwise typically read poetry.

Edgar Lee Masters’ “Spoon River Anthology” had a hook. Each poem was told in the voice of a dead person from Spoon River. While each poem stood by itself, often the speaker in one poem would refer to people in another poem. For example, in one poem, a wife complains about how the minister convinced her to stay with her husband. Later, the minister speaks about how his greatest triumph was convincing that couple to stay married. The irony, humor, and the connections between the townspeople made the book popular and memorable enough that it is still read nearly a century after its publication.

Illustrations or photographs are a hook in themselves. If you’re writing an autobiographical poetry collection, why not insert photographs of yourself and the people and places mentioned in the poems? If you’re writing about Nature, insert photographs of the places you mention. You might even go all out and turn the book into a coffee table book with large photographs alternating with your poetry. People may not buy a poetry book, but they might buy a coffee table book for its stunning photographs, only to be pleasantly surprised by how much they also enjoy the poems. Team up with a good illustrator or photographer and you might corner two different types of readers: poetry lovers and lovers of visual art.

Shape or Visual Poems, more commonly called Picture Poetry or Graphic Poetry today, are another interesting gimmick. The challenge is to have the words in your poem take on the shape of an object that the poem is about. The layout of the poem then becomes a picture. Seventeenth century poet George Herbert was an early designer of such poems, including his poem “Easter Wings.” Your poem might be shaped like a butterfly, a castle, a vase, whatever you can imagine. You can find several examples of such poems at: http://www.poetryetcetera.com/Visual%20Poetry.htm

Get Attention

Before you bring out that poetry book, do a little research on the types of poetry books sold in stores. While there’s still a small market of book sales for classic poets like Wordsworth and Tennyson, my guess is more people today know the poetry of Shel Silverstein because it’s funny, well-illustrated, and easy to read. I’m not saying there aren’t great poets out there today; I’m saying most people haven’t heard of them. Let’s face it; when most people hear the word “poet,” the poets who come to mind are people like Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow—poets most people read in school and who are all long dead.

Sure, there are great poets alive today, but few of those poets have succeeded in making their books marketable. Unfortunately, most poets don’t understand or won’t accept that it is as much the poet’s job to find an audience for his or her words as it is to write those words.

Find your gimmick; make your book visually stunning; come up with a theme that will entice your readers’ interest and imagination; get a hook to draw in readers who don’t usually buy poetry books. Once you build up a reader following, then you can write your meditative poetry book that is only text because you’ll have a fan-base who will read any book you produce. Until then, do whatever you can to get your poems noticed by readers. It’s a worthwhile endeavor. The world may not know it, but it is waiting for the next Maya Angelou, Allen Ginsberg, or Seamus Heaney to remind it that poetry has a magic that prose cannot supply.

Irene Watson is the Managing Editor of Reader Views, where avid readers can find reviews of recently published books as well as read interviews with authors. Her team also provides author publicity and a variety of other services specific to writing and publishing books.

Poetry touches human lives and can bring their awareness of life experiences onto a higher level. Surely, that is enough to make any one who writes poetry, desire to get their poems published and read. If you are an aspiring poet who yearns to see your works published, keep in mind that it is not an impossible goal, but one that entails a lot of hard work.

First of all, if you plan to work with big publishers, prepare to get one rejection after another, because big name publishers seldom take the risk and gamble their resources on someone who hasn’t made a name in the literary field yet. Your best bet then, is to either work with small companies that are into poetry book publishing. Once you get one book out and has made a reputation for yourself, then it will be easier to approach the big publishers later.

If poetry book publishing by smaller publishing houses does not appeal to you, then there is another way to earn your reputation, and that is to get yourself known in literary circles. You can do this in several ways. For example, you can teach poetry and earn the respect of the academic community. You can try joining poetry contests and win so as to acquire a good following. You can get yourself published on magazines, newletters and other journals to make yourself known among poetry lovers.

Another way to get their poetry published that others have tried is by joining poetry reading sessions, especially of poets who already have published works. This is one way of networking with the achievers, and hoping that some of their success will rub on you. You can learn from their struggles on the poetry book publishing arena and you can find out who their publishers are or were, when they were just starting their careers as poets.

Keep your eyes open for opportunities, and your ears sharp for information. If you are active in the poet’s network, for example, sooner or later you will hear about publishers who may be just trying to build a new stable of poets, and who are welcoming submissions from new poets.

This is why it is always best to keep writing poetry and learning from the poets who had already succeeded in their poetry book publishing goals. You’ll never know when the opportunity will present itself, and you may suddenly be called to present your portfolio of your best loved poems. It is best to come prepared for such opportunities, by keeping your collection of the poems you have written through the years.

Of course, your last, but perhaps most sensible option is to do the poetry book publishing yourself. Through the present technologies in desktop publishing, you can easily start the process of poetry book publishing. You’d be surprised how you could come up with an interesting book at such a small cost, as long as you use your creative talents in conceptualizing the layout, the content and the mode of delivery of your book.

Although nothing comes easy when you talk about poetry book publishing, it will be worth your efforts once you see a poem with your byline on it. Nothing compares to the thrill of knowing that you are touching the lives of your readers, through your thoughts and your poetry.

Learn more about writing and publishing poetry and selling books here at SellingBooks.com.

Most poets often write to express their thoughts and emotions even with the possibility that their poems will not be read. However, nothing can be sweeter for poets than to be recognized for their work and to see their masterpieces on leading publications. Getting published does give a sense of fulfillment for poets, for it is one way to share a part of themselves to others.

If you are convinced that you had written a poem or several poems that are worthy to be read by others, the next step for you is to find ways on how to publish poetry. Getting your poem published may take some time, but it will give you a sense of fulfillment once it’s done. Although admittedly, there is a smaller market for poetry, if you look hard enough, there are places where you can submit your poems.

You can start by reading poem anthologies or magazines that publish poetry, to get an idea about the quality of poems that usually get published and read. If you have a favorite magazine that you dream of one day seeing your poems published on, study the style of poems that are published to get a feel of the editor’s choices.

Check with your local magazines if they are accepting poetry submissions. Maybe they have a literary page where good poems are welcome. Although you may have to settle for lower pay with local magazines, they, however, can be a good starting point to get your work read. Also, if you are just trying to build your portfolio of published poems, starting out with your local paper can be your first step towards being accepted in bigger publications.

Focusing on your local newspapers and magazines, however, should not limit your search on how to publish poetry. You should also check magazines with national subscriptions, as there are a few who will accept poems even from unpublished poets.

Look up organizations that have regular newsletters and find out if they accept poems. You may have to settle for pro bono, as some of these newsletters are published for free. It is still a good way to get your work exposed to more readers and build your following.

Perhaps one of the easiest ways on how to publish poetry is through websites that feature poetry collections. Check a couple of websites on the internet that accept poems, however, be cautious of sites that will only accept your poems after paying some processing or membership fee. Keep in mind that you want your work published and get paid, not the other way around.

Keep your eyes open for literary contests which offer publication in a national magazine or newspaper, once your poem gets chosen. Some of these may ask for a minimal contest joining fee to cover contest costs, but it will add a feather to your cap, once your poem is chosen.

You may feel that your poems are just for “home viewing” and not good enough to be read by others, but how would you know if you haven’t even tried getting your work published? If you do face one rejection after another, don’t give up and keep finding ways on how to publish poetry. Keep on writing and improving your craft and you will one day see your poems printed, read and appreciated by others.

Learn more about writing and publishing poetry and selling books here at SellingBooks.com.