If You Are a Serious Poet, Stop Writing Poetry Online

Read on if you dream of getting published in a literary magazine or a journal.

If you want to be published in literary magazines or journals as a poet, then you need to stop immediately publishing poetry on Medium and similar platforms and social media.

One reason stands out from the rest because of the seriousness it possesses.

Reason #1: First Publishing Rights

First Rights means the publication is buying the right to be the first to publish your piece.

If you are not aware, you can’t offer this first publishing rights to a publisher if your work of art (poem) is already published online. This is not limited to Medium, Vocal Media, or a similar writing platform. It also includes Instagram or your own website.

If you submit your poem to a publisher and the poem is already present online, then, unfortunately, they are going to reject your submission.

Any editor who finds your work worth publishing will want to secure first publishing rights. This is case-dependent whether the first publishing rights can be limited to a country or a continent or it can be worldwide. It depends on the publisher.

They want to be the first ones to show your art to the world. They want to be proud to say that they discovered this novel artist.

Reason #2: Distribution of Poetry on Platforms Like Medium

All poets on Medium are well aware that there is limited scope for poetry on Medium. This alludes to the fact that Medium doesn’t want to curate them, and the majority of readers are not looking to read poems here.

Before learning about reason #1 this last week itself, I had published 40 poems on Medium and repurposed them on Vocal and Simily between June 08, 2021, and January 02, 2022.

Medium curated only one poem, and this was because the publication I submitted it to had auto-curation at that time. This poem has garnered a whopping 27 views in over 5 months.

The 40 poems in total have amassed (a drumroll, please) a mighty 966 views in over 6 months. It is an average of 24.15 views per poem.

I am confident that my work deserves better. Also, there are no signs that things are going to improve for poetry in the near future, at least on Medium.

Yes, Vocal has poetry contests that seem worthwhile, but the situation is similar to Medium without them.

Simily promises to be a platform for fiction and poetry, and they have a transparent payment protocol. But their platform is bug-ridden in the worst possible way. They calculate views using Google Analytics, and the listings of stories for any topic are generated randomly.

One of their representatives made me aware of this information in a feedback call when I asked them questions regarding their platform.

Reason #3: No Significant ROI in Writing Poetry Online

Given that the distribution of poetry is not great on Medium, the scope to earn is also limited because you earn based on the reading time a reader spends on your poem.

Poems are not long-winded as articles. They are rather short but pack a punch. They tell a story in a few hundred words. These stories are worthwhile and will stand the test of time, unlike productivity hacks that keep updating frequently.

Poets put their heart and soul in a poem, and they deserve a return of some sort for their efforts.

Medium is here today, but no one knows if it will be here tomorrow but if you get published in a literary magazine, then either you are paid for your work, or at least you have a copy of it as compensation for your work when you are not paid for your work.

In most cases, after a certain period of time, the publishing rights revert to you, and you can use your work in any way you find worthwhile. You can put it in a collection and compile a book, or then you can put it online.

Medium is excellent in many ways, but not when it comes to generating money on poems. I have made $9.76 with poems on Medium, which makes out to be $0.244 per poem.

This is the case where I am making mid to high $$ monthly on Medium but not with poetry.

If I had known about the first publishing rights, then I would have never put up my poems online and instead submitted these 40 poems to magazines and journals.

I am not sure how many would have been accepted, but I am confident that at least one of them would have made a cut. If I would have been paid for it, then it would have been more than $9.76 and definitely more than $0.244. If I wasn’t paid, then at least I would have a much-needed validation check-mark on my resume as a poet of being a published poet.

The thing that bugs me the most is losing the option to submit these 40 beautiful works of art to any literary magazine or a journal.

I know I can use them in a collection of poems, but I am not going to taste the bitterness of rejection based on these 40 poems followed by a sweetness of acceptance.

I will never know if magazine or journal editors thought these poems were worthwhile publishing.

Resources:

[1] Rights: What They Mean and Why They’re Important

[2] Publishing 101 for Poets by poets.org

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