How to Make Money by Publishing a Poetry Book

Here's the honest truth about publishing a poetry book for financial gain: poetry is likely the most difficult genre to market, so it is a very difficult way to make money. Frankly, there are better ways to make money than by publishing a book, but publishing a poetry book in most cases is definitely an expense, not an investment.

Unless, of course, you use your poetry book to make money a different way....

Let me tell you how to make money by publishing a poetry book:

I am thinking of my friend Mike Jones, a mortgage lender with Tucson Mortgage Company, LLC in Tucson, Arizona, who shared this idea with me over coffee as we discussed marketing ideas. In his spare time he enjoys making music and writing poetry and has talked of publishing a poetry book.

Does he want to publish a poetry book for financial gain? You bet! But does he expect to sell lots of copies of his book? Well, actually, he plans to give away copies of his poetry book for free to all his clients.

He will give it to people who already pay him money for his services.

Think about it. Let's say your realtor, banker, lawyer, business coach, mortgage broker, or pest control guy gives you a beautifully bound, designed, and written book as a thank-you gift for your business. The book happens to be a poetry book (but it doesn't matter what genre!), and was written by the person giving you this book. The back cover has a large picture of the person including a blurb that mentions what he or she does for business.

Because you value the service of this person, you will put that book on the shelf with all your other books. If you read it, great, but you do not have to read it, that is not the purpose of the gift. It will be forever on your shelf as a three-dimensional ad reminding you of your broker, realtor, pest-control guy, whoever! You will have a connection with him that his competitors do not have with you (his book on your shelf), and ultimately you will end up using his services more, therefore giving him more business.

That's a great way to make money with a poetry book, and smart marketers like my friend Mike know this. You see, they want to sell themselves and their services, not necessarily their book! Similarly, when you publish a book, especially a poetry book, think of ways to you can sell yourself, not your book!

If you're a business person and you want to be in front of your customers in a creative way (on their bookshelf), and you do not YET have a book written about your expertise, but you like writing poetry, what are you waiting for? Turn your poetry into a marketing tool now by publishing a poetry book!