The Poetry Problem: The Reality of Publishing

Thoughts from a decade of publishing

Get ready, this one isn’t going to be as cheery as last month, but by the end you’ll be more informed, and that’s the goal of this newsletter. To provide you with all the stats and analysis to make you better at the career side of poetry. That means being honest, and highlighting issues so we can collectively think about solving them.

The overwhelming majority of emerging poets are hungry to be published. There’s something magical about seeing your work in print, and for many people who are coming into the industry, it’s the first obvious pathway to poetry pay.

Poetry is a growing market, with record sales totals for the industry being set year on year. Thanks to Nielsen’s BookScan software, publishers and industry nerds can track book sales with minute detail. Beginning in 2014, we see sales rocket as poets have drawn on technology to increase their audience and remove barriers. It’s also given poets opportunity to make their work available for free whilst still generating revenue. I won't take all the credit (I began my journey through poetry in 2014)

In fact, since 2014, poetry sales have increased by 50%!

“Through the first 48 weeks in 2023, £11.9m has been sold through Nielsen Bookscan’s Poetry Texts & Poetry Anthologies, tracking 5% ahead at this stage on 2022’s previous record (a full-year £13.6m); with a push, the category might crack the £15m mark for the first time by 2023’s end.”.- The Bookseller

There’s a few factors at play here. Firstly, as I said above, poets have gotten better at tech. We’ve let people know the artist more fully and built personal brands that can be leveraged into sales. Secondly, we’ve gotten much better at publishing poets of colour. As a publisher and event producer, I can tell you we see more diverse audiences when we book more diverse talent, and working to offset historical bias in the publishing industry increases our potential audience (not to say this is the only reason to decolonise the industry, or that BIPOC people only consume work by BIPOC writers). Lastly, there are so many more poetry books available.

While this sounds great, the troubling addendum to this is that 50% of sales are dominated by 10 authors. We have a few rockstars - and this can cause a circular problem. People like the status they hold, so they support them, so their status grows, so more people support them. This isn’t to suggest those poets haven’t worked hard to achieve their success. It’s a consumer issue. As consumers of poetry, poets need to think about supporting their friends, people they hear about in the scene and to take a chance on poets they haven’t heard from before. I think every poet should be trying to consume a collection of poetry by a writer new to them each month.

This isn’t an attempt to dissuade you from publishing, but I will tell you that poetry books are not going to be the luxurious gold mine you might be looking for. Most poets, even the really big names, are supplementing their sales with paid features, speaking engagements, paid mentoring, commissions and, probably most of all, workshops. In fact, the average poetry book sells 300 units. Assuming a 70/30 split with a publisher, after costs and I think we’re talking about £720 from a book.

When you get that book published, you are responsible for the sales. I’ve seen poets lose all interest in their book once it’s physically in their hands. The goal for many is simply to be published, not to succeed. Getting that book in hand is the start of a journey, and it’s commercial future often lies not in sales, but in how you leverage that book. As a poet who has gotten to the point of working with a publisher, it should be achievable to land a few workshops that are paying £200, through local literary festivals and projects. In one fell swoop, almost ⅓ of what you could expect to make in book sales.

Even winning a prestigious prize can often not be enough to make your book a financial success.

“Anthony Joseph’s 2022 T S Eliot award winner Sonnets for Albert (Bloomsbury) is one of that prize’s biggest-ever post-win successes, and it has shifted 1,600 copies since bagging the award.” - The Bookseller

Poets don’t have the same kind of infrastructure as writers of prose. There aren’t agents and large scale publishers in the same way as the bestsellers at the front of Waterstones. As Stuart Bartholomew, director of Verve, explained at Poeticon, many agents who sign poets will direct their movements towards publishing prose, with many writing children’s books. Even as The Economist is calling our sales “alarming” (complimentary), the fight is not over. As a poet, you possess a dynamic skillset that you can apply across a range of outlets. Do not limit your angles for earning to just book sales. That way leads only to disappointment.

It’s difficult for publishers too. Aaron Kent of Broken Sleep Books, one of the best publishing houses of UK poetry right now, recently wrote an article for The Bookseller in which he champions the role of small presses, and how often they can be overlooked by the engines of industry that are driving our success stories. Organisations like The Poetry Book Society exist to shout about the best our industry has to offer, but that high-level thinking can lead to neglecting the grassroots where many of us reside. We need both, as Aaron rightly points out.

So what can we do? Think dynamically! How can I translate this landmark? What can I do to make people invest in my work?

I’m currently in the process of launching a collection of poetry, so these ideas are at the front of my mind lately. I’ve got tour dates lining up, workshop ideas coming together, and ideas to drive sales in the works. The work I’ve put on the page is the starting point, not the conclusion. Now begins the work of getting the message out there.

As always our comments and inbox are open for people who want to continue the conversation, or ask questions.

By now, paid subscribers should have seen we have a new podcast launched, where I sit down with friends across the industry and chat about the problems in poetry and bring their opinions and voices to the conversation. The Poetry Problem isn’t just “Connor’s Opinions on Poetry”. This month, I spoke with poet Setareh Ebrahimi about the dominance of London in the industry and how working regionally can be more lucrative, accessible and rewarding.

Selected Sources:
Britain has seen an alarming rise in poetry sales - The Economist

Poetry sales boom as Instagram and Facebook take work to new audiences - The Guardian

'Insta poet' Donna Ashworth leads big rise in poetry book sales - Write Out Loud

Poetry sector 'too white' by far, report finds - The Bookseller

The State of Poetry and Poetry Criticism - Ledbury Poetry Festival