What my business degree taught me about becoming a full-time poet
Lessons I've learned in poetic entrepreneurship
Last January, I quit my corporate accounting job to try to find a path toward becoming a full-time poet. There was no blueprint for me to follow. No job description or set of roles and responsibilities. I found the edges of the road by looking up at the sky. Sometimes, the shadows showed me the way.
What I’m trying to say is, basically, I wung (winged?) almost everything.
I have learned so much in the last year of poetic entrepreneurship. And I think it’s worth sharing, even if it ruffles some feathers. Some principles I learned in business school gave me a head start, but I’ve also picked up lessons along the way that feel too important not to share.
I’ve hesitated to make this post before because there are so many poets that I know who dream of writing full-time. This isn’t prescriptive or all-encompassing. It’s not boastful. There’s so much nuance to this topic. I want to attempt to dive into it with transparency. But it’s also not a disparaging post. Becoming a full-time poet or creator is possible. But, I need to acknowledge a few things ahead of time.
First, no one’s journey looks the same. Full disclosure: the majority of my income comes from offerings. It does not come from a book advance. To some folks, this still does not qualify as “full-time” writing, and I get it. I mean the dream would be to have Penguin dish out a six-fig advance annually, but that’s not happening yet, lol. I have a passion for community building. I LOVE to teach poetry. Building Gather and nurturing other creatives is one of my gifts. It’s not the “second option.” It’s not the Plan B. It has always been Plan A. Keep this in mind. If you want to become a full-time poet simply from book advances, speaking gigs, etc, your journey may look very different from mine.
Secondly, I feel the need to say I started earning modest amounts of income long before I quit my job and started Gather. There was proof before I quit my job that folks were willing to pay me for my offerings. This is important. Financial security is important for mental health and well-being, and I don’t want to downplay that at all. When I finally took the plunge, I was living with my partner and I had about a half year’s worth of living expenses saved up. I knew I could give it my all, and if I failed, I could get another great-paying accounting job. There was a plan in place. I transparently acknowledge my privileged position.
My last disclaimer is that all of this is simply my experience. If you’ve had a different experience, that is so valid and to be expected.
What my business degree taught me about poetic entrepreneurship (I’m coining that term, ok.)
Although I felt blue most of the time working in the corporate world, I learned a few things along the way—some from business school, some from work experience. And I would be lying if I said it didn’t help me create a self-employed creative life.
I’ve hesitated to make this post because poetry is so personal. It’s art. It’s beauty. And so much of entrepreneurship isn’t. I want to be clear: I’m by no means reducing poetry to these entrepreneurial or business terms. However, if you’re a creative, especially a poet, this might help you on your path to creating full-time. If this is not a desire of yours, this post is simply not for you.
I think it’s worth sharing for those of you who have this desire. I see you. I know how impossible it can feel at times. I’ve been there. This is what has helped me in no particular order. I hope from it you can glean something useful.
Your “top of funnel” is usually great poetry. Nothing comes without great poems. To this day, I block off 7:00-9:00 a.m. every day to write poetry—before emails, before giving feedback in Gather, before responding to my agent. None of *this* happens without great poems; I try to always remember. It’s where I started, and it’s where I’ll end. It’s a mindset. I didn’t quit my accounting job just to do another 8 hours of admin work during the day. If I write first thing, it signals to my brain that this is the most important. It will always be. More on how great poetry pulls readers to your offerings in #4.
No one can buy something from you if you have nothing to sell. To sell something, you need an offering. The first offerings I ever had were prints. My print shop was a gauge of how many people were willing to pay for my poetry. To my surprise, the conversion rates were actually pretty high. There is a very low barrier to entry for a print shop, especially if you use a Print on Demand inventory structure. When a poem reaches a large number of folks online, the ceiling for print sales is relatively high, in my experience. Next came a small collection, then individual workshops, and finally, Gather. I worked my way up, “testing” what resonated with folks, what I loved to do, and what folks were willing to pay for. Those three things are essential. Just because something sells doesn’t mean you should offer it. Make sure you’ll love doing it. (Or else, what’s the freaking point?) The foundation of a great offering is the intersection of what you love, what resonates with your audience, and what they’re willing to pay for.
You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. You just need to be you. Chances are, you won’t be the first poet on IG writing motherhood poems. Or the first writer on Substack talking about female rage. That’s okay. There is something about you that is uniquely you, though. And this is your superpower. The closer you can get to showing your audience the real you, the faster they will fall in love with you and your journey. People don’t buy products. They buy from people they resonate with. (I once had a sourdough phase. I posted far more bread pics than poems for an entire month. Folks ATE it up. Trust me, it’s a GOOD thing to show the unique you.)
No one can buy something from you if they don’t know you exist. This one goes back to “top of funnel” being great poetry. Your “lead magnet” for your paid offerings are your poems. Make them so good, so meaty, people can’t help but notice you. Fall in love with you. They need to get to you somehow. The poem is a great and reliable path. (Note on paid ads: I don’t use them. The power of organic reach is just SO much richer and leads to real and true connections. Almost the entirety of the traffic to my website, which showcases my offerings, comes from organic reach via poems or poetry reels.)
The door has to open. The poem is an invitation for the reader to enter into your world. Again, the bottom line: write great poems. Build yourself as many doors as possible. Take craft workshops to improve. Join a writing community to stay accountable to your writing goals. Find your poetry people.
It’s better to make less money from the right people than more money from the wrong people. The right people will find you. The wrong people will leave you. (Hallelujah!)
You don’t know what’s on the other side of an email. Send the damn email. This year, we hosted Deborah Landau, the Director of Creative Writing at NYU, and professor alongside Ocean Vuong. (I still can’t believe it.) All because I sent the email. The worst that can happen is a no. Make an email goal. Maybe every Friday, you’ll email someone asking to do something that will bring you closer to your ideal creative life.
Pay attention to what you’re resisting. At the beginning of 2024, I was adamant I wouldn’t get into video Reels on IG because I wasn’t going to “sell my soul to the algorithm.” Then, in April, I decided to film my Napowrimo prompts instead of just posting them as written prompts. (Honestly, this was mainly due to the fact that we were travelling at the time, and I couldn’t be bothered to post and edit a Canva file every day.) That month, I welcomed over 25,000 new readers to my page. Turns out, I actually loved making videos for my followers, and since then, I’ve grown almost another 45,000 readers simply from prompt reels. If I had stayed stubborn, I would have rejected growth. Pay attention to what you’re resisting and why you’re resisting it. Maybe it’s not videos. Maybe it’s a print shop. Or editing that manuscript. Be curious.
Do not start without a mission or a set of founding principles/beliefs you want to hold to as you grow your offerings. Here’s mine. I try to live like this. I try to share community with people like this: Poetry first. Always. Community second. You’re never “too big” to respond to a dm. Acknowledge people by their name. Say no to people who ask you for free stuff (politely). Remember poets you’ve written with years ago. Do their book blurbs. Attend their poetry readings. Follower count should not dictate how you treat someone. Every poem matters. Every poet matters. Poems are to be cared for with kindness. We’re all in this together. There is room for everyone. It’s an infinite writing table.
Abundance Mindset + A Plan = MAGIC. Yes, do the abundance meditations calling in blessings, but also actively take opportunities that require a little bit of elbow grease. They’re not mutually exclusive. The meditation will help get rid of the fear that can block financial blessings (which, if you grew up not well-off like me, can be a considerable block), and creating a plan and following through will boost your confidence that you’re competent and capable.
If you’re a creative and wanting to do this full-time, lean into that desire. It’s not wrong. It’s not impossible. The desires of your heart can show you a possible future. Make this your daily mantra: “If they can, why can’t I?”
I see you. I’m supporting you. I want to see you living in alignment with the desires of your heart.
Love,
Maria
P.S. I love to chat about this topic. What questions do you have? Let’s chat in the comments and maybe we can all bolster each other.
👀 The Good News?
My popular writing table Gather is opening to new members in two weeks! We have over 700 poets on the waitlist and room for just 25 new members. If you’re a poet eager to explore the edges of their craft, write with talented poets every week, and meet your poetry besties, join the waitlist below.
(An exclusive discount will be sent to all waitlist members as well!)
The invite email will be sent to the waitlist on April 1st at 9am ET. Please please set a reminder—spots filled in hours last time.
P.S. This will be the last time we open up spots until the fall. If you’ve been antsy to join, now is your opportunity!
as someone who dreams of writing poetry full time, thank you for igniting my hope again 🤍
I love your first two points! I have this saying I remind myself when I get caught up in the hustle-content-machine of social media: we have to make the thing before we can sell the thing. And I really like your approach of writing poems first thing in the morning to signal to your brain “this is important.” I have a toddler, so I often feel like I need to steal my writing time. I’d like to come up with a way that I can make prioritize writing in harmony with motherhood.