I’ve been thinking about this for the past week as I have been developing and tweaking my online outlets. Last night I was reading an article about speculative poetry in the 2010 edition of Poet’s Market. Speculative poetry is poetry that fits into the genre of sci-fi and mythological. What I found interesting about this article it stated speculative poetry is the type of poetry that actually pays. Often I have heard that poetry doesn’t pay and at best doesn’t pay well. But here was a genre of poetry that based on what the article was stating does pay out better than the average publisher of poems.
Why is that I wondered. After thinking about the article I realized that the sci-fi genre has a very dedicated and committed following. It has birthed an entire culture of hard core fans with a grassroots type movement. Dragon Con anyone?
And now it makes sense. Supply and demand is the root of all that is profitable. And the sci-fi fans LOVE their sci-fi in all its formats. Poetry included. A collection of poems that focus on sci-fi may actually sell. Why? Because sci-fi readers LOVE reading sci-fi.
My point is not that I’m about to write sci-fi poetry although I do love sci-fi and mythological worlds and characters. My realization is that finding readers is a more productive endeavor if I find what genre of writing my poetry falls into and I focus my submissions and online outlets into that area. Adding my poetry as a thread in the fabric of a genre’s culture would develop a readership.
As a poet I like writing about whatever moves me or inspires me and i will always do so. Yet I’m excited to focus my writing into a genre where my work is embraced because it enlivens the culture of the genre it belongs too.
A Poet's Life 