How to Promote Your Poetry Online

The Internet offers authors and poets numerous ways to publicize and promote their works.  Poetry is a perfect fit for blogs and online content sites.  Other online writing networks and sites give authors and poets the opportunity to share their work in online communities.  Additionally, social networks and social media sites provide a unique way to publicize and promote poetic works online.

Today's writers can take full advantage of every available opportunity.  From podcasts and webcasts of spoken word performances to e-Books of published poetry, the poet can do a little bit of everything from promote an upcoming publication and release to announce a book promotional tour or blog tour.  The author may engage in an online adventure that expands beyond local libraries and coffee shops.

• Poetic Postcards: Use sites like Zazzle to create your own postcards with your own poetic verses
• Poetic Blog Posts: Use sites like Blogger to post full or partial poetic pieces for subscribers and readers
• Poetry T-Shirts: Withonline storefronts like Spreadshirt and Zazzle to create t-shirts and other gear with poetry in different fonts, shapes and forms
• Poetry Posters and Prints: Set your poems up to be framed and sold online through eBay, Amazon and other retail sites.

 You have to put yourself out there once online.  Simply having the presence of a website or a blog is not enough these days.  You need to develop mechanisms for promoting poetry online as well as traditional marketing and promotional strategies.  Do not totally discard book readings and signings, even those literary panels in lecture halls and civic centers, where the kind, gingerly older lady or the bubbly college co-ed still inquires if you really wrote a book or not.  Those types of activities are still well worth the time that goes into pulling them off.  Do those and simply add these other online strategies.

• Create an ezine on OpenZine or ISSUU where you can promote you upcoming poetry and engagements
• Use Mail Chimp to create an e-newsletter for fans and readers
• Set up a Ning network page where you can also offer interactive videos and live chat through Ustream and Tokbox
• Join online communities like Writers Cafe or Red Room to see how authors are using video, audio and text to share their works