How to make money from writing poems in Nigeria

Writing poems in Nigeria is an easy way of making money. Although this means is not properly acknowledged in Nigeria, poetry has so far built intellectual minds and helped people express their minds and thoughts to a given audience.
With poetry, you have the tendency to talk about virtually everything that surrounds you ranging from love and peace to war and violence. Poetry is versatile in all ramifications.
Sadly, in Nigeria, poetry has not been given full attention that it deserves. This is due to the belittled mindset of most Nigerians to the importance and profitability of poetry.
As a poet, you should not let this circumstance weigh you down. Be passionate about your dreams and pursue them. Some notable people have so far created a great impression for themselves in this genre. For example, the likes of Late Chinua Achebe, Professor Woke Soyinka, Ben Okri, Late Christopher Okigbo, Jimi Solanke etc have successfully made a huge impact through their incredible poems.

Major ways you can make money as a poet in Nigeria include

Write and publish a book containing a list your poems
You can write books that contains atleast four to five chapters. Each chapter should be a poem. You can also go to an extent of explaining the meaning of the poem and sometimes the reason you wrote it.
Share your work with experts and fellow trusted poets to help you review and edit the book properly.
Marketing will not be able I problem as there are so many marketers out there that can market your product in exchange for money.
You can also write ebooks and sell them online. There are various platforms like Amazon that can help you sell your ebooks for free but would require a little percentage per sale.

Pursue a career in poetry related fields
For you to excel as a poet in Nigeria, it is advisable you do not focus on being a poet alone. Most notable poets are also grounded in other categories like song writing, novel writing, singing, acting etc.
You too should choose out of the numerous poetry related fields and develop yourself in it. It makes it easy to get heard. Most people might not like you as a poet but as a novelist.
Interestingly, you will also be making money from both angles.

Sell your poems to interested buyers
There are various means you can sell your poems. Some book authors buy poems related to a book they are writing. For instance, a writer writing a book about love can buy love poems from you and add them to his work.
There are also lots of companies, such as the sun, poetry foundation, epoch, arc poetry magazine, three penny review and many others who are willing to pay poets for their poems. You can contact them and share your poems to make money.

Create a poetry blog
There are various means of generating income from a blog. Create a blog that teaches people on how to become a good poet and sometimes you can post your poems and let thousands of people appreciate your efforts.
I advise you also include becoming how to become a be writer. All you have to do is get a domain name and hosting for your blog and you are ready to commence work.

Start a writing institute
Just like working on a blog, you can start tutorial classes or even online courses that educates people on effective writing skills.
You can focus on teaching poem writing but adding general writing can be more profitable.

Engage in poetry competitions
There are lots of poetry competitions that come up on regular basis either online or offline. Participating in them is another unique method of making money as a poet. Search online or ask like minded people on the ongoing poetry competitions in Nigeria and enroll.
Try as much as possible to win and get succulent prices which most times include money.

Create an online poetry forum
The owner of Nairaland is currently making millions of naira ever month through his online forum. You too can create yours but in your case, your forum should be about poetry.
You will be amazed by the number of members you will have. Most people seek for Nigerian communities that help their members become effective writers but of course there are few. You can capitalize on this and earn large amount of money.

Conclusion
Poetry is a very interesting thing to engage yourself with. It requires passion and patience to excel.
Ensure to have a side hustle that generates money during your dark days in the world of poetry.
A sure means of making your poems heard is to write poems that are controversial.
Involve yourself in all social media sites and post your poems. Ensure to add your contact in all the sites. You might luckily strike a deal someday.
I hope that this guide will be able to teach you the possible how you can earn money writing poems in a more elaborate manner.