The Microeconomics of Poetry

The numbers* are in. Ever wondered how much Billy Collins made off his book this year? Ever wonder what Will Hubbard does on the side? Wonder no more, thanks to New York magazine:

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED DOESN’T PAY FOR GROCERIES
Second job of noted poets.

Will Hubbard
Credentials: Wrote Cursivism, published by Ugly Duckling Presse.
Second Job: Manages the noise-pop duo Sleigh Bells.

Naoko Fujimoto
Credentials: Published in Hotel Amerika, Potomac Review, Passages North, and New Madrid.
Second Job:Purchasing associate at a Japanese tool company.

Tomas Tranströmer
Credentials: Nobel laureate.
Second Job: Psychologist for juvenile delinquents (now retired).

Walt Whitman
Credentials: Wrote one of the best poems in the history of civilization.
Second Job: Government clerk.

WIDELY KNOWN IN NARROW CIRCLES
Best-selling poetry books of 2011

Horoscopes for the Dead / Billy Collins
Copies sold: 18,406
*Author’s est. earnings: $44, 177

Leavings / Wendell Berry
Copies sold: 2, 928
*Author’s est. earnings: $4,377

For more on the hopelessness of the MFA and Transtromers millions, go go go. For more bestselling poetry--here here here.