Poetry Radio Project
Lost for words? Try a web poet
After people kept asking Danielle McDonald to pen personalized poems, she thought she could make a little cash doing it. Spend a few bucks at Secretwriter.org and she'll craft a sonnet in your name. Sean Cole reports.
A quill pen and inkwell (iStockPhoto.com)
More on Arts - Culture, Internet
TEXT OF STORY
Bill Radke: Valentine's Day is neigh. A wonderful time for poetry, not an especially profitable time -- most working poets have some sort of day job to support their art. But Marketplace's Sean Cole has learned about one way to make poetry pay. Here's Sean.
Sean Cole: Danielle McDonald has been writing poetry for years. But she never really did anything with it. Never published. And then, about a year and a half ago, a friend of her's needed to write a poem for his wedding ceremony, but he didn't know how.
Danielle McDonald:: So he actually asked me to write the poem, but the catch was he didn't want his wife to be, to know that he hadn't wrote it.
The poem was a hit. And when the truth came out that Danielle had written it, she got more requests.
McDonald: Weddings, bar mitzvahs, christenings, even funerals. And I thought, ah! I could actually make a little bit of money from this. So SecretWriter was born.
Secretwriter.org, that is. Danielle is now a professional online Cyrano. Here's part a poem she put together for another couple's wedding:
McDonald: "The first date was a success/ Trevor wore his Batman t-shirt. Lara a pretty dress. After many a date . . . "
Cole: Do they all rhyme?
McDonald: Mine do, yes.
McDonald: "Nailing, hammering and painting the walls. This was not a problem with Trevor's new tools."
Basically, you send Danielle your request and she sends you a questionnaire, asking for all the names and details she'll need to personalize the poem. She charges $50 to $200, depending on how quickly you want the poem.
McDonald: The top end is for the express service and that's for a poem that's turned around within 24 hours.
She's only had a couple of express requests.
McDonald: Not to sound sexist but both of those have actually been from men that have left it to the last minute.
And she has a surprising number of competitors. I easily found five other Web sites like SecretWriter. One charges $50 for a limerick and a $125 for a sonnet. Another charges $150 for a limerick, but you can get a Valentine's poem for $74.95.
This is probably one of the easiest ways to make money from poetry, and you still can't survive on it. Danielle's husband is the main breadwinner. Her poems pull in 200 bucks a week at most.
Cole: And do you see them as poems or do you see them as products?
McDonald: I see them as poems. If it's a product then it just becomes about the money, which if it was just about the money then I would be probably working for a TV station or for a radio station.
Cole: Yeah there's tons of money in radio, let me tell you.
McDonald: Oh really?
No. Not really.
I'm Sean Cole for Marketplace.
Comments
Comment | Refresh
From Buenos Aires, 02/14/2009
Hi, I just listened to this story on my laptop at the hotel in BA. It started and stopped a lot but I was able to hear it all. Enjoyed it.
From New York, NY, 02/12/2009
My relatives and friends have been paying me for years not to write poems in honor of their weddings, anniversaries and other happy and sad occasions. I learned how to write doggerel at the knee of my wife's uncle Marvin and boy it has sure payed off when I threaten to read my latest work at these ceremonial events.
From Virginia Beach, VA, 02/12/2009
I, to am a poet who has a website: drpoetrycollection.com . I can attest that it surely is not lucrative in the least. I have not received any orders online yet. I feel my craft is different because I include art and words in my creations, and judging from the reactions of my few clients; they absolutely love it. However, until I can make something of a living off my poetry creations, I guess this is more of a hobbie than anything else.
Post a Comment: Please be civil, brief and relevant.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. All comments are moderated. Marketplace reserves the right to edit any comments on this site and to read them on the air if they are extra-interesting. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting.
You must be 13 or over to submit information to American Public Media. The information entered into this form will not be used to send unsolicited email and will not be sold to a third party. For more information see Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.