the INLAID EAR

My second attempt to list " Poetry Review Reading Comment Feedback Evaluation on Your Poem by Published Poet " on eBay was a lot more mutually fruitful than the first. Upping the ante from one cent to one dollar weeded out eBayers who just wanted to exchange positive feedback, a crucial element in the eBay culture of trust. Instead, I connected with one Peter Rocha who paid 99c (66c after PayPal's cut) for what turned out to be 1,000 words of feedback on his poem — and my utter pleasure. It was amazing to engage in the sincere creative output of a complete stranger, to find it in the gem of personal truth and to reply with honest feedback including what grabbed me and what I wasn't as excited about. Overall the poem pleased me, and the exchange between us even more so. He said he was leaving university soon and worried he might not find such a ready source of creative sharing as he has enjoyed in school. Maybe that's why he turned to eBay. And that's fin...

Here's something I knew about eBay: ratings are VERY important. Every registered eBay user has a number associated with their user name, and that number is associated with a star. This higher the number, the fancier the star. This more positive feedback is left for you, the higher your number goes, and the fancier your star becomes. The fancy star and the high number— and the high the percentage next to the legend "Positive feedback," the greater the trust from eBay buyers as a class. What I've learned about today's eBay is that sellers will spend the time to find penny auctions and spend the few cents just to exchange positive feedback. I looked and found several eBay listings for nothing more than positive feedback. Many start at a penny, but there are people asking 99 cents for the service. I bid six cents and should know soon if I've won. There will be no poem coming from the car-parts seller who purchased my offer to read and give comme...

I'm auctioning a poem-readiing-and-feedback correspondence on eBay . As of this writing, the value is cash American is six hundredths of a dollar. But I know from recent exchanges with a talented but relatively new poet that being earnestly read and commented on is a considerable heart value. This experiment is also one of marketing: how do I make the eBay listing more alluring and more expressive of the intangible value it represents? Can I begin to accumulate testimonials over time? The truth is, I do this sort of thing for free when I'm in the mood. I think it will be a good learning. And perhaps I will ask permission to post poems and my feedback and correspondence here. But it will be the poet's perogative.