i entered a poem i wrote in an online contest. a month later, i got a letter from the company saying my poem was among 250 that was going to be published in a book of short works of writing. they also wanted me to buy the book for $19.95 plus shipping and handling. the letter also said hurry, space is limited. is it a scam, will my poem be put in the book even if i don't buy it?
2007-03-22 04:31:39 · 22 answers · asked by i totally agree with you!! not 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Ha, i've done that before. I didn't order the book, but then i kept getting letters and emails saying that i won the award and all i had to do was pay a couple of thousand dollars to go to some ceremony...At that point i realized it was a scam. Sorry to let you down ;-)
2007-03-22 04:34:58 · answer #1 · answered by Jaimee S 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I got a letter like this from Poetry.com. The $19.95 was for a full page artist profile. I didn't send the money, but I did send permission for the poem to be published. 3 months later, I received a book in the mail that had my poem in it. I also received a check for $500.00. I also received a letter saying that I was in the semi finals to win $10,000.00 in their annual drawing. But I'm not holding my breath for that. So if you think it is a scam check it out more. Call the 800# listed on your letter (if their is one) and talk to them about it. I did. And now I have my poem published.
2007-03-22 11:51:05 · answer #2 · answered by Kimmie 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
First, try to have some information about the company. Do not answer to mail box. Try to know what kind of company is, phone number, website. It seems strange to me that they ask you to buy the book. They could ask you to contribute for the book making ant after they could give you royalties for the selling.
There is a current scam here in Portugal that says on an advertise that people can earn a lot of money just by sending envelopes to mail (publicity), and they ask people to send money in order to obtain the envelopes and the publicity sheets. Then what people really receive by mail is a letter that says, "now do the same, put an advertise on newspaper and ask people for money for sending the job material".
2007-03-22 11:47:55 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
If its a published book you should be able to find it anywhere. I would wait to see if it is published, then see if you can find the book somewhere like Amazon, or Barnes and Noble. Did you win money for the win or just the chance to be published? If you were supposed to get a cash prize and you didn't then I would say that this is a scam.
2007-03-22 11:52:04 · answer #4 · answered by sapientia2010 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm guessing the letter is from either poetry.com or the National Library of Poetry. Yes, my dear, it is a scam. They publish as many poems as people are willing to pay to print. I believe their exact wording was probably something like "your poem HAS BEEN SELECTED..." followed by a flowerly description of how beautiful the anthology was going to be. Then they hit you with the pitch "If you would like your poem to be included..."
NOBODY in the publishing industry takes these so-called collections seriously. Nobody buys these books except for the "poets" in them. They are not marketed to traditional booksellers, because traditional booksellers will have nothing to do with them. Do not destroy your work by allowing these scammers to print it in their collection.
Google "poetry scams" and you will learn a wealth of information about this scam industry. There are dozens of companies like this that prey on people who don't understand how the industry should work.
A writer should NEVER pay to see his or her work in print. Money flows toward the writer...not away from.
2007-03-22 12:24:36 · answer #5 · answered by bardsandsages 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
The space is limited part probably makes it a scam. Limited time to order a copy, that might be all right, especially if it's a limited print run (they only print the number requested).
I don't know if there's an official way to check the legitimacy. Writers' Market, maybe? I know snopes.com busts myths, but I don't know if this is their sort of scam.
2007-03-22 11:41:12 · answer #6 · answered by Amethyst 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I reckon it is a scam. Why should you have to buy the book if they want your poem and want to publish it they should be giving you money. Be very weary
2007-03-22 11:35:12 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes it is. My friend and I entered a contest like that, except not on the internet. We got our books in a couple of weeks.
2007-03-22 11:35:14 · answer #8 · answered by LISA STEWART R 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No. It is a scam, kinda like the whole "Who's Who among Blah Blah Students". They'll only publish you in their book if you pay for it, and even then they won't ciculate the book like you'd like them to. Don't fall for it. I paid to be in the stupid Who's who book, and now in retrospect I don't really care at all anymore. It seem more like a waste of money.
2007-03-22 11:39:56 · answer #9 · answered by Johnny Afman 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Get mcafee site advisor here http://www.siteadvisor.com/ (depending what browser you use) and if the site has a red prompt on the mcafee site advisor then you will know if the site has scammed before so check the site details ( By clicking on the green/amber/white/red mcafee site advisor sign in one of the corners )
if it is green then look at the site details anyway just to see what others think of it and if all is ok buy the book ( if you want to anyway )
2007-03-22 11:37:52 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋