all aspireing poet click here please?

Question

Ok
read all of this please
i entered a contest at poetry.com
and a month later receved a letter saying they would publish it if i paid 45 bucks
upon realiseing it was a scam i shredded the letter and tost it
i kinda hurt that the only people who would like my work would need to be paid to like it
now i don't want comfort or to be told i was stupid to enter
but if you have a simular story please post it here so others can be warned
i didn't pay but others are getting ripped off right now
if you know of other scam sites post them also
i'll try and keep it open as long as possable

Answer 1

A legitimate publisher will always pay you. It might not be money, but it will be copies. This is a scam because they offered publication and now they not only use your poem in their book, but they want you pay for a copy.

At best, you would consider this a vanity press, but generally people know they are going to spend money when they publish in vanity presses.


Learn well.

Answer 2

Yeah, it kind of sucks that they want you to buy the anthology that your poem was published in (and other things they try to get you to buy), but in a way it also seems like an honor. I've sent a few poems to them many years ago (when I was still in high school) but I never bought anything. I found it an honor that they liked my poems and published them. The whole experience gave me confidence in my writing and made me write more. I look back at those poems now, after being in college for three years, and wonder why they published them in the first place. I felt they were stupid, but I guess they saw potental in them, I don't know.

Answer 3

Here's the thing with Poetry.com...and I hope everyone reads this carefully. THEY ARE A VANITY PRESS. They send out a "proof" copy to you, to which you can say "No, I don't want you to publish my poem", and they won't. This "proof" also comes with the details as to what you'll have to pay if you want to see your poem in one of their "collections of poems". So, if you don't want to pay, you don't pay and you don't get; if you don't want them to use your poem, you tell them "no", and they won't bat an eye.

However, if you want to pay the money, the books are very nice and your poem (almost guaranteed) will be featured as the first poem in the book. They make great christmas gifts to grandparents who want to see their grandchildren do well, etc. If you don't want to fork over the money, don't. However, they "DO" tell you that you have the right to decide not to buy the book and to tell them you don't want your poem published in their book. So please, they are not a "RIP OFF", they are a vanity press...and no, I'm not affiliated with them nor do I own stock in their company. But I don't want to see an enterprise that hosts poetic events and does perform a service to the industry besmirched by those who have hard feelings or suddenly realize that they are dealing with a vanity press and not a publisher who is going to give them money.

hope this helps

Answer 4

Been there, done that with poetry.com. I was a newly-writing teen the first time I ran across them (of course, they weren't a .com site then). I was dumb enough to believe I was a finalist and paid for a book. Never heard a word about who won their "contest."

Answer 5

Actually, it wasn't a scam. If you had read the details you would have found that your poem, if selected, would have been published for free. The $45 which you refer to would have paid for a copy of the book to be sent to you. You were not under any obligation to purchase a book.