poetry.com - Writers Forum

Warlocklord · 07-26-2005, 09:43 PM

Is it worth submiting to their contest?

bmroyer · 07-26-2005, 10:05 PM

no, that site is on the black list. don't sumit none of your poems there.

Warlocklord · 07-26-2005, 10:57 PM

Thank you for the response, I will keep in mind not to go to poetry.com Do you by chance know of any good poetry contests?

War

journyman161 · 07-26-2005, 11:07 PM

I don't know, it's not bad for cheap thrills. Before I came to WF I'd put a poem up there & it was quite a pleasant feeling to get a letter in the mail saying they were going to publish me, even though by that time I knew about the site.

They also had a place for me in their big event in Washington (special price & all)

Gave me a foretaste of just how ecstatic I'll be when I get a real one.

bmroyer · 07-26-2005, 11:24 PM

Our Domain Name Blacklist of immoral, spamming, hate-mongering, dishonest, or scam sites:

AmericanLiteraryPress. com
archinform.net
poemkingdom.bizland. com
poemkingdom. com
famouspoets. com
freecontest. com
friendlypoets. com
invision-graphics. com
noblehousepublishers. co. uk
poetry-contest. com
poem. com
poetry. com
poetry. net
poetryamerica. com
poetrynet. net
poetrynet. org
poets. com
raketheweb. com
todays-woman. net
watermarkbooks. com

Here are some names they go by:

Cader Publishing
FamousPoets.com
Hollywood's Famous Poets Society
International Society Of Poets
International Library Of Poetry
Iliad Press
National Library Of Poetry
National Society Of Poets
Noble House Publishers
Pen Pushers Publications
poemkingdom
Poets' Guild
Poetry.com
Publishers Clearing House
Water Mark Press
The American Poets Society
The Poem Place
The Poetry Guild
Todays-Woman, Inc.

Wizard · 07-27-2005, 02:55 AM

My poor sister submitted some poetry there, and was so excited that it was going to be published she quickly paid $50 for the book. Quite a scam. One of the rules in publishing is that if you have to pay anything, it's a scam (unless of course you are self-publishing). She got the book in the mail, and it was pretty ridiculous. They had each poem in very small print so that they could fit as many in there as they could.

Now my siblings and I like to test the level of stupidity your poem has to have before they reject it. They will reject some, if it's obvious you are making fun of them, but they will often accept extremely stupid poems if you are willing to pay $50 . . .

evadri · 07-27-2005, 06:02 AM

Don't do it!!!!!!! Die, poetry.com, die!

Writers, especially new writers, are often so keen to get published that they get trapped into scams.
Remember, writers get paid to write. Don't belittle yourself or your work. Your work is as important and valid as anyone else's. Writing is hard work, and if you stick at it, you deserve to be paid for your efforts.

As for competitions, check out libraries, councils, authors, and writing groups in your local area. These often run legitimate writing competitions that are worth entering. There may be a small entry fee of up to five dollars generally, but these are to cover the cost of running the comp, not to make a profit. Some of these competitions, however, may have free entry.

Good luck!

Catsmart · 09-20-2005, 11:38 AM

Agreed about poetry.com. Submitted one poem years ago and it got "chosen". I actually paid for the book back then (we didn't know that it was fake). Then they started spamming me with emails and even letters through mail. Every time I got "chosen" I hadn't even submitted a poem, and was then urged to quickly write one. It got really old after a while. Ah yes and the "come to Washington and pick up your price, it only costs 250 dollars" just got on my nerves in the end.

Stewart · 09-20-2005, 11:46 AM

I submitted a poem to poetry.com years ago (I had no idea there was a "competition" attached) and, having attained second place in the competition, I was invited to Washington for a symposium where some guy I'd never heard of would read my poem to other poets (his unique voice would have awarded it much texture).

Needless to say I binned the letter, rather bemused. Then came the letters (and emails) asking me how many copies of a book with my poem I wanted to buy. None, of course!

They mailed one way for two years before they gave up.

Now, buying the book is folly enough. Anyone know anyone who attended a symposium?

mswietek · 09-20-2005, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Connor Wolf

Needless to say I binned the letter, rather bemused. Then came the letters (and emails) asking me how many copies of a book with my poem I wanted to buy. None, of course!

They mailed one way for two years before they gave up.

Hmm...maybe we could all send in lots of poems and then refuse to buy the book, and let them spend their money on fliers and mailers. If only that would be enough.

Michael

Stewart · 09-20-2005, 02:07 PM

I'll bet they wouldn't notice if two different people sent in the same poem.

I did this one to see if they accepted any sort of crap.

Quote:

Life and Baked Alaska

Subtle sits the Baked Alaska
My tastebuds sweat at its sight
And knowing that the sweet is mine
I'll eat it all.

Beauty is the Baked Alaska
How men can pass it over I'm unsure
It's life, it's me, it's everything,
A Baked Alaska should be.

Not my real name, BTW

mammamaia · 09-21-2005, 11:38 AM

suitably awful... i'll bet it 'won' a prize!

you can't believe how many hearts i've broken over the years i've been mentoring, thanks to this slimebag outfit and the many others of its ilk... having to tell proud newbies that their 'award' was a scam is one of the hardest things i have to do...

mswietek · 09-21-2005, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mammamaia

having to tell proud newbies that their 'award' was a scam is one of the hardest things i have to do...

I thought reading my work was one of the hardest things you've had to do...

Michael

mammamaia · 09-21-2005, 02:47 PM

only second hardest, bubba... don't overrate yourself!

Catsmart · 09-21-2005, 03:47 PM

Well, it's better to find out it's a scam than to go around prancing your 'award'. I'm glad that I found out rather quickly, even though the spamming continued for quite some time afterwards. Some people just don't take no for an answer. By the way, the Noble House listed on that list also contacted me after that, so yeps, another warning about them.

about visiting that event, I didn't and never planned to (imagine flying across the Atlantic for a scam), but someone I met online did (she lived nearby the event and took up the invite). I never found out what happened there though. She wouldn't talk about it. Does anyone know?