Taj Mahal Review - Writers Forum

strangedaze · 04-19-2006, 11:00 AM

Hi, all. I went on the pred/editors site and the Taj Mahal Review came up as 'not recommended,' because they ask you to purchase a subscription/your issue. Sounds a lot like the poetry.com anthology scam to me. Has anyone purchased a copy of the review and is interested in sharing thoughts / commenting on the quality of the pieces accepted? I'm curious to see what sort of quality standards they have.

SD

Chris Miller · 04-19-2006, 12:47 PM

Hey SD,

I checked out the site. It seems there's no payment for material, which is kind of a show stopper. But there's also no cost to submit and you can submit electronically. They give no sample work which is par I guess but still makes me wonder. The hype for anthologies and whatnot that they are flogging isn't well written or very interesting to me, actually kind of vague and stupid for the most part, so I can only imagine what's inside. Yeah, I'd say, if not a scam, then not much of an opportunity either. And, oh yeah, I hate the oxymoron, "post modern." Just a euphamism for, "confusing" or "makes the reader do all the work."

Ever checked out Pedestal? They pay. They publish online for all to read. Some of their shit ain't bad. It's free to try. But you have to be prepared to get their spam forever more (like after they reject my submission I still give a shit where their editor is vacationing). Do I sound bitter? Sorry. Actually, they seem to have pretty high standards if you can stand all the grovelling for donations.

strangedaze · 04-19-2006, 01:35 PM

I'm willing to concede that non-paying print stuff / ezines can be a valuable learning tool, but this Taj Mahal thing looks...scammy. Makes me wish I hadn't submitted. Oh well. I'll just pretend it never happened. If I recall, Penelope was in the TMR once. Maybe she can offer insight.

I think I'm going to start submitting to semi-pro and pro markets now. You know, try to build up a CV that actually means something.

Mike C · 04-19-2006, 06:03 PM

I've come across Taj Mahal several times. The general deal is they read people's work,and approach them for either repring rights or ask them to submit something new. I know several who have submitted, I've never heard anyone complain after. I believe the quality is pretty high. The fact that they are non-paying doesn't make them scammy - there's lots of non-paying mags with a good reputation.

strangedaze · 04-19-2006, 06:16 PM

Mike,

Absolutely. By no means does 'no-pay' = 'scammerific.' Still, I'm a bit perturbed by TMR's listing as 'Not Recommended' by the Preditors and Editors site, and their asking for contributors to buy subscriptions upon acceptance. Like I said, it reminds me of the whole poetry.com anthology scam, where they accept everyone, put out high priced anthologies and then try to sell them to contributors. Chris pointed out that there are no writing samples by which to judge quality, on the website or elsewhere. So you found the quality to be high in your experiences, Mike? Just curious. I wasn't out to crucify the journal, it just sounded kind of fishy to me.

Mike C · 04-20-2006, 07:44 AM

As I say I have no direct experience of them but know of several people over an 8 or 10 year period who've gone with them and haven't expressed any disppointment. I seem to remember that they have quite high production values (but don't quote me!) and literature, generally, is highly regarded in India.

Having looked extensively through google, I don't find much. Lots of sites echoing what's on the TMR review pages, a few forum entries just like this one (I've been approached by TMR, are they ok? Kinda stuff) and lots of writers who list TMR in their credits. Nothing negative - if it was a major scam (and it's been going a few years now) I would expect some negatives. Try googling Publish America to see what I mean! I did find one forum post claiming they were a vanity publisher (accept your work, sell a subscription) but I've found nothing else to substantiate it. Their guidelines say they give you the book, ask for payment for shipping, and give you another free. The posts on this forum - http://www.thestarlitecafe.com/discu...tml?1079519352 - seem to substantiate that.

So I guess it's a judgement call - if you want to get into print, and are willing to pay around $15 in postage, go for it. If you want to hold out for a paying mag that doesn't charge, go that route. Or (as words are not a finite resource) write two stories and do both.

Chris Miller · 04-20-2006, 09:18 AM

I suspect your submission will be "accepted" SD. Their "scam" or business model seems pretty clear. Contributors get to see themselves in print (for 15 dollars shipping and handling!) and so the admins make a little scratch. Nobody really loses. Anyone can print a very nice looking anthology for about 10 - 15 dollars a copy. Sell 10-20 copies to the contributors... Any extra mags they sell are a bonus. But I still think fiction is a little like legal advice: it's worth what you pay for it. What's given away, even if it is worth something, is often not perceived to be so by the consumer. Your stuff is worth reading, and worth not giving away. I like J. Gardner's adivce to writers: "Don't be in too big a hurry to publish." In other words, be patient, write, and don't sell yourself short. He lugged his shit around in boxes for decades before publishing, had a lot of awful experiences, and then killed himself (by accident) on his motorcycle (I believe).

What'ca working on these days? (gmail or pm me).

**Penelope** · 04-20-2006, 01:37 PM

I was approached by Taj Mahal Review with a request that I resubmit a poem of mine they'd read at Lost In The Dark. I did and also submitted another poem as well. Both poems were accepted and published in the June 2005 edition. At no time was I pressured to make a purchase but I did buy two copies. They mailed the books - first class - from India to me and they arrived very promptly. When I read the collection of poems and short stories it was obvious that their standards were fairly low but there were some gems as well. Especially some of the short stories. The book itself was well put together too. I think their motives are much less questionable than poetry.com and their marketing tactics are polite. I was accurately quoted when I sent a short e-mail thanking them for the speedy service as well. I was asked to contribute again and decided against it because I felt it wasn't something I wanted to make a habit of.

I think the intention of publishers is to sell their wares and see nothing wrong with being asked to pay for postage and have paid more for books which don't have anything I've written in them.

**Penelope** · 04-20-2006, 01:45 PM

One other thing I should mention. The quality of language used when I was approached was impeccable. I recognize that India have many citizens who appreciate the written word and know the Taj Mahal Review submissions come from all over the world. I think that's a good thing too. I was touched when a photo of a waterfall was enclosed with my mailing as well as a free copy of a book of poems by one author. I know this was done to promote their publishing services which I have no intention of using. They never pressured me to use that either.

ruby · 05-12-2006, 10:15 AM

I'm a regular contributor of TMR. In my opinion there is no scam at all by Cyberwit. No comparison between poetry .com and TMR
Poetry.com chrge $70 with no assurance of getting book. Poor Quality.

TMR delivers book with around 400 pages in time. I was surprised to see Taj Dec. 2005 issu that it included 16 pages of high quality arts. It gives me a lot to read for a long time. Not bad for $16 with my writings therein.