Post by Zeb on Apr 18, 2006 2:51:06 GMT -5
I POSTED THIS ON A FEW SITES IN THE LIGHT OF THE "SEMINAR IN VEGAS" EMAILS GOING AROUND..ITZ A SCAM..A WELL ORGANISED AND LEGITIMATE SCAM..BUT A SCAM NONETHELSS..BELOW WILL DEMONSTRATE THIS:
When I first got my laptop I was looking on the web for poetry sites n competitionz n all that jazz..ofcourse poetry.com came up 1st on the search..I clicked it..read it..didn't like it..any place that you have 2 pay to publish your work is a scam..obviously..anyhow..I entered their free contest..I liked the format of the page the entry form generated..so I entered a few more..and I save all me poemz from that comp just to have on file and copyrighted..lo and behold I got emailz sayin your poem is being published congratz..then you get to the next page n they want 50 buckz off ya..what a crock of sh**..anyhow I'm still gettin' published on a regular basis..whoopidee doo daw day..not..itz utter BS..don't fall 4 it..I found this on a site..I think this will clarify my point..
____________________________________________________________
I found the following in a reputable poetry forum's "Contest Expose" link:
Atop the list of most search engine query results for "poetry contests," you'll find poetry.com, one of the domains owned by International Library of Poetry, aka International Society of Poets, a notorious poetry profiteer, referred to by some in the know as poetry.con or poetry.scam. They're one of many who operate in the same fraudulent manner. If you haven't figured it out or read someone else's exposé about it, what you need to understand about these places comes down to this: they're running legal (apparently) scams, capitalizing on poets' aspirations and egos.
Send them the most awful poem you can write, and like clockwork, they'll send you back the form letter that all their entrants get, commending you on the quality of your work and "selecting" you as a "semi-finalist." In 1998, ABC's 20/20 did an investigation on poetry.com in which an entire class of 2nd graders sent in submissions and all received the same congratulations-you've-been chosen-as-a-semi-finalist acceptance letter.
Poet David Taub(who now runs a comp for the best worst poem submitted to poetry.com..I enter it all the time..he he..Itz called the wergle flomp competition..GOOGLE IT
) sent in the following drivel under the pen name "Wergel Flomp" and as you all can imagine, he was graciously accepted by the publishers of Poetry.com.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Honestly, would you want your poem preceeding or following a poem of that "caliber".. or even in the same book?
I overheard one member say that there's nothing wrong with building up your publishing resume and that it only costs "$50.00". But quite honestly, if you tell a reputable publisher that you've been published by Poetry.com, chances are they would probably hold it against you.
Furthermore, here's more about Poetry.com from another poetry site:
Trustful poets become ecstatic upon
this letter addressed to themselves. They share their pride and excitement with family and friends. Visions of writing careers dance in their heads. They don't care as much about their chances of winning money as they do that they're going to be published in a book. And therein lies the essence of why poetry.com and their equivalents thrive. They know that getting published is any writer's utmost aspiration. They bait you with the advertisement of huge prize amounts and "Free Entry," then their we-want-to-publish-your-poem accolades are the hook through your lip. Everything seems official and legit, so most poets never suspect they're dealing with con artists, and readily place their orders for the anthologies that are made to sound elegant and luxurious but in reality are cheap, poorly edited, and have multiple poems crammed onto each page. When you've been published, you want to actually see your work in print, after all, and since these anthologies aren't available in any stores where you could go and browse through them, and it's not like you're going to know anyone who collects them, what choice do you have? Back up... what was that? Are you saying only the contributors and their loved ones buy the books? Exactly. Now you're catching on. The anthologies are not marketed to the public. Which is why the prices are so inflated ($50 or more, in most cases, and more on top of that to include a very short bio)-- because the only people who'll pay that much (or anything at all, really, for what we're talking about here) are others who simply want a keepsake of a perceived achievement. Most of them will read little more of the contents than the page containing the poem that was the reason for their purchase. Furthermore, according to information found on poetryNOTcom, poetry.com doesn't even publish the poems of those who don't purchase the book. All of this speaks volumes to the fact that these companies care nothing about poetry or helping you gain recognition, and are driven solely by the pursuit of profit.
Personally, I wouldn't buy one of their books (yes, they accepted me too) if they were the last publisher on the planet. If you think I'm the only one who doesn't think highly of them, just
do an Internet search on the words "Poetry.com scam" and if you do so in a Yahoo search engine, you'll get 627,000 hits... just like I did.
Ponderlust
_____________________________________________________________________
That must be this knowledgeable chapz name..hope this helpz some1
When I first got my laptop I was looking on the web for poetry sites n competitionz n all that jazz..ofcourse poetry.com came up 1st on the search..I clicked it..read it..didn't like it..any place that you have 2 pay to publish your work is a scam..obviously..anyhow..I entered their free contest..I liked the format of the page the entry form generated..so I entered a few more..and I save all me poemz from that comp just to have on file and copyrighted..lo and behold I got emailz sayin your poem is being published congratz..then you get to the next page n they want 50 buckz off ya..what a crock of sh**..anyhow I'm still gettin' published on a regular basis..whoopidee doo daw day..not..itz utter BS..don't fall 4 it..I found this on a site..I think this will clarify my point..
____________________________________________________________
I found the following in a reputable poetry forum's "Contest Expose" link:
Atop the list of most search engine query results for "poetry contests," you'll find poetry.com, one of the domains owned by International Library of Poetry, aka International Society of Poets, a notorious poetry profiteer, referred to by some in the know as poetry.con or poetry.scam. They're one of many who operate in the same fraudulent manner. If you haven't figured it out or read someone else's exposé about it, what you need to understand about these places comes down to this: they're running legal (apparently) scams, capitalizing on poets' aspirations and egos.
Send them the most awful poem you can write, and like clockwork, they'll send you back the form letter that all their entrants get, commending you on the quality of your work and "selecting" you as a "semi-finalist." In 1998, ABC's 20/20 did an investigation on poetry.com in which an entire class of 2nd graders sent in submissions and all received the same congratulations-you've-been chosen-as-a-semi-finalist acceptance letter.
Poet David Taub(who now runs a comp for the best worst poem submitted to poetry.com..I enter it all the time..he he..Itz called the wergle flomp competition..GOOGLE IT
) sent in the following drivel under the pen name "Wergel Flomp" and as you all can imagine, he was graciously accepted by the publishers of Poetry.com. Flubblebop
by Wergle Flomp
flobble bobble blop
yim yam widdley woooo
oshtenpopple gurby
yip yip yip
nish-nash nockle nockle
opfem magurby voey
Ahh! "Wurby tictoc?"
"quefoxenjib masaloouterp!"
bim-burm nurgle shliptog
afttowicky wicky wicky
erm addmuksle slibberyjert!
Reqi stoobery bup dinhhk
yibberdy yobberdy hif twizzum moshlap
dwisty fujefti coppen smoppen dob
tigtog turjemy fydel
saxtenvurskej brisleywum
swiggy swiggy swug
yumostipijjle dobers!"
by Wergle Flomp
flobble bobble blop
yim yam widdley woooo
oshtenpopple gurby
yip yip yip
nish-nash nockle nockle
opfem magurby voey
Ahh! "Wurby tictoc?"
"quefoxenjib masaloouterp!"
bim-burm nurgle shliptog
afttowicky wicky wicky
erm addmuksle slibberyjert!
Reqi stoobery bup dinhhk
yibberdy yobberdy hif twizzum moshlap
dwisty fujefti coppen smoppen dob
tigtog turjemy fydel
saxtenvurskej brisleywum
swiggy swiggy swug
yumostipijjle dobers!"
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Honestly, would you want your poem preceeding or following a poem of that "caliber".. or even in the same book?
I overheard one member say that there's nothing wrong with building up your publishing resume and that it only costs "$50.00". But quite honestly, if you tell a reputable publisher that you've been published by Poetry.com, chances are they would probably hold it against you.
Furthermore, here's more about Poetry.com from another poetry site:
Trustful poets become ecstatic upon
this letter addressed to themselves. They share their pride and excitement with family and friends. Visions of writing careers dance in their heads. They don't care as much about their chances of winning money as they do that they're going to be published in a book. And therein lies the essence of why poetry.com and their equivalents thrive. They know that getting published is any writer's utmost aspiration. They bait you with the advertisement of huge prize amounts and "Free Entry," then their we-want-to-publish-your-poem accolades are the hook through your lip. Everything seems official and legit, so most poets never suspect they're dealing with con artists, and readily place their orders for the anthologies that are made to sound elegant and luxurious but in reality are cheap, poorly edited, and have multiple poems crammed onto each page. When you've been published, you want to actually see your work in print, after all, and since these anthologies aren't available in any stores where you could go and browse through them, and it's not like you're going to know anyone who collects them, what choice do you have? Back up... what was that? Are you saying only the contributors and their loved ones buy the books? Exactly. Now you're catching on. The anthologies are not marketed to the public. Which is why the prices are so inflated ($50 or more, in most cases, and more on top of that to include a very short bio)-- because the only people who'll pay that much (or anything at all, really, for what we're talking about here) are others who simply want a keepsake of a perceived achievement. Most of them will read little more of the contents than the page containing the poem that was the reason for their purchase. Furthermore, according to information found on poetryNOTcom, poetry.com doesn't even publish the poems of those who don't purchase the book. All of this speaks volumes to the fact that these companies care nothing about poetry or helping you gain recognition, and are driven solely by the pursuit of profit. Personally, I wouldn't buy one of their books (yes, they accepted me too) if they were the last publisher on the planet. If you think I'm the only one who doesn't think highly of them, just
do an Internet search on the words "Poetry.com scam" and if you do so in a Yahoo search engine, you'll get 627,000 hits... just like I did. 
Ponderlust _____________________________________________________________________
That must be this knowledgeable chapz name..hope this helpz some1
other poems..I don't mean to be sarcastic..but a lot of poets I know are falling for this and it's giving people false belief in their ability..and draing their walletz..I am getting emails asking am I going to the seminar in Vegas..LOL..never..ciao 4 now
and 
all
time for me 
echoes, hope you all are doing well 
