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It is amazing that Poetry.com still has so much life even though it is a scam. This site and its sister sites all work on the same principle-preying on the hopes and dreams of innocent people.
I remember learning about Poetry.com when I was 10 years old and my Great Grandmother Trudy was teaching me about poetry, writing, and entering contests. She was a pro at winning writing contests back in her day, when magazines would host contests looking for unique jingles for common household products. She even won a new car, which she happily gave to my Great Grandfather Frank, since she did not drive. But, it has always been her sound advice that has kept me clear of companies that charade as honest legit contests. Grandma said, "You should never have to pay someone to see your work published, especially a contest." This has always kept me away from places like Poetry.com.
The whole premise behind Poetry.com is to get some hopeful person to submit a poem, no matter the quality. Then, Poetry.com declares the person a winner, no matter the quality. Yet, you cannot see your work published unless you actually buy the anthology volume it is going to be published in, along with other hopeful and wanting poets. In many cases, they also make you pay for the trophy or plaque you won and other nice items that showcase the poem you won with. You never see any actual winning, just a promise that now you are eligible to be submitted into the next level of the contest. Oh, and if you win the next phase, you will again get the chance to buy the book. It is a never-ending process of buying a book to see your work and more luring words to keep you hooked on submitting more poetry.
They try to make it look legit with their periodic conferences held all over the country, which you can once again pay them to be part of. Yet still, people keep paying them money to be part of this, which keeps fueling and helping them lucratively advertise their scam, enticing yet more nave hopeful people. Does anyone ever stop to wonder if anyone has ever reached that final phase and received the large cash prize that Poetry.com claims to offer? They are good at showing winner's testimonies, but are they real?
Interestingly, all one really has to do is research Poetry.com through the Better Business Bureau and discover that they have been perpetrating this scam for quite a long time, sadly. Now, you can even go to any search engine and type in "Poetry.com scam" and turn up page after page of information on this site and their sister sites that all work the same way.
Poetry.com works on vanity. Everyone would like to see their name in lights, right? Well, that is exactly what Poetry.com is hoping for. They hope that you want to see your work and name published in their book, and they feed off that honest hope to sucker a person in to pay for the rights to see their work published.
The unfortunate reality is that any work you submit will be published amongst every other hopeful person that submitted. There is more mediocre work bound in those books than there is anything wowing and powerful. You, the author, never really get an honest critique, which would be like watching an episode of "American Idol" and seeing all the non-singing wannabes make it through and overshadowing any true talent. But again, that is what Poetry.com is counting on, those not so great hopefuls that never had anyone give them a professional and honest critique of their talent. So, you keep on trusting them, you keep on scrounging up money you may not even have to keep buying the newest edition of their anthology which contains your poem. Have you stopped to ask yourself what you really have won through Poetry.com? Chances are, you have been just too excited in the thought that someone is publishing your poem, but are they really publishing your poem or are you paying them for the right to have your work included?
It is also important to note that Poetry.com is just one of the affiliate sites associated with this company that scams. Before the Internet, unsuspecting people would find advertisements from this company, "International Library of Poetry" and "National Library of Poetry" placed in backs of magazines and television guides. Here are some of the other sister sites:
International Society of Poets
International Poetry Hall of Fame
Watermark Press
Birthwrites
International Lib
Pegasus Press
International Society of Photography
picture.com
Arts and Kids
They all work the same way. You enter a submission, they notify you that you are indeed a "semi-finalist" and then they request you to pay for a product to see your submission. If you do not pay, you do not get published.
The best advice for someone that wishes to publish their poetry and even make honest money doing so is to hang around professional writing forums. There you can learn all about the market for poetry and learn where to submit your work. Also, invest in a copy of "Poet's Market" and "Writer's Market". These books will point you toward legit companies that are looking to publish your work.
Remember what my Great Grandmother Trudy once told me, "You should never have to pay someone to see your work published, especially a contest." It is time to teach Poetry.com a lesson by not buying into to their scam. If more and more people would take the time to research this company and learn about the type of scam they promote, less people would pay them any mind, which would help put this company and sister companies out of business.
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