I use to send a few of my poems to the site poetry.com with hopes of gaining the $1,000 prize at the end. Somehow, all the poetry I sent would be acknowledged a few weeks later with a letter in the mail stating that my poem was a semi-finalist for the cash prize; the letters would also be subsequently crammed with brochures of poetry anthologies to purchase, along with a list of other products to buy with either my name, poem, or both, engraved on it. Then there would always be an offer to attend some sort of poetry convention for a price ranging between three to four hundred dollars. I never bought anything, mind you, and in turn I never got any form of a monetary award.
A few months ago I came upon this website called winningwriters.com. It was through this website that I read an article regarding the subject of "vanity poetry contests" -- contests that basically receives all submissions and automatically sends the individual a letter saying that their poem is a semi-finalist, and that they will win the grand prize provided they purchase something, or attend a pricey convention. I decided to test out the validity of that article by composing the most horrible poem ever to spawn in the dark crevices of my mind, and sending it in to poetry.com to see if I would receive that automatic letter. Here was the poem that I sent:
"(Ling-Lin) Reynold's Rap": You want a piece of me?/ You want a piece of me?/ I'll giveyouapiece of ham/ if you trade that piece of chee.
Sure enough, today in the mail I received a letter stating "after careful reading and discussing of your poem, our Selection committee has certified your poem as a semi-finalist..." Of course, the next immediate paragraph below included large blue print with the line: "And that's not all... Imagine Your Poem Featured on a Page By Itself in a Beautiful Coffee-table Edition!" Good Lord. I also read an article (on winningwriters.com) about how the humor columnist Dave Barry once instructed his readers to send a poem to poetry.com under the first name "Freemont," along with the insertion of the line "dog ate mothers toes." I suggest that if you are having a bad day and need a good laugh, go to poetry.com and type in "Freemont" in the first-name search engine. Enjoy.
Oh, and beware of any scam writing competitions. Contests/scholarships that claim to be scholarships really aren't if you're the one funding them.
A google search of writing scams will return hundreds of sites dedicated to just those things. One should always be careful and check with those sites, the Better Business Bureau, etc before sending anything in. Scams abound these days and far too many people are duped into playing along because they don't know the facts.
http://www.sfwa.org/beware/
Writers Beware (link above) is a good place to check out. The site is very comprehensive.
Thanks, I will definitely check out the link you provided.
Very good point.. I've seen more than a few of those competitions too...
I'd just like to reassure you that THIS IS NOT ONE....
I won it last year, and the money IS good.
I'm going to do that search engine thing though... Freemont? Hmmmmmmmm
Yes, I know ProgressiveU isn't a scam writing competition, mainly because I haven't been asked to buy or pay for anything. Have fun with the Freemont search on poetry.com, some of the poems submitted are quite hilarious.
Ahh poetry.com. I remember that site. The haiku game was fun though.
WinningWriters is a good site. I've never come across something of theirs that wasn't legitimate.
~Piano-Fighter~
Here are some links in regards to Dave Barry's "Freemont" Project in the past:
http://windpub.com/literary.scams/D-Barry.htm
http://www.syaross.org/freemont/
I know. I sent a horrible poem in to poetry.com also and got the same letter. I got so tired of their e-mails that I blocked their address. Does anyone know whether the Scholastic Arts and Writing Award is okay or if that is a scam too?
Is this the site you're talking about?: http://www.scholastic.com/artandwritingawards/index.htm
If it is, it looks legitimate. There aren't any flashing ad banners, or any ad banners for that manner, and since Scholastic is a credible publishing company I wouldn't regard their contest as a scam. Good luck if you are entering!
You know what I did the same thing, and it was my first poem. When I got the letter I was so happy, but when I seen the price for the convention I was like WWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, no way would that be possible.
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I never let my schooling interfere with my education. - Mark Twain
I really wonder how those conventions work. The brochures always show people holding up checks for amounts spanning between one to ten thousand dolllars, and then they have special guests like Montel Williams or Ruben Studdard. To be honest, I would probably go if I was rich and had the money, but since that'll never happen I probably will never attend.
I mainly submitted 3 poems poetry.com and 2 pictures to pictures.com (same company) for points with mypoints.com. I always got the letters though so a few weeks ago I submitted a poem I made up right then something to the effect that no matter what bait I use I always get a bite. Refering to whatever garbage you send in is always going to be published.
Helium.com also hosts writing contests which don't run at all as described. Most people put a lot of time in to win big prizes that go to a few people who subvert the system (and may actually work for Helium!). Google news search for Helium.com or simple Google Helium.com scam!