The Poet Sanctuary : Spreading Poetry Scam Awareness
Ever get one of those annoying letters in the mail after entering a poetry contest, stating that you've been accepted for publication in a poetry book? After reading this did you notice the part of the letter that asks you to purchase the book beforehand? The main goal of a bad poetry contest is to extract money from poets rather than honor excellence and their skill.
So, how does a poet go about knowing the difference between a legit contest and just a scam? We've listed a few warning signs of many poetry scam contests and included a list of known scam contest and publishing companies to help you avoid falling into the trap.
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Legitimate Poetry Contests & Great Poetry Resources
These contests are dedicated to the poet and are safe to enter.
More will be added for your convenience soon.
The Poet Sanctuary | The Poet Sanctuary Excellence Award |
State Poetry Societies | Winning Writers | Writers Digest | Authors Den
Poet's Market | Poets & Writer's Magazine | Poets.org
| Windpublications.org
Top Warning Signs Of A Scam Poetry Contest
Unusually large cash awards (ex., $58,000), sponsor tries hard to sell you products that incorporate your work, like anthologies and plaques, is free to enter, but 'winners' have to pay a high price for a copy of the book, turns up a "Scam Warning" page when you search for it with Google. **The Poet Sanctuary does not**, they have low standards and are not choosy about who gets published, you win a prize but have to pay to attend a convention to receive it, only short poems (25 lines or less) are accepted - the better to pack them into an anthology.
Known Poetry Scam Contests and their Affiliates
DO NOT ENTER THE FOLLOWING CONTESTS!
Last Updated: May 2, 2008
AllFreeContests.com, American Literary Council, American Poets Society, Amherst Society (Dickinson Poetry Competition) Arts and Kids, Bards of Burbank, Berkely Bards, Birthwrites, Celestial Arts, Famous Poets Society, Florida Literary Guild, Freecontest.com, Hollywood's Famous Poets Society, Iliad Press aka Cader Publishing, Institute of Contemporary American Poetry, International Lib, International Library of Famous Poets, International Library of Poetry, International Poetry Hall of Fame, International Society of Photography, International Society of Poets, Living Poets Hall of Fame, National Library of Poetry, National Poetry Forum, National Poetry Society, New Jersey Rainbow Poets, New York Poetry Alliance, Noble House Publishers
, Oak Bend Poetry Contest, Pegasus Press, picture.com, Poetry Guild,
poetrycontestonline.com, Poets International Society, Poets.com, Remley Literary Agency
Reno Fine Arts Institue, Texas Poetry Alliance, Watermark Press, www.friendlypoets.com
If you know of a poetry scam that is not listed here, please bring it to our attention!
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LATEST SCAM NEWS: In early 2009, the biggest poetry scam on the internet known as Poetry.com failed in their business adventures. Their domain www.poetry.com was recently bought by Lulu.com. Therefore, we are no longer considering poetry.com as a scam as lulu.com is in no way involved with poetry.com's old poetry scam tactics. |
