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Evaluating Poetry Contests
There are scamsters worldwide who prey on the vulnerability and vanity of writers. This is something that cannot be prevented, as writers are free to choose the method of publication for their books.
From time to time we receive inquiries about the International Society of Poets, www.poetry.com, and similar organisations and contests.
Our first response is: use your common sense when entering contests, especially over the internet. Caveat emptor! You will want to enter competitions and submit to publishers that truly evaluate your work and are regarded by their peers as being sound -- so you'll have to do some homework. And remember if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is...
Generally you can evaluate the soundness of a contest by the amount of information provided to entrants, the reputation of the organisation or contest among peers, judges, the longevity of the organisation, up-front information about fees and publication, etc.
A few things you may want to consider:
- First, did you submit a poem over the internet? Did they have lots of information about the contest, like who was judging, terms and conditions of entry, etc.? There are perfectly legitimate online contests, but the internet does increase the chance you may be dealing with a scam. If they have a website, take a look at it. Use your critical judgment.
- Second, were you informed about associated costs if you were a "winner" (e.g., winner pays own costs to travel to receive award). Have they released a list of winners? How many winners are there? Are they paying you, or are you paying them?
- Third, did you receive an honour that, by title alone, surprised you — such as international poet of the year?
- Finally, if you are asked for money or are expected to pay all your own costs, that can be a sign that all is not right.
Unfortunately many "contests" are indeed scams or run by vanity publishers, which damages the reputation of legitimate and longstanding contests, online magazines, etc. Internet contests are especially difficult to evaluate, so extra care should be taken when you are submitting your work -- you want it to be published by a worthwhile organisation.
On a cheerier note: don't assume that winning a contest that turns out to be suspect is necessarily a reflection of your talent as a poet — it is more a reflection of the values and purpose of the organisation that runs the contest.
For more information about poetry scams, visit:
- www.todays-woman.net/poetry-scams.html
- windpub.com
- www.writing.org
- www.absolutewrite.com
- www.winningwriters.com
- www.thepoetsanctuary.net
- www.writers.net
Vanity Publishing advice and warnings
If you are interested in checking out suspected scams Google will find them for you.
Type in: "publishing scams" in the search box and it will list hundreds of websites which will confirm your suspicions. This applies also to agents, vanity publishing and more. If you want to narrow down your search, add a name of a company you are interested to the "publishing scams" search.
If you'd like to add a site about poetry scams, send us an email.
