Just don't bother (poetry.com)

Member Name: Buzby

Product:	poetry.com
Date:	08/08/00 (87 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: none

Disadvantages: big con

Poetry.com is one of the biggest scams going. Send then a poem (free to enter!) it must be less than 20 lines, so that they can squeeze the larget amount of poems possible into an anthology costing around £60, that they hope the many contributors will buy, just to see a copy of their work in print!
Poets are told that all poems may be entered into thier annual competition with big prize money, and then EVERY yes absolutely EVERY poem entered receives an Email informing the poet they are through to the semi-final, and guess what...the poem is going to be included in their forhtcoming anthology, if you would like to see your poem in print, please send large cheque, you can even include a short biography, just send an even larger cheque!!
These people will accept ANYTHING! It has been extensively proved by the many legitimate poetry organisations. (One even had a shopping list through to the semi-final and accepted for publication!)
If you write poetry, and want to see your work in print, the best place to start is the small press magazines. Not all of these are able to pay, but even if you have to buy the magazine it will only be about £2-3. Some pay with complimentry copies, most run competitions with prize money, or have one poem each issue that is awarded money, but perhaps more importantly than that, to get published in even a small press magazine, you muct have at least some talent. The editors make informed decisions and only accept poetry they feel will enhance their magazines, so unlike poetry.coN!, you can have a real feeling of accomplishment when you look at your work in print.

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