I turned in my poem I wrote a long time ago to poetry.com in a contest thing and they wrote back that they wanted to publish it in a book on it's own page and that I am a semi-finalist in the poem constest. There are prizes of $1000 and an annual $10000 prize. My questions are, should I buy the book my poem is going to be published in?; my stepdad said he did the same thing a long time ago (different company I think) and that the book is only avaible to the people who wrote the poems and that they are not actually going to be "on shelf" at stores; even though this is true do you think I should buy the book being that I actually got my poem published? My other question is since I am this far in the contest should I go for all it is worth?; by me saying this I mean entering it in different contest, making more poems and seeing if I can have a side job as a writer (I am an accountant), and such stuff?

I'd check to see that if they do decide to publish your work, you haven't automatically signed over the copyright to your poem. If you then ask someone else to publish it you may get in trouble!

I'd buy the book though, it would be a nice keepsake and definitely keep writing!

Good Luck!

J

Ah, right, sorry to burst your bubble, but you may want to read this first;

Poetry.com - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetry.com#Criticism)

I thought they would be like that but I didn't look into it much. Oh well, although this is true your poem is still being "published" in a book and you have the chance to get it (like I said you probably can't find it in a store) and I might still buy it. I am kind of sad however about the contest being like that. However, I do believe my poems are very good and I will still try to write some more. Been a while but I will get back into it.

Lol its funny though, I look at Wikipedia for everything but didn't this time :).

Thx for your help Hunter <3.

I've heard this is a scam, good link BTW, and that they will publish ANY poem and put it in this book because they charge a lot for the book and hope you buy more than 1 copy (for family, friends etc). It actually only costs a few dollars a book to print and they charge up to $100.00 for the book.

They will continue to send you more and more stuff to buy (mug with your poem on it, framed poem, etc) because they want your money. I have a friend who fell for this in 8th grade. It's sad that this is a scam, but it's true.

If you think your poetry is good and worth being published, send it off to a few publishers and see what response you get. There are books you can get at your local bookstore, or you can search the web. Try poetry magazines; a lot won't pay, but will publish and pay you in copy. You also can sometimes submit to college literary magazines. Be aware, though, it takes a lot of dedication to be published, and you will get a lot of rejection letters (telling you to try your work 'elsewhere'). This is because reading is not as popular as it used to be (poetry especially), you are an unpublished, unrepresented writer, and frankly, no one knows who you are. It's a tough, tough business to get into. The most success I ever got was a handwritten rejection (not a form letter!) from a publisher. I wish you luck though!

I did this also and is cost $100
Do u actually get the book
They said I shuld get in summer 2007

I've heard that yes you do. They wait till they get as many orders as possible and print them all at once and move on to the next batch of "customers"

As others have said, Poetry.com is a major scam. Virtually every single submitted poem has the opportunity of getting published, and your poem will only be included in their published material if you pay them money. There are very many legit poetry contests, and I wish you luck with those instead.

Sincerely,
Victor Ly

Yeahh they said they I will get mine summer 2008