The Sad Truth about Poetry.com

[PoliteSuccubus]

So, I knew it was some kind of scam but I went ahead and sent a few poems anyway and was quite happy when they were accepted. I was quite happy when they asked if they could include them on a recording of spoken poems. I fully exspected the sales pitch of "buy the book your poem is in". Which, of course, I didn't do since heck, I have my poem. I also didn't buy a plaque with my poem on it, etc, so forth and so on.

So then they send me a notice that I've won a siliver cup for "artist of note" and want me to come down to the awards assembly to collect it. In case I've not mentioned it before, I'm poor. So no, I'm not going to fly down to their award thingie and pay for a room in the hotel I would have to stay in, buy tickets to the show etc so forth and so on. But you know what? They never sent me the cup, either. Or contacted me again except about another poem I had submitted at the same time...and with the same speil.

I know the thing is prob about the size of my thumb, but I would have had liked to have the cup anyway.

So to Poetry.com

 

[WickedEve]

I've never heard anything good about them. You should email and ask, "Hey, where's my cup? You guys ever heard of FedEx?"

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

*giggles*

Thanks Eve.

I had thought of two things:

One; writing a poem about how they ripped me off and submitting it and see if they even do read them

"...she dusted the spot on her mantle and waited
Alas, alack, and forlorn,
The dust collected again..."

Two; posting in places like this and seeing who else didn't get their cups and getting a class action suit going. "Cupless cup winners v. Poetry.com"

 

[WickedEve]

I like both ideas.
I've seen other poetry.com threads over the months. So you don't seem to be alone when it comes to being displeased with their site.

Title suggestion for you: Gimme My Damn Cup!

Are the poems you submitted to them on this site too? I'm curious to read the silver cup winner.

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

Yes, but they are also here too, if you just click on my tag line "My Lit Stuff" At least two of them are. "When" is the sliver winner, but I'm very proud of Eros I and II, although they wouldn't accept them at that anti-cup place.

 

[Guest]

poetry.com suckers another person...

I wish I had found this thread earlier. I, too, have been wondering about poetry.com. I was just asking Rybka if he knew anything about it, and he sent me this link. Basically, I was also promised a silver cup, and asked to have my poem recorded on a CD, etc, and invited to D.C. for the poetry contest/awards meeting. Well, I too decided not to buy anything, and not to go (because it's freakin' expensive) and was just entering the phase of wondering if I'd get the "silver cup of $200 value" and be eligible for the prize money anyway. The above posts answer my question about that. I haven't yet signed to have my poem recorded onto a CD, but now I think I'm going to decline that option, since I don't want to get used for my poetry (if indeed they actually record anything at all).
--Xtaabay

 

[WickedEve]

Sorry about this happening to you, Xtaabay. We need to bump this thread on occasion to warn others that are new to the board.

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

Perhaps we should get a class action suit together!

We want our cups damn it!

(can you tell I'm American)

But really, there are laws against saying you've won something and then not sending it to you and other laws against saying you must perchace something to get your prize.

Unfornately I threw my peice of paper away saying that I'd won the cup.

Then again, since it is a scam, I could just submit something else....

 

[karmadog]

Where's My Cup?

Crap! A hard Grounder!
Dad,
Why didn't you buy me a cup?

Based on a true (painful) story

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

Thanks KD for my frist real chuckle and smile of the day!

 

[Destiny]

Cupless wonder.

Yeah know I was wondering about the damn cup too... Come get your cup and we will award it to you at a ceremony. Well I didn't go I am a poor one myself. Heck that is why we posted the poems was to win.


Class action poets against the witholders of the cups of desolation and despair.

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

Ok, if you like this, I am going to submit it to Poetry.com


Irony

Upon my mantle bare
I had once envisioned
A silver cup there
Shineing pure and bright
Rewarding the echo of my inner light
But dust lay there
And ashes in my heart
No reward for my selfless art.


lol.

Crap, idn't it? But if they reward me with a silver cup........... I can sue and tell the court the whole story, includeing that I wrote the crap on purpose, and Irony was more that just a title..


What do you all think?

 

[WickedEve]

Ok, if you like this, I am going to submit it to Poetry.com


Irony

Upon my mantle bare
I had once envisioned
A silver cup there
Shineing pure and bright
Rewarding the echo of my inner light
But dust lay there
And ashes in my heart
No reward for my selfless art.


lol.

Crap, idn't it? But if they reward me with a silver cup........... I can sue and tell the court the whole story, includeing that I wrote the crap on purpose, and Irony was more that just a title..


What do you all think?

I'm not sure if these guys at poetry.com will get your reference to the silver cup, or not. They may be that dense. Drop the "e" from shining and good luck.

 

[Guest]

poetry.com poetry

Let us know if your poem gets accepted at poetry.com. I've been wondering about something for quite some time now: do you think it's possible that they tell EVERYONE that their poems have been accepted, in order to maximize the possibility of getting money from people????? Something to ponder.

Hey, you know what we could do? We could start our own cup award, and actually GIVE it to people who win! Hm......

--Xtaabay

 

[Angeline]

Poem Award

Let us know if your poem gets accepted at poetry.com. I've been wondering about something for quite some time now: do you think it's possible that they tell EVERYONE that their poems have been accepted, in order to maximize the possibility of getting money from people????? Something to ponder.

Hey, you know what we could do? We could start our own cup award, and actually GIVE it to people who win! Hm......

--Xtaabay

Hiya X! I'm cynical enough to believe you can't *not* win at poetry.com. I dunno maybe if one wrote something that wasn't tongue-in-cheek bad, but so grammatically dreadful publication would make them look really bad, they'd reject it, but I think poetry.com is about profit not poetry.

I do however love your idea for our own award. I'd be willing to donate either an old bowling trophy (lol, you can't have everything) or spring for a t-shirt that says:

I WROTE A GREAT POEM AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY T-SHIRT

of course, in a color of the winner's choice.

 

[Guest]

Re: Poem Award

Hiya X! I'm cynical enough to believe you can't *not* win at poetry.com. I dunno maybe if one wrote something that wasn't tongue-in-cheek bad, but so grammatically dreadful publication would make them look really bad, they'd reject it, but I think poetry.com is about profit not poetry.

I do however love your idea for our own award. I'd be willing to donate either an old bowling trophy (lol, you can't have everything) or spring for a t-shirt that says:

I WROTE A GREAT POEM AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY T-SHIRT

of course, in a color of the winner's choice.

I love the T-shirt idea!!! This sounds promising!!
--Xtaabay

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

We can have that for the runners up, and then for the grand prize winner...........

A t shirt with that on the front, and their poem on the back!

 

[Angeline]

We can have that for the runners up, and then for the grand prize winner...........

A t shirt with that on the front, and their poem on the back!

Oh ok, but only if there's a limit on the poem length--I just realized I have to buy 400 plastic page protectors and a cool notebook to protect my poems.

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

You could get all fancey and buy a scrapbook and put your poems on interesting papers etc.

My daughter did that and some of the pages have brunt edges...some have flowers pressed around them...etc.

It's a real heirloom she intends to pass along to her most creative child.

 

[Angeline]

You could get all fancey and buy a scrapbook and put your poems on interesting papers etc.

My daughter did that and some of the pages have brunt edges...some have flowers pressed around them...etc.

It's a real heirloom she intends to pass along to her most creative child.

I dunno. I'm remarkably not crafty. Every craft I've ever tried to make looks like it was created by a demented preschooler.

 

[The_Fool]

I dunno. I'm remarkably not crafty. Every craft I've ever tried to make looks like it was created by a demented preschooler.

I thought you were a.....nevermind.....

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

And what is wrong with that?

People tend to put down children's art, but I find it wonderful.

And a demented preschooler? How priceless is that?

When you stop gradeing your work (and downgradeing it) and just enjoy your creativness you will find that not only is it not bad, but will automatically improve!

 

[PoliteSuccubus]

Please note: I've submitted "Irony"

Shamefully, I had to use my real name, otherwise the law suit wouldn't work.

 

[Angeline]

I thought you were a.....nevermind.....

I'll cop to demented, but I was in preschool--well, put it this way--they didn't *have* preschools when I would have been there.

 

[niyah]

I for one got the same speil about oh your poem is accepted. Let us include it in our book which you may purchase for 54.95. Recently I got the we would like to award you with the writer of note cup. Also the fancy award banquet in DC. Cost of the banquet and other things was 500.00 plus. Soooo I guess there are many of us out here that have fallen fr the same thing. I just had my first writing accepted here and I feel so good about it and look forward to submitting more and reading more.

niyah