I wrote a poem once for poetry.com, and was invited to go to Las Vegas to see Tony Danza, have my poetry read, I was going to receive an award for free (with just $149.00 shipping) I could receive a three CD set with my poem read by a professional. All I did was buy the book my poem was in. The rest of it I truly believe is hype. I kept getting offers and offers in my email, and I got sick of it. It was one poem and not even that good. I'm glad this was bought up. I also got a letter from "Noble House" wanting to print my poetry, but before I did anything, I found out it was the biggest scam around. Thanks for letting me vent.

I have submitted and been "published." Seems no harm in that, but luckily their relentless appeal to vanity has always made me feel queasy, hence they've gotten not one red cent from me. Not that I have one to give anyway... I suppose that makes it a bit easier.

I am sorry to have to say, Patrice, that Poetry.com exploits the writer's need for acceptance and praise, and darn it all...so far, they do it within legal parameters! But that doesn;t make them any less dirty.

The only good thing to come from entering your poems to Poetry.com's anthologies is that now you can say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you ARE a published poet! Just don't tell any RESPECTABLE editor where it was you appeared in print..lol.

I have also recieved letters from poetry.com saying that I have won all these awards. The first time I got a letter about having my poem published, I was completely thrilled. I tookup on the offer and dropped $50 to get my poem published. I then got another offer and dropped $50 more to get another poem published. My books came in and it turns out that if you send in money, your poem gets on the front page. I got 2 books, that were supposed to be 2 -different- books) but they were the exact same. One had one poem and the other had my other poem, but the rest of the books were the exact same. I spent $100 to get 2 books, that are not sold anywhere but to poets in the book, that were pretty much the same book.
Poetry.com did a great job at making me feel amazing about myself, then ripping that good feeling away. I felt as if I was scammed, but some people might be able to find the tricks around them. So, when it comes to scams, in my experience-poetry.com is all about OUR money.

Patrice, there probably are very few of us who has not had a poem or two published in the Poetry.com anthologies, and paid to buy a copy of that book, and received all of the letters of congratulation and (of course) invitations to upcoming conventions. Scam? It depends on how you look at it. Poetry.com, like PublishAmerica, is in business to make money, and they do a wonderful job of accomplishing that goal. And they do offer a beginning poet the opportunity to hold a thick book in their hands -- with one of their poems in it! I still have my copy of the one anthology I bought, and I still have trouble finding my poem in that small type-face Poetry.com uses to scrunch as many poems as possible into each page. Ah ... lesson learned.

i agree with both kisha and cristine. unless u just want to spend some money & have a good social time, don't do it. if u r looking 4 interaction with other poets, writers, etc. why not take writing courses at a local univ. or college? there u will get real feedback from peers and u will give feedback. these r just my thoughts we all r vain kisha is surely on the right track aside from the interaction u get on AD and writing.com there just isn't much else available. Also, why not write to some author u really love reading and tell them u love their work, etc. Once i wrote to Ann Rule and she wrote me a letter back. Was i dizzy for a few days, though i didn't save it. still,...good luck i also teach ESL in Colombia--if u want action, go there and teach! cheers

Haha... no I am not laughing at your situation; I am laughing at mine. I entered one poem in the poetry.com contest, did not win (of course :}), however I was chosen as a semi-finalist with my "outstanding poetry". I, lusting for validation of my poetry skills (which I wasn't sure I had), recieved the letter in the mail. I was thrilled. I sent my $49.95 plus shipping and handling to the International Society of Poets and recieved my poem, on a "deluxe hardbond edition featuring my poetry on a page to itself" as the letter so proudly stated. And to top things off it was on the first page of the book. Have you ever heard the phrase "if it's to good to be true then it probably is"? I totally agree with that statement and dealing with poetry.com. I was already weary of the forty-nine dollars. But what took the cake was when they invited me to the convention. I did not have the money. They wrote me another letter stating that if I paid a fee they would have my poem read by a professional poet. I am the poet... that's as professional as it get. When it was too late for me to go to the convention(because I did not reply), they wrote me again to let me know that they would be sending me awards(for being such a great poet). However, I had to pay a large shipping and handling fee for "such bulky" awards.Who wants that kind of award? These are my personal experiences,I cannot speak for anyone but myself. It is your choice, but I would be very very weary of spending any amount of money on this group. Sorry my comment is so long.And remember if you deserve a award for your work then you should recieve just that and not have to pay for it. So don't feel bad about being a little vain, every poet (including myself) wonder if they have any talent and that is where the trap comes in... Sorry my comment is so long.

Yes, it's a scam. If you do a search on google, you'll see personal testimony from others who have been to the convention and felt scammed.

People have intentionally written gibberish poems, and over the top bad poetry, and even poetry that is actually about how poetry.com is a scam--and they still get the mail and email about how their poem has been carefully reviewed and selected for its quality. Which means they don't actually READ the poems there. They just send a form letter to everyone who submits.