Talk:Poetry.com

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Articles for deletion

This article was nominated for deletion on January 22, 2006. The result of the discussion was keep. An archived record of this discussion can be found on Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Poetry.com.

Contents

[edit] Neutrality of this document

This article is not Neutral in its content (this comment added by Watersoftheoasis on 2007-02-17T14:08:57)

Wow, that's helpful. Could you expand on that a little bit? rone 23:52, 1 March 2007 (UTC)
Most of the article is talking about how bad Poetry.com is. Watersoftheoasis 18:42, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
Well, yes. Most of the discussion I've seen of poetry.com in third party sources is about how bad they are. Therefore this is balanced coverage. JulesH 11:40, 15 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Cruelty of Poetry.Com

The International Library of Poetry is a scam very close to the edge of the law. They may have edged over the line in some cases. Not quite a vanity publisher, they do not ask for money to publish a poem (at least not in the first letter) but charge an exorbitant price ($50) for shoddy copies of compilations of submitted poems. They do, however, charge to include a small blurb about the poem and/or the victim - I mean, Poet. There follows an invitation to a conference (cost around $600 per person, not including food & lodging) to read your poem and accept your award (which I suspect you will never see if you don't go.)

It is apparently impossible to get a rejection. Not only was my deliberately bad poem Storms accepted as a semi-finalist, I have found examples on the internet of absolutely ridiculous poems, including complete gibberish, that also received this high award. An entire fourth grade class wrote and submitted poems; all were accepted. Dave Barry printed his hilariously bad-but accepted poem in his column.

While I was researching this, I did not keep info on sources. That's why this is on Talk page.

  • wcf Facts are stubborn. Comments? 06:58, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
I believe the correct term for what Poetry.com does is doing is pyramid scheme, and I remember that the BBB] ruled that they are skirting the law in their actions. In other words: they may not be doing anything illegal, but that doesn't mean what they are doing is right. I can definitely vouch for that, as leading amateur poets along and making them think they ae actually getting recognized for their achievements is just plain wrong. Try to find someone that actually won money in one of their contests, you'll find it easier to locate Jimmy Hoffa. 65.54.97.153 17:42, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Doing my part

While working at a major Canadian mail institution I feel it is my duty as founder of the legitimate Canadian Poetry Association to edit and comment on Poetry.com letters back to submitters as the mail is being processed and sent through the system, Just doing my part (illegaly but with a good hearted pen stroke and fear of being fired) to let the world know of their schemes. WayneRay 15:24, 7 March 2007 (UTC)WayneRay

[edit] Question

I know of a few link that we can add to enforce the warnings about this scam (I've been a victim of this myself) Would it be all right to add them to the main article? Also, I think that the part about the pyramid scheme would also be an interesting thing to add as well.

What do you think? Bookbat_98 22:17, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

Post the links here and we can discuss what is and isn't appropriate. As for the pyramid scheme, we'd need to find a reliable source that had made the comparison before we could include something like that. I'm concerned that while the comparison is evocative, the similarities aren't great enough for it to truly work. JulesH 23:08, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

Writing Scams- http://www.eliteskills.com/writing_scams/poetry.com.scam.php is the main link I was thinking of adding. I like this link because it offers detailed information about the scam and it's inner workings. The 'show me proof' and victims stories pages are also very informative.

20/20 Excerpt- http://windpub.com/literary.scams/abc-nlp.htm I could be wrong, but I think that this was what WCFrancis was refering to.

Please let me know what you think so far. Bookbat_98 02:50, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

Both of those sound like a good idea. I've included them in the way I think is best; do you have any comments? JulesH 08:13, 18 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Another Question

On its website, the organization claims to award a $1,000.00 monthly and a $10,000.00 annual prize. Does anyone know if these monies are actually given out? If that were the case, the contest would technically be legitimate. It would be a sham in that all contestants advance to the semi-finals, but a genuine competition in that there would be real winners selected on the basis of their work.

There is a list on their site of supposed "past winners." Were these people truly given checks, or is this part of the scam? And if certain persons were selected for prizes, were they done so based on the poem they submitted or simply at random?

That kind of information could greatly improve the article.

I've never heard a suggestion that they don't; on the other hand I've never seen a source that confirms that they do either. I think we can assume, due to absence of evidence otherwise, that they really do give out these prizes. I believe there is some evidence, also, that the prize winner's poems were selected according to merit. I don't think there's any evidence, however, that all submissions were considered for these prizes -- that, at least, is heavily implied by their low standards of what they consider a semi-finalist. JulesH 09:56, 23 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] love

                            i feel like i got hit in the head,
                               by cupids' arrow in bed. 
                                 
                                



                                  i feel so much pain,
                                     near my heart. 
                                  i just cant exclam,
                              it felt like a realy fast dart.




                                    love is near,
                                    love is far.
                                    love is clear,
                                    love is hard.



                                                  BY Gaia Carrigan and Winter Kornfield  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.44.22.44 (talk) 21:33, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Hate

               I though I was in love but I'm not in love
                      I'm in hate I hate you!!!  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.44.22.44 (talk) 21:46, 2 October 2007 (UTC)