Poetry - International Society Of Poets ripoff, scam The book was NOTHING like they hyped it out to be. Owings Maryland

I entered a poem on their site just for me, nothing else. A few weeks later I get a letter in the mail that my poem was selected as a top semi-finalist in a drawing and received this "official looking" certificate . Now I am NOT one to fall for scams, but being that I am looking to publish my poems I fell for this one.

After a few weeks I get a letter in the mail that after careful consideration, my poem was specially selected to be put in their new coffee table book. They give you a special offer of receiving a reduced price for reserving a copy early at a 50% savings or something. They also give you an offer to add a few words from you for an additional charge of, I think, $25. I opted out of the extra $25 but stupidly fell for the advanced copy offer.

I get the book, it was thrown together and trashy. There was no artwork and each page had about 10 to 15 poems crammed in. The book was NOTHING like they hyped it out to be. Not to mention that I was told it would be ready by the first of the year, 2003, I did not get the book until months later.

I go to visit a friend. Hanging on his wall is the exact same certificate that I received for a poem he put on their site. He also fell for their book scam. In talking to several other writer friends of mine, it seems Poetry.com hands out these certificates to anyone that posts on their site and then makes the big book deal offer. About a week ago, my roommate received the exact same offer for a different book they are creating.

Basically why I am posting this is for any other writers out there looking to get your works published, don't fall for this scam! These people are total scam artists. The books are not even for sale to the general public (at least you can't go to Walden Books or Barnes and Noble and buy them). Go with a real publisher, not these con artists!

Joe
Phila, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.