Free Poetry Contests: Avoid the Scams

The idea of having your name in a book that you can proudly share with all your family and friends is exciting, to say the least. You can imagine your poem in the gilded pages of some beautiful anthology - and free poetry contests promise just that, and a lot more. I'm sure you've seen the emails stating, "Win $25,000" or "Your Poem Could Win". Just as many websites have banners that scream the same slogan.

I have a great friend that recently fell into the "Free Poetry Scam". Don't get me wrong - he's a fantastic writer, but he was lured in by the flashing dollar signs and the promise of publication. So if he's a great writer, when his work was chosen, how is that a scam? Simple - anyone can be published in some of these publications... if they're willing to pay for the dubious honor of being chosen.

The Free Poetry Contest Scam

Before I go on, let me state this: Not all free poetry contests are scams. Some are quite reputable. However, it's important to read the fine print and do some research before trusting your much-loved verse to a site that claims unbelievable prizes.

So let's name a name here, which I rarely do but the amount of complaints against this site and company are growing - literally - by the day because they're so simply dishonest. Poetry.com offers daily prizes and an ongoing round of "anthologies" which promise to award one lucky poet a hefty sum of money. It costs nothing to enter your poetry, and they claim to carefully judge your work...

Here's where the scam comes into play. Without fail (and, seriously, you can test this out yourself by submitting the worst piece of poetry you've ever written), you will receive a letter in the mail that states your poem (yes, the piece of crap that you used to test the theory) was a brilliant piece of art and that you are selected to receive a prize - which you must attend a convention in Washington to actually receive.