Let The Writer Beware!

Along the great Internet search for publishing opps. we are bound to meet some scam artists looking for some ripe victims in need of positive feedback at any cost (yep...they don't care about your work; they just want your cash).

Copyright Registration Service (NOT!)
One of the most nefarious scamps I've encountered is Copyright Registration Service (CRS). They claim to internationally register the copyright of your work online-for a fee of course.

They LOOK legit (fooled me into posting it on my Seawoman's Caribbean Writing Opps. site) but when I learnt more about Reproduction Rights Organisations or RROs (nothing to do with pregnancy-repography in its various forms), I realised that I didn't see any reference to IFRRO or the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO). Thanks to Access Copyright in Canada, the mentoring RRO of the Barbados Copyright Agency, Inc. (B-COPY), I discovered it was a fraud.

However, there was an endorsement logo of the Intellectual Property Rights Office (Who the hell are they?) that turned out to be...guess what? A sham too.

When you dig further, you'll realize it's hard to find a contact address or even telephone number. Pretty suspicious, if someone wants your money. I even tried to find it in Google or Acronym Finder; no luck.

POETRY.COM- The Mother of All Poetry ScamsI hope you are familiar with one of the big ones POETRY.COM (pops up everywhere). They also go by:

• The National Library of Poetry
• International Library of Poetry
• Watermark Press
• International Society of Poets

This is an example of a VANITY anthology. They pay for their costs purely from all the proceeds they make from people who buy their anthology, attend their seminars etc.

A bona fide or prestigious journal or anthology (like POUI: The Cave Hill Literary Annual or CALABASH: A Caribbean Journal of Arts & Letters) DOES NOT ask the contributors to buy their first copy (in which their work appears)!

But would any self-respecting poetry contest or organization advertise in the National Enquirer (watch this ad on Youtube) like they do?

So, if in doubt, check it out with someone else in your wrting circle. They just might be able to help you. Meanwhile,check out the following:

Check it out for yourself

WATCH PoetryNOT.com and Poetry Scam on Youtube. Very enlightening!

READ:

Excerpt from ABC's 20/20 News Magazine TV program script-Jan 5, 1998
& THE POETRY.COM SCAM
http://windpub.com/literary.scams/abc-nlp.htm

Getting The Scoop On Poetry Scams by Linda A. Dewey

A "FAMOUS" just POET'S STORY

Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America's ALERTS FOR WRITERS

Writer's Weekly ezine's Whispers And Warnings Forum

Ask yourself:

• Is it difficult to find an address or contact name?
  
• Do I have to purchase a copy of the book in which my work appears?
• Are they giving you promises of everything (including huge cash awards) for nothing?
• Do they have criteria for assessing the work?
  
• Are they flattering you (without even seeing your work?)
• Is it affiliated with a suspicious looking organisation?
  

So be selective, Your work and your reputation deserve it.


Copyright (C) Sandra Sealy, 2008