Summa Summarum

Of Scams and Shams Pt 2

As you know, Magnapoets has its announcements page, and I often get asked to post upcoming events and news for other publications.  I do my best to post as many relevant ones as I can, but there are those, from time to time, that I must turn down because they are not reputable ventures.

Case in point. One "contest's" big prize was a Lulu special of the author's own book. Big deal. I mean, come on, any author can self-publish a Lulu book. How is that a prize? What would the contest sponsor's motive be in offering such a crummy prize? Well, when a new poet, someone who is green and eager to get published, finally gets that publication, what does he/she do but tell friends and family, and what do THEY do but rush out a buy copies of said publication? In other words, this is a very slimy way for a "publication" to make big bucks off unsuspecting, inexperienced writers. First they pocket the reading fee which is SUPPOSED to contribute towards prize money for the winning authors, and then they offer a fake prize that cost them nothing.

Also beware of publications that suddenly turn into contests, even if they offer prizes. Why? Oftentimes, publications that are in trouble (can't get enough subscribers, can't attract quality writers) switch tactics to keep stay alive. They ask writers to PAY for their own publication. A writer should NEVER be asked to pay for his or her own publication. Never. Don't buy into the "we-are-only-a-small-press-and-we-all-must-contribute" line. There are plenty of publications that will  pay writers for their work, either in the form of money or contributors' copies. Either one is fine. They NEVER should ask you, the writer, for a publishing fee. These bogus publications that pass as contests, are doing just that - taking your money to fund their publications under the guise of being contests.

Now legitimate contests DO have the right to ask for reading fees. Legitimate contests are affiliated with respected publications and have judges who are easily recognized in the publishing field. They are associated with publications that don't need your hard-earned dollars to keep their venture going. The bogus ones either take your money and pocket it, after awarding the "prize" to a fake name (usually a poem they've written themselves and "published" under a pen name in order to fake legitimacy) OR they award it to one of their friends. If the contest seems too good to be true (unrecognizable names with huge cash prizes) it usually is.

Research contests and publications before submitting to them. Is the Judge's name affiliated with lots of LEGITIMATE publications (no self-published books here), legitimate past awards, a legitimate press? Are past prize winners poets whose work appears in other places?

Also beware of places that are seeking to publish "emerging" writers. That's a slick way of saying they hope lots of unknowns come their way so they can take advantage of them. Yes, there are publications that seek to promote new writers, but they will also have a healthy balance of established writers and an easily recognized and researchable editorial panel.

It is very easy for anyone to offer a false resume. I know one man who lied that he was a lit professor, something easily researched. It turned out that he taught a night class in a local college for 2 weeks before he was fired. (He had no degree, by the way). Another woman who claimed to be an editor turned out to be someone who created circus pamphlets and stuffed envelopes for other businesses. There is the "editor" who brags about winning a poetry prize that is only for beginner poets. Someone who takes 30 years to win a beginner's poetry prize is hardly someone fit to judge your work.

So beware. Cherish your craft and work at it. If you can't get into quality publications just yet, don't give into temptation to let less-than-stellar publications have your work. It's far better to wait until your work is ready to be published. Read good publications. Try to understand what qualifies as good poetry. Do your best to emulate that in your own voice. It's really better to have no publication credits than to have bad ones.

The Thing About Having Your Address Online....

There was a popular online publication called Poetic Voices to which I was a frequent contributor years ago. Poets' email addresses appeared after our posts and it used to be interesting to see the kind of feedback our poems would receive.

Now, I have Magnapoets' postal address online. It is supposed to be for subscriptions and general correspondence, but oftentimes I receive gifts at that address. Adorable letters from schoolkids who study my poetry in class are my favourite, but I also receive books, stationery, jewellery, candy, bookmarkers, music, original recordings, artwork, journals, day planners, and clothing!

It always amazes me how much readers pay attention. I wrote about a particular childhood book I had in one of the editor's comments sections of an early issue of Magnapoets only to receive a copy of the exact book nearly three years later. How sweet is that?

Anyway, if people want to know what the best part of poetry today is, it's the readers. I have the best. Thank you for taking the time to send such wonderful feedback. You are appreciated.

Aurora

A few updates

Only a few copies of One Hundred Droplets and While The Light Holds, remain available, so if you want copies, see how to get them here.  The final printing cycle of these particular anthologies was our last because we're getting ready to move on to our third anthology of the series. 

While our first two anthologies were Japanese-form poetry only, our next anthology will be open to every form of poetry. That means we'll be reading sonnets, villanelles, triolets, free verse, in addition to haiku, senryu, haiku, tanka, and haibun.  This anthology will be themed as the previous two were, but you'll have to wait for our July announcement to find out what the theme is. :)

As many have noticed, Magnapoetsis focusing more and more on print projects solely. In March, we will be closing down our online blogs to introduce  new print interactive features. On-line poetry blogs (where poems are posted regularly) are going the way of the dinosaurs. There are a number of reasons why this is happening. One of them is plagiarism. An on-line presence makes work easier to find, thus easier to steal. It's very commonplace for a poet with a poetry blog to find his/her work on one of those phony "publication" sites, or on someone else's blogs, or in someone else's lit assignment!  Another reason is that those who love poetry like to have something in their hands to hold onto, to keep, collect, read and re-read, and  lend to others.

In addition to Magnapoets, I'll be participating on a few editorial boards and panels. It looks like 2010 is shaping up to be a great year for poetry.