Writing Scams

[Andy]

There are lots of scams out there, "publishers" and "agents" who try to cheat writers out of their money. I'm working on making a comprehensive list, for several reasons.

1. If we end up posting advertisements on YWO, we want to make sure that as many scams as possible are blocked from appearing.
2. It's a good resource. :)
3. If you post their url address here, make sure the address does not take you directly to that site. That would only increase their Google rank. Instead, link it to somewhere that informs people of the scams. By doing that, you can help ruin their search ending ranks.

For example (go ahead and click):

poetry.com (http://www.sfwa.org/beware/)

These are good resources regarding literary scams. You can direct your links there: :devious:
http://www.sfwa.org/beware/
http://www.eliteskills.com/writing_scams/

Thanks for your help! Here are some scams for starters:

famouspoets.com (http://www.sfwa.org/beware/)
poetry.com (http://www.sfwa.org/beware/)
www.noblehousepublishers.co.uk (http://www.sfwa.org/beware/)
www.poetry-contest.com (http://www.sfwa.org/beware/)

[Shaun]

Poetry.com...lord they are horrible. The only good thing about that site is their rhyme finder...

This is a good idea Andy.

[Andy]

I always use the rhyme finder at http://rhymezone.com/ - the results are pretty good. They're separated by syllables, and the most-used words are in bold.

[GeorgeMichael]

"Poetry.com is a scam"


words that I heard right before I submitted something there long ago. Great idea guys.


P.S I've never heard of rhymezone... I always used rhymer.com

[Shaun]

A note on the advertisements. Most of the sites being displayed are not 'scams' in the traditional sense. A writing scam is a site that tells you they are a traditional publisher but requires you to pay for the publishing. Many of these sites are correctly calling themselves POD or self-publishing places, which isn't a scam at all since you know in self-publishing that you will pay all the upfront fees anyway, and POD sites are not 'traditional' publishing routes, but they are becoming more prevalent and useful.

Just take note of that when you see the sites presented in the ads. A good lot of them aren't scam sites, but I imagine a few will slip through.

[Shaun]

Just thought I'd add to the scam list: Any contest, that asks for anything more than $5 as a submission fee for flash fiction. It's a rip off. Most publishers won't even pay you more than $10 for flash fiction anyway, so why you would pay more than $5 to submit flash fiction to a contest is beyond me. Unless the contest is exceptionally prestigious (as in something that has proven to start people's careers such as the Writers of the Future contest) you shouldn't even think about it.