Talk:Poetry.com

message: Some friends and I got suspicious and submitted random junk - as predicted we were approached with emails gushing over the talent that they saw in our works. It is a cynical preying on people who - like most - wish to be understood, but who unfortunately - like most again - do not count among those with any talent to express themselves eloquently in text.
More subjectively but just as relevant I think: look at the pictures from their events. It's tragedy! You can see in the eyes of the poor recipients of their tacky prizes that they sense it's a scam. From what first-hand reports say, the nearly inedible gala dinner hardly makes things better. 
Poetry.com is a well known thing. It's a scam. Hence it should be reported and describes as a scam on Wikipedia.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.226.169.28 (talk) 22:26, 20 September 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: That is a naive and idealistic view.  I resonate with your motivation, but you would do well to recognize what Wikipedia is, and what it is not.  enWP is not the BBB, and cannot function as such.  The end you seek is STILL accomplished, I believe, by doing what Wiki does, and did here: reporting the BBB results, the facts of the unresolved but legit lawsuit/prosecution filed, etc.  That's as far as Wikipedia needs to go, or practically CAN go, for liability reasons, and because the mandate is to be an encyclopedia, and NOT the internet police!  Thank you for your concern, and your participation.  rags (talk) 16:06, 21 September 2018 (UTC)
thread_title: If Poetry.com is not a scam, then what is a scam more precisely?

message: This article is not Neutral in its content (this comment added by Watersoftheoasis on 2007-02-17T14:08:57)
:Wow, that's helpful.  Could you expand on that a little bit? rone 23:52, 1 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Most of the article is talking about how bad Poetry.com is. Watersoftheoasis 18:42, 4 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, yes.  Most of the discussion I've seen of poetry.com in third party sources is about how bad they are.  Therefore this is balanced coverage. JulesH 11:40, 15 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Neutrality of this document

message: The International Library of Poetry is a scam very close to the edge of the law. They may have edged over the line in some cases. Not quite a vanity publisher, they do not ask for money to publish a poem (at least not in the first letter) but charge an exorbitant price ($50) for shoddy copies of compilations of submitted poems. They do, however, charge to include a small blurb about the poem and/or the victim - I mean, Poet. There follows an invitation to a conference (cost around $600 per person, not including food & lodging) to read your poem and accept your award (which I suspect you will never see if you don't go.)
It is apparently impossible to get a rejection. Not only was my deliberately bad poem Storms accepted as a semi-finalist, I have found examples on the internet of absolutely ridiculous poems, including complete gibberish, that also received this high award. An entire fourth grade class wrote and submitted poems; all were accepted. Dave Barry printed his hilariously bad-but accepted poem in his column.
While I was researching this, I did not keep info on sources. That's why this is on Talk page.
*wcf Facts are stubborn. Comments? 06:58, 21 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I believe the correct term for what Poetry.com does is doing is pyramid scheme, and I remember that the BBB] ruled that they are skirting the law in their actions. In other words: they may not be doing anything illegal, but that doesn't mean what they are doing is right. I can definitely vouch for that, as leading amateur poets along and making them think they ae actually getting recognized for their achievements is just plain wrong. Try to find someone that actually won money in one of their contests, you'll find it easier to locate Jimmy Hoffa. 65.54.97.153 17:42, 22 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I would agree with the negativity you both have expressed, but would add that what they seem to have done (they are shut down, now, for whatever reason) is to very carefully stay on the line at legality, while crossing the ETHICAL line BOLDLY.  I fail to see, though how it qualified as a pyramid scheme.  Scam, yes, definitely.  rags (talk) 16:14, 21 September 2018 (UTC)
thread_title: Cruelty of Poetry.Com

message: While working at a major Canadian mail institution I feel it is my duty as founder of the legitimate Canadian Poetry Association to edit and comment on Poetry.com letters back to submitters as the mail is being processed and sent through the system, Just doing my part (illegaly but with a good hearted pen stroke and fear of being fired) to let the world know of their schemes. WayneRay 15:24, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Doing my part

message: I know of a few link that we can add to enforce the warnings about this scam (I've been a victim of this myself) Would it be all right to add them to the main article? Also, I think that the part about the pyramid scheme would also be an interesting thing to add as well.
What do you think? Bookbat_98 22:17, 17 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Post the links here and we can discuss what is and isn't appropriate.  As for the pyramid scheme, we'd need to find a reliable source that had made the comparison before we could include something like that.  I'm concerned that while the comparison is evocative, the similarities aren't great enough for it to truly work. JulesH 23:08, 17 May 2007 (UTC)

text: Both of those sound like a good idea.  I've included them in the way I think is best; do you have any comments? JulesH 08:13, 18 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Question 

message: On its website, the organization claims to award a $1,000.00 monthly and a $10,000.00 annual prize. Does anyone know if these monies are actually given out? If that were the case, the contest would technically be legitimate. It would be a sham in that all contestants advance to the semi-finals, but a genuine competition in that there would be real winners selected on the basis of their work. 
There is a list on their site of supposed "past winners." Were these people truly given checks, or is this part of the scam? And if certain persons were selected for prizes, were they done so based on the poem they submitted or simply at random? 
That kind of information could greatly improve the article.
:I've never heard a suggestion that they don't; on the other hand I've never seen a source that confirms that they do either.  I think we can assume, due to absence of evidence otherwise, that they really do give out these prizes.  I believe there is some evidence, also, that the prize winner's poems were selected according to merit.  I don't think there's any evidence, however, that all submissions were considered for these prizes -- that, at least, is heavily implied by their low standards of what they consider a semi-finalist.  JulesH 09:56, 23 May 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Another Question

message: i feel like i got hit in the head,
                                by cupids' arrow in bed. 
                                  
                                 
                                   i feel so much pain,
                                      near my heart. 
                                   i just cant exclam,
                               it felt like a realy fast dart.
                                     love is near,
                                     love is far.
                                     love is clear,
                                     love is hard.
                                                   BY Gaia Carrigan and Winter Kornfield  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.44.22.44 (talk) 21:33, 2 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  love 

message: I though I was in love but I'm not in love
                       I'm in hate I hate you!!!  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.44.22.44 (talk) 21:46, 2 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Hate 

message: im in search of a copy of the book my poem appeared in back in y2k. I know im not the only one trying to find this information, so if anyone could list titles with dates, that would be great, thx!
Jordan - zombie_rdc AT hotmail DOT com - Poem: Forever Pain
They changed to LULU When we lost msn but all published poems are archived on loulu DELLICA9 (talk) 06:05, 10 December 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  ISO: Titles of books released by the former Poetry.com 

message: Does anyone have any ideas as to what is going on? These people have been online for years and ALL of a sudden they are gone.Something is fishy,for sure HonBee777 (talk) 01:20, 20 May 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Why Did Poetry.Com Disappear?