Vanity Poetry Contests
Getting published can be a hard thing to do.
Sometimes it seems that there is a secret club, and if
someone just gave you the key, you could get in the door.
There would be other poets there. They'd see the fine work
you are doing. They'd give you a hand. In a way, it does
work like that. Poets are always looking for new
poets, and are always helping them. The help comes in many
forms, including literary magazines (small and smaller),
open mic sessions, poetry slams, your friends cornered in
the kitchen (sipping lattes), poetry publishers (harried and
more harried), workshops, your cat, editors, ezines, and
more and more frequently, contests. Most contests (like most
of our cats) are completely legitimate. They serve a variety
of purposes, which might even include profit, but they all
give you honest appraisal and honest exposure in a context
which might very well help you along. Some, however, don't.
Millions of poets have contributed to and financed a kind of
contest which is often called a scam. By way of
introduction, B.C. science fiction writer Eileen Kernaghan
has generously allowed us to reprint her
article...
Poetry
Con
tests
from
Hell
by Eileen
Kernaghan
(A slightly
revised version of this article appeared in Wordworks,
The Journal of the Federation of British Columbia
Writers, Spring 1999 issue.)
It seems that every literary
magazine and writers' organization in the English-speaking
world is running a poetry competition. In most cases the
sponsors are legitimate and the aims are worthwhile:
increasing a membership or subscription base, bringing
recognition and financial rewards to deserving poets. But
then there are the vanity contests, those money-grabbing
schemes that pop up like weeds in print and on the Internet:
"World's Best Poetry Contest: Up to $20,000 in prizes!
Become a Published Poet!" How is the struggling writer to
distinguish the reputable contests from the
not-so-reputable? It isn't easy, when the scam artists
seduce us with names like "National Library of Poetry",
"Institute of Contemporary American Poetry" or
"International Poetry Hall of Fame".
Some warning signs:
*
Expensive ads in
glossy magazines and daily newspapers. Legitimate
writers' organizations are more likely to run modest
announcements in publications read by the writing
community.
*
Very large cash
prizes with no entry fee. (Ask yourself how this contest
is being financed).
If you submit to one of these
pseudo-contests, your letter of acceptance (and you'll
almost certainly get one) should set off alarm bells. Every
sentence oozes flattery: you've been selected for
publication solely on the basis of your "rare and unique
talent". In a legitimate competition you're judged by
recognized professionals, or at least by your writing peers.
In the vanity contests, there's no discrimination. Good and
deliberately awful poems receive the same lavish
praise.
Their anthology of winning poems
will be described in glowing terms --"one of the most highly
acclaimed additions to the pool of poetic literature" raves
one promo piece. They're selling books, not snake-oil, but
the language is the same. There are no free contributors'
copies: you'll be asked to buy your author's copy (and, they
hope, several more for your friends, relatives and local
library) for up to $150 each. Or attend a convention
(registration fee: $495) or join the International Society
of Poets ($125) or attend a poetry camp where your name goes
up in lights ($600 for 3 days). The National Library of
Poetry anthologies run around 600 pages, with 10 poems per
page. That's 6000 "winning" poets -- a good percentage of
whom will buy the book.
If you're in doubt about the
validity of a contest, do some research. Talk to your
provincial writers' organization. Phone your library and
your local bookseller -- ask if they've ever heard of the
sponsoring organization, or its publications. Check with the
Better Business Bureau. Easiest of all is a search for
"Poetry Scams" on the internet, where you'll find handy
lists of the Worst Online Poetry Contests.
When I browsed on Altavista for
the National Library of Poetry, I found 2591 matches,
including a string of postings by disenchanted contest
entrants. As one disgruntled "winner" remarked, "it seems
there are one million unique poets out there."
Eileen
Kernaghan
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