I, too, am a sucker. I fell for the Poetry.com AKA International Society of Poets scam and feel absolutely sick. For about a year now I have been receiving advertisements from Poetry.com about my "excellent" abilities as a poet and how special "only" my poetry was.
I have been invited to two conventions that cost a tremendous amount, but hey, if my poetry is so special why shouldn't I pay it, right? My latest invite was to this summer's convention in Philidelphia, on Augst 13-15. Guests such as Florence Henderson "an avid supporter of the International Society of Poets" will be the special guests as well as music by legendary R&B artists (who have already reported this falsehood).
How delighted I felt, as a recent college graduate with a BA in English Literature who has aspirations to work in a publishing house and one day have many published works. I couldn't believe what a great honor it was for me, for my poetry, to be selected. I thought what a wonderful break it was and how great all this would look on my resume.
Unfortunately, I am not coming out of this scam unscathed, I did fall for the letter they sent me telling me that my poem would be published in a coffee-table book of poetry. I bought the book (for $85). I know I should have known then but when someone aspires to be a published writer and the opportunity presents itself, one can't pass it up. I did receive the book which included about 400 other poems in it, all of which were printed so small I thought I was reading a dictionary. Now, I have checked with such well known bookstores as Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million, neither of which have even heard of the book (so much for getting my grandmothers one).
As luck would have it, I was just suspicious enought to check out the validity of this so-called Symposium in "America's Birthplace, Philidelphia" before taking the necessary steps (which would have totalled about $1,000). Thank you, usacomplaints.com and fellow consumers for reporting this tremendous scam.
What I want to know is, does this convention really exist? Do the "special guests" such as Florence Henderson know about their name being associated with this scam? Do people actually go to the convention or do they pay money and show up to an empty meeting hall?
But what I want to know most is, if this is such public knowledge that it is a scam, based on the numerous reports found here, why are they still in business? What can be done to put a stop to them?
Poetry.com, International Society of Poets, or whoever you are, you should be ashamed!
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