United Press Ltd free poetry competition

[Catherine Edmunds]

Anyone remember poetry.com? If you do, some of this will start to sound a little familiar.

United Press Ltd have been advertising a free to enter poetry competition, with big prize money. This is how it works. You enter your poem/poems. A few weeks later you get a load of bumph through the post. You haven't won, but they liked one of your poems well enough to want to publish it in their anthology. So far so good. They say "We aren't vanity publishers". The fact that they feel they need that disclaimer makes you a little wary. Now the clincher. Because you're in the anthology, you can get a fifty per cent discount on the normal price! Wow! All they ask you to do is proof read your poem, and send it back (in under seven days - no time for careful consideration or research) along with an ordering slip. There is another form you can fill in for the optional 'extras'. They kindly include a breakdown of the total cost. If you buy your copy at the discounted price (£11.99 including postage and packing) and also want the little extras - ie, profile, dedication and pen name - then the total cost for ONE book comes to £46.96.

Yes, really. You could end up paying the forty-six pounds and ninety-six pence, for a book with one of your poems.

How do I know all of this? Because muggins here was taken in by the advertising a few weeks ago, and entered the competition.

The two key pieces of bumph they sent me were:

1). The copy of my poem for proof reading (which had my name and address incorrect spelled, suggesting that they possibly put a deliberate error in to make sure I sent it back, though obviously it would be impossible to prove that). The one good thing (I thought at first) was the copyright notice; writers retain all rights and can re-publish where and when they wish without first seeking permission from United Press. Of course, on reflection, other publishers might well not want something that's pre-published by United Press...

2). The personal letter. This, in my case, started with my full name and address spelled correctly (unlike on the proofs) followed by "Dear Mr Edmunds". Not many blokes called Catherine... but still. We'll let that pass. Then there's a load of waffle, plus a perfectly reasonable "no-quibble money back guarantee" which is fair enough (and is presumably what allows them to say they are not vanity publishers). At the end of the letter is a tear off section that says "PLEASE RETURN THIS SLIP". It doesn't say 'you must return this slip or we won't publish you', but that is the implication. The slip gives just two options -- buy half price, or go to the trouble of accepting the book full price and then going down the post office to return it if you change your mind.

Is it a scam? Well, gut reaction says 'yes', but they're quite clever. There's nothing illegal here. They're perfectly straightforward about what it costs. All they're doing is making a tidy profit from people who'll pay through simple naivety (and/or vanity).

Look, anyone here who's thinking of doing this, remember this fact: if a traditional publisher likes your poem, they will always give you a free copy of the anthology and quite likely pay you as well. That's how it works. Simple.

Writers' sites frequently give warnings about poetry.com. They need to be giving warnings about United Press too; not promoting them (as has just happened on another site, which shall remain nameless, though some of you will know which one I mean).

[the_leander]

Tis a scam.

I'm also fairly sure its been covered by the BBC's watchdog programme.

Certainly, they covered something spookily similar about 2 years ago... I'll have a dig around to see if I can find the article.

[Louis P. Burns aka Lugh]

Anyone remember poetry.com? If you do, some of this will start to sound a little familiar.

United Press Ltd have been advertising a free to enter poetry competition, with big prize money. This is how it works. You enter your poem/poems. A few weeks later you get a load of bumph through the post. You haven't won, but they liked one of your poems well enough to want to publish it in their anthology. So far so good. They say "We aren't vanity publishers". The fact that they feel they need that disclaimer makes you a little wary. Now the clincher. Because you're in the anthology, you can get a fifty per cent discount on the normal price! Wow! All they ask you to do is proof read your poem, and send it back (in under seven days - no time for careful consideration or research) along with an ordering slip. There is another form you can fill in for the optional 'extras'. They kindly include a breakdown of the total cost. If you buy your copy at the discounted price (£11.99 including postage and packing) and also want the little extras - ie, profile, dedication and pen name - then the total cost for ONE book comes to £46.96.

Yes, really. You could end up paying the forty-six pounds and ninety-six pence, for a book with one of your poems.

How do I know all of this? Because muggins here was taken in by the advertising a few weeks ago, and entered the competition.

I phoned and recorded this crowd this afternoon Delph. I'll be doing a bit more research into them over the next few weeks. To the best of my knowledge they were also behind that farce in 2004 - The National Food Poetry Competition. They're the ones who in association with that gangster's moll; Suzi over on MSN The Pleasure Dome; a home for wannabe's, wankers and wasters of creativity fleeced me of writing and some photography. They have what's coming to them...

The two key pieces of bumph they sent me were:

1). The copy of my poem for proof reading (which had my name and address incorrect spelled, suggesting that they possibly put a deliberate error in to make sure I sent it back, though obviously it would be impossible to prove that). The one good thing (I thought at first) was the copyright notice; writers retain all rights and can re-publish where and when they wish without first seeking permission from United Press. Of course, on reflection, other publishers might well not want something that's pre-published by United Press...

Alan's pretty up on copyright issues and has done loads of research for me on many instances. Maybe he would be interested in tackling the legalities that these clowns are so obviously capitalising on.

2). The personal letter. This, in my case, started with my full name and address spelled correctly (unlike on the proofs) followed by "Dear Mr Edmunds". Not many blokes called Catherine... but still. We'll let that pass. Then there's a load of waffle, plus a perfectly reasonable "no-quibble money back guarantee" which is fair enough (and is presumably what allows them to say they are not vanity publishers). At the end of the letter is a tear off section that says "PLEASE RETURN THIS SLIP". It doesn't say 'you must return this slip or we won't publish you', but that is the implication. The slip gives just two options -- buy half price, or go to the trouble of accepting the book full price and then going down the post office to return it if you change your mind.

Is it a scam? Well, gut reaction says 'yes', but they're quite clever. There's nothing illegal here. They're perfectly straightforward about what it costs. All they're doing is making a tidy profit from people who'll pay through simple naivety (and/or vanity).

Sure as hell sounds like it mate. Definitely time to shake their tree and see what falls out...

Look, anyone here who's thinking of doing this, remember this fact: if a traditional publisher likes your poem, they will always give you a free copy of the anthology and quite likely pay you as well. That's how it works. Simple.

Yip and fair. At the end of the day, if a writer is sharing their work with others in the same field, then the publisher is onto a winner. Word of mouth is enough to promote the sales of a book. Anyone charging the writer for a copy of their own work is setting themselves up for a major fall. That's where activists come into play and 'we' don't stop. Nailing the scam-merchants up online for the public to see is the done thing. Just like the music industry. Blacklisting any publisher who messes with the writer's right to earn from their work, and by that I include charging them for their own work, is par for the course. I can't think of anyone who would dare defend what United Press Ltd are up to here...

Writers' sites frequently give warnings about poetry.com. They need to be giving warnings about United Press too; not promoting them (as has just happened on another site, which shall remain nameless, though some of you will know which one I mean).

Think I've referred to that fucker up above. She's probably on their payrole Delph mate. Most likely getting a commission for every writer she sends United Press Ltd's way...