Unfortunately, there are people who prey on poets and try to trick them into buying their way into publications by giving them phony awards. Fortunately, there are legitimate online sites where poetry can be published and where the poets can not only get recognition, but may also be able to occasionally earn a small amount of money without getting cheated or scammed.
Poetry Scams
First, you need to know how to recognize poetry scams, if you wish to avoid them. They usually promote themselves as poetry contests or competitions and may suggest that they specialize in poetry contests for kids or for high school students. You may see these poetry contests advertised in newspapers, magazines and online writing sites. You or your child may even receive a letter promoting these competitions. Typically the contest organizers either promise poets the chance to win money or simply the opportunity to get their poetry published. All you need to do is mail in your poem and wait for it to be judged.
After a few weeks, contestants receive the good news that their poem has been selected as a semi-finalist in the contest and the contest organizers ask for permission to publish your poem in their anthology. How exciting! Up until now, everything has been free.
However, you want to see your poem in print, don't you? If you are a parent, you want to support your child's budding talent as a poet, so of course you decide to purchase a copy of the anthology.
Now, the contest organizers have you hooked. They request $50 or more for you to receive a copy of the anthology so that you or your children can see their published poem. In addition, you may receive other offers, such as a plaque with your poem mounted on it, cassette tapes of your poem being read by a professional, the opportunity to join an association for poets (for a membership fee), or even the chance to attend the "poet of the year" awards at a cost of hundreds of dollars.
Whether you only buy the anthology, or you pay for some of the other items and opportunities that you are offered, the truth is that you have fallen for a scam. There is no contest. All the poems submitted get the same exciting offers.
Fortunately, you do not have to fall for these scams in order to get your poetry published.
How to Get Poetry Published
If you or your children are poets, there are ways to get the poems published online without spending a dime. You may even be able to occasionally earn a little money, as well as recognition from admirers of your poetry.
Publish your poetry online:
There are several online sites that allow people over the age of 21 to publish poetry as well as essays and short stories. One of my favorite is Hubpages.com. Another site is Bubblews.com. If your child is the poet, and they are under the age of 21, you can join the site and publish their poetry for them. You can even write an introduction, talking about your child in general terms. You do not want to give out their real name or give personal information. However, if you wish to say, for example, that your ten year old child wrote these fascinating poems about the birds in your backyard, that is perfectly acceptable, as long as you write the introduction and submit the articles under your own pen name. (I recommend that everyone use a pen name when writing online.) Each of these sites operate a little differently. However, they both pay a tiny amount of money for views ... which can add up over a period of time. Bubblews pays a little faster and has a lower threshold for payment ... $25 rather than $50. In either case, you are not charged to be on the site and you may even end up earning a little money!
If the poems are short, you may wish to put together a collection of several poems in one article, especially if they are related in some way. In this way, you will be sure to meet the minimum requirements for article length (about 100 words on Bubblews and 300 - 400 words on Hubpages). In addition, you may want to include photos. For example, if the poems deal with your pets, the flowers in your backyard or items around your home, including photos will make them more visually appealing.
Once you have submitted the poems and set up an account, you can give your family and friends the URL for the article and let them read the poems. Mention it in your Christmas letter. The more views the poem gets, the more likely you will eventually earn a little money from the ads that will be published with it. In addition to the possibility of earning money, you will also get recognition and the satisfaction of seeing your articles in print on a legitimate writing site. Other writers on the site may also stop by, check it out, and leave encouraging comments from time to time. (You can delete any negative ones.)
Publish Your Poetry as a Kindle Book:
If you or your child is a prolific author of poetry, you may also decide to publish the poems in a Kindle poetry anthology that you create yourself.
Anyone can write a Kindle book. You should not have the same poems on both an online site like Hubpages and in a Kindle book at the same time. You can start by writing a few poetry articles on Hubpages and, once you publish your Kindle book, you may edit your articles to promote your book.
If you want to see samples of the Kindle books of poetry that are currently available at Amazon, use this direct link to Amazon's Kindle poetry books.
The instructions for writing a Kindle book can be found at Kindle Direct Publishing. If you know a little about using the computer and how to write a document using Microsoft Word, you should be able to follow their instructions. You can either take a photo or buy a photo and create your own cover, or you can use the plain cover that Kindle provides.
If you would like more detailed information about how to publish a Kindle book, you may want to order a cheap Amazon book that contains specific Kindle publishing instructions.
Once your book has been published for the Kindle, it will be available for sale at Amazon.com. You can set the price yourself and make your book of poetry available for as little as .99 cents. Of that, you will receive approximately one-third. Once you have accumulated $10 in royalties, you can receive a direct deposit into your checking account. In other words, you can publish your own poetry book for free and may even earn a little money from time to time. What could be more exciting?
Get a print copy of your poetry book:
If you decide you would like to have a printed copy of your poetry book, you can use the Amazon company CreateSpace.com to publish one for free. The process is very similar to publishing a Kindle book. Then, you can order printed copies of your book for just a couple of dollars. Again, if other people buy your books, you can earn royalties.
As you can see, rather than being scammed in a phony poetry contest, you can publish your poems legitimately and may even be paid publishing royalties. In addition, your book of poetry will be translated into other languages and available for sale around the world. You never know who will see it and appreciate the meaning of your poems. What a satisfying feeling!
You are reading from the blog: http://lies-and-liars.blogspot.com
Copy of Irish Poem "May the Road Rise Up to Meet You" courtesy of www.morguefile.com
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