Thursday, April 19, 2012

The NEW Poetry.com


It is known poetry.com used to be a vanity press before it was taken over by Lulu Publishing. Lulu, as I understand it, brought some respectability to it but doesn't have it anymore. It is under new management.

I have spent some time with the "improved" site and, while some things are interesting, others are disconcerting. I am left wondering what exactly is going to happen here. Why? Well...

The Best Poets Appear on National Television
Oh, wow! This is so great! So, uh, where are they going to appear? When is it going to happen? Who is helping put this part together? It doesn't say. It just says when people can expect to be picked.

The top 500 poets that share the most poems with their friends, and bring the most new members into the community will be considered for National Television!
-Poetry.com site

The Best Poets Critique, Share, and Promote
Yes, you get points for posting and critiquing but you also get points for posting the poems back to your social sites so your friends can see, and then click...
Oh, and bonus, there are special points JUST for telling your friends about the site itself and promoting it! I know advertising makes me feel poetic.

Sharing Information is Caring
They will use your information to send you things through Email and snail mail PLUS divulge what they have on you to third-party marketers. You CAN opt out of this but it doesn't sound easy.

You Tell Me What This Sounds Like
... you grant Poetry.com a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right (including any moral rights) and license to use, license, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, derive revenue or other remuneration from, communicate to the public, perform and display the content (in whole or in part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed, for the full term of any Rights that may exist in such content-Poetry.com site

Does the last thing sound like they can use your information AND materials in the future in any way they see fit without any compensation, or notification? PLEASE tell me I am wrong because their site already has a LOT of people.
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Do you guys think I am wrong to worry about what this could signify?
"Writer Beware" has an post on this as well.

4 comments:

  1. I would tread carefully because this does not sound good. Be careful and keep your works licensed to you. Self-publishing is much better than this. Take care and good luck!

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    1. I agree with you.

      I wonder how many people HAVEN'T read this stuff. There is so much to go through on a normal site contract that most people just sign up with not really reading. The owners of the site will say it is their fault, but it isn't.

      Who would expect a "share site" to be a "steal" site?

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  2. Everything I've read about the new site makes me think it's just another scam. I would stay away.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I dealt with poetry.com the first time around. I was young then and didn't know vanity publishers existed. I thought my writing had merit and that is why it was accepted.

      You know, I can't even remember if the original site was able to steal your writing. Probably, if I think about it.

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