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Original poster

Not to buy into this scam and to explain it to DS

49 replies

ReanimatedSGB · 03/05/2018 09:04

We haven't seen one in a while, but DS' current school has fallen for one of those poetry 'competition' scams. DS has 'won' the right to be published in their anthology, which will of course only be sold to the parents of kids who 'won'. I'm not buying any copies. I've told him his poem is good, and well done, but I wish someone would eradicate these cockroaches of vanity publishers...

OP posts:
yoyo1234 · 03/05/2018 09:28

I would do it once for each child ( the cost would be the cost of taking the child to the cinema/ trampolining ..etc once and the book lasts longer than a couple of hours).YANBU though, I just felt my DC needed the confidence.

NordicNobody · 03/05/2018 09:34

Oh this happened to me as a teenager! I submitted two poems to a "competition" site and one of them "won" the chance to be in the anthology. I was over the moon as my biggest dream in life was to be a published poet/ author. My mum read the email, looked at the website, and then gently explained to me about vanity publishing. I threw a massive strop as accused her of being unsupportive and saying my poems weren't good enough. Then later that that day I got another identical email from the same company about the other poem I submitted. Even my teeny tiny teenage brain could see that was fishy, so I sent in another poem as an experiment and sure enough that one "won" as well. At that point I grudgingly admitted that my mum was right. 'Twas a hard lesson to learn and I agree that it's a disgusting way to take advantage of people.

milliemolliemou · 03/05/2018 11:06

Not just teenagers. There was an elderly lady of my acquaintance who was scammed like this and sadly her poems were awful. She held a reading at the local village hall to which her friends turned up. I think she paid rather more than a trip to the cinema because not only was she scammed into supporting a collection of poems including hers, but a whole book just of her own poetry. I'm sure most people guessed she'd been taken for a ride but I don't think anyone wanted to break her heart by telling her.

purpleme12 · 03/05/2018 11:12

Oh I've never even heard of these scams before!

Original poster
ReanimatedSGB · 03/05/2018 12:46

There was a point where self-publishing seemed likely to put them all out of business - at least with the likes of Lulu.com you didn't have to pay until you a) had a book you were happy with and b) knew how many copies you were actually going to need.
General vanity publishers used to charge people thousands of pounds to turn their (usually terrible) manuscripts into cheaply-printed paperbacks, which would then sit in these people's garages for decades. Because no bookshop will stock this crap. No one outside the wannabe writer's family and friends will ever read it.

But the internet kind of killed the demand for straightforward vanity presses, so they started scamming kids' families instead. Have your little darling's 'wonderful' poem published... in a shoddy little paperback that we will charge you £15 for. In the confident expectation that for every 25 kids whose work is randomly selected for inclusion, their doting parents will buy between three and ten copies of said shitty paperback, for grandparents and cousins and family friends...

OP posts:
AgentHannahWells · 03/05/2018 12:49

Oh god my friend has fallen for this twice. Her child is not only amazing at stories they are now also a great poet. Her facebook is full of people congratulating her and her child. She is so so proud I cannot burst her bubble and don't say anything. Poor kid has been through lots of tough times educationally which makes this 'achievement ' even more of a dream come true. Sad

TheFifthKey · 03/05/2018 12:51

They make me mad. My old head of department fell for one of these and had every kid in the school entering the “competition”. Lo and behold, 90% of them got selected (and looking at the list, I refuse to believe it’s anything other than totally random) and for the high price of the book they didn’t even deliver it to the kid’s home - they sent us boxfuls and us mug teachers had to sort the damn things out! Ended up with hurt feelings from the unlucky kids who randomly hadn’t been chosen, lots of unclaimed books hanging round the office, and the feeling that we could very easily have complied a selection of poetry, had it published and sold the copies for a lot less money, and kept a modest percentage to support the school. HoD didn’t like that suggestion though and accused is of being negative about inspiring literacy...sigh.

Alabamazero · 03/05/2018 12:54

We've done this, twice. We knew it was a scam, but to have my non-literary DD have her story/poem published in a book, even if it was only for parents and families, was worth the cost and hugely boosted her confidence. However I agree that they are ridiculously expensive.

Eatalot · 03/05/2018 13:01

Milliemolliemoo

Thats heartbreaking I bet she was so proud. I hope she remained ignorant though and it brought her happiness.

Dakiara · 03/05/2018 13:06

I explain some scams but have bought the ones for the kids so far. They make nice gifts for grandparents. 😁

Dakiara · 03/05/2018 13:07

I treat it a bit like school photos I think. Expensive but a keepsake.

Love51 · 03/05/2018 13:08

My bro was published in one of these back in the 90s. I've a feeling my dad thought it was a scam but mum thought bro could do with a boost. I'm disappointed it is still a thing, my 6 year old is a self styled novelist and while I think it is great that she writes, I don't need an anthology with everyone else's early attempts at profundity. Their school does seem a bit prone to odd scams so I am now prepared! I'll probably cave, I know her dad will!

Aridane · 03/05/2018 13:09

I think it's a nice keepsake

PotTheRed · 03/05/2018 13:10

Oh dear, it’s hard to imagine that their are enough Schools daft enough to fall for this.

systemlakeland · 03/05/2018 13:15

My MIL fell for one of these ages ago (pre-Internet). She is a boaster about lots of things and boasts about it and shows me the book. I cringe inside for her, but don't want to burst her bubble.

Mumoftwoyoungkids · 03/05/2018 13:19

and the feeling that we could very easily have complied a selection of poetry, had it published and sold the copies for a lot less money, and kept a modest percentage to support the school.

That would be a really nice idea. I’d love to have a book of (crap) poems written by my form when we were all in Year 11.

NambiBambi · 03/05/2018 13:20

My daughter enters these online on Young Writers. I understand how they work but my dd loves writing and it is a brilliant way to encourage her and build her confidence. She is home-educated after a horrible time at school that left her absolutely in pieces. The first time she entered she actually won the main prize for having the best poem in the book and received a fantastic goody bag. She was so pleased and proud of herself that it was well worth the £15. Yes, it's vanity publishing in some ways but I think it has its place and value.

NambiBambi · 03/05/2018 13:21

My DD was nine at the time, by the way.

Plantlover · 03/05/2018 13:25

I think you give them the copywrite to the work which is something to consider .......

drumandthebass · 03/05/2018 13:25

We fell for this too and were really quite proud until we found out that the whole bloody class were included in the book. I was annoyed with the school that they didn't make it clear that the whole class were in the book. When second DD was also going to be 'published', we weren't so naive but felt we had to buy the book.

I wouldn't have bought it the first time had I known what a swizz it is

BevBrook · 03/05/2018 13:27

For me, it is the same as if the school photographer put 90 per cent of the pictures s/he took in a book, and not only sold it at an inflated price but claimed that those children whose pictures were included had somehow "won" the right to be in there.

Yes, maybe it is a nice keepsake but it would be better if the school just said "the children have all written a poem and we are putting them in a book, they have worked very hard, we are proud of them, you can buy it if you want." Not "your child has won a writing competition! They have won the chance to be published! Amazing! They are so special! Give us money!"

MyFriendFlickaWasAHorse · 03/05/2018 13:27

My dcs aren’t at school yet, so I haven’t actually encountered this. I’d look at it as a nice keepsake if they didn’t say “your poem has won”. Because it isn’t winning. You’re just paying for a service, (by the sounds of things).

MyFriendFlickaWasAHorse · 03/05/2018 13:27

X post @bev

NotTerfNorCis · 03/05/2018 13:28

It's so easy to self-publish these days. You can upload your book to somewhere like Amazon and you or others can order hard copies as required. They can also download it as an ebook. It hardly costs anything and is a nice way to get your work out there.

SnorkFavour · 03/05/2018 13:29

Gosh reanimated, this is STILL going??? I had this with my eldest ones, many years ago!!

I'm shocked and disgusted that the schools haven't outlawed this by now!

Yes!!!! Please do heavily complain to the school for being either so naive, or so disgustingly low that they sold themselves for a rake off.

Sorry, but I'm so annoyed to think of this company STILL making money like this all these years later!! Angry