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Original poster

Young writers competition - money scam / con?

19 replies

Onlyme100 · 18/07/2017 18:07

I got a letter through the post to say that my dd had won a poetry competition - so, so excited - they give you the option to by the book which of course I did. When I returned to school - I found out that every child who enters wins. I would call this lying! Apparently - the teacher in charge made a point to raise her eyebrows at tell my dd "well - your not the only one to win - all the children won!" How rude - the teacher in charge also knew it was not a legit competition but didn't want to hear of it as it would make her look bad. How rude and irresponsibly selfish I thought. Any experience with this anyone?

OP posts:

eyebrowsonfleek · 18/07/2017 18:14

It's a well-known scam. Basically you paid for her poem to be in a book. Hope it wasn't too pricey and the quality is decent. (My kids' schools haven't participated in this sort of thing luckily.)

Enchantedflamingo · 18/07/2017 18:16

Young writers?

ImperialBlether · 18/07/2017 18:19

Yes, this happened to my son. He was really proud and then found every single child had won the same thing!

SweetGrapes · 18/07/2017 18:21

I didn't realise untill I bought the book! Yes - it certainly seemed like a scam to me.

Theimpossiblegirl · 18/07/2017 18:32

That's interesting- DD won a chance to have her mini-saga published in a book. I assumed there would be a lot of winners, but only a few from her school were chosen. I took the risk and bought the book, it will be nice for her to see her writing in print.

Original poster

Onlyme100 · 18/07/2017 18:33

Ive just submitted a complaint to BBC's Watchdog - I urge anyone who has been conned to do the same. I wouldn't care so much but when you don't con someone on the back of a child's feelings - that is just not on!

OP posts:

VictoriaMcdade · 18/07/2017 18:36

It's a total scam.

Also the company went bankrupt, restructured and started again.

Enchantedflamingo · 18/07/2017 19:13

I remember it from my childhood, it's a shame

ReinettePompadour · 18/07/2017 20:37

Our competition was a genuine one. Young Writers I believe.

All the children in the class wrote a piece but only 5 were chosen for the school in the first year and around 3 the 2nd year. My DS has won 3 years in a row and this year he was the only winner from his school. We have all the books and ordered copies for Grandparents too.

I have been told by loads of people its a scam but we haven't found it to be the case. DS loves reading his stories in an actual book and he has aspirations of becoming the next JK Rowling as a result. He has written so much more since he got his first one 'published'. The PC is full of short stories he has written. I really should get them all put in print, we have enough of them I reckon.

Original poster

Onlyme100 · 18/07/2017 21:03

Well that must be a miracle and of course if my child was "chosen" then I too like you would buy the books. However as I'm reading time and time again....even an article in The Guardian and other financial newspapers ...this has not been the case for most parents and their children.

OP posts:

WeAllHaveWings · 18/07/2017 22:04

Around 50% of ds's class 'won'. Never bought the book even after receiving several reduced rates, special offers and last chances to buy for several years later.

walkingtheplank · 18/07/2017 22:11

There have been quite a few of these threads over the years. The scam has been going on for years. I wasn't impressed that the school gave my child's name, age and address to a third party without my permission. They blamed my 6 year old for filling in the details (like everyone else in his class).

YogiYoni · 18/07/2017 22:19

I'm a teacher. I sent a load of poems off to Young Writers this year and was delighted to hear that one of the girls had won. Then I heard of another, and another, and another... I was really cross with myself for not realising it was a scam. I won't be entering any more.

HarrietSchulenberg · 18/07/2017 22:30

Young Writers is a long-running and well-known scam. Every child who enters and pays is published and parents are pressurised into buying the book for about £15. I didn't buy any of the ones that my children were allegedly selected for, but have seen copies that other parents bought. My children's poems weren't in them. I believe they only print the poems that are paid for, unless my kids' material went into a different book than their classmates.

Sadly, Young Writers appears less of an organisation to promote emerging talent and more a company making a fast buck from gullible, guilt-tripped parents.

If your child has a love of creative writing you're much better off entering recognised local and national competitions where their genuine talent will shine.

Mycarsmellsoflavender · 18/07/2017 22:40

Yes, our school used young writers and about half the class got published. Then all the parents complained to the school so now we do our own ' in school' publication of creative writing, which costs £5 rather than £15 - much better.

mejon · 18/07/2017 22:50

A friend's daughter has 'won' one of these Young Writers competitions for the 2nd year running and she very proudly had photos of her DD and her certificate plastered all over her Facebook along with the usual 'well done's and 'congratulations' from dozens for friends (including her teacher!) I feel bad that I know that it's a scam but just can't bring myself to tell her as she's so proud of her DD. I did quietly tip another friend the wink a couple of years ago when her DC had also 'won' a competition and she was really grateful that I had taken the time to do so and was cross at her school for promoting it.

It's very difficult to find 'evidence' that it's a scam though - googling will just bring up pages full of announcements of winners from all over the country and lots appearing in stories in local newspapers. The Guardian story is a few years old too. If you go to the Young Writers FB page you'll find disgruntled parents posting but they won't be on the main page (obviously!) so you really have to go digging for bad feedback.

2014newme · 19/07/2017 16:34

Everyone knows it's a scam.
But if £15 is what you're happy to pay to see your child's work in print, go for it.

multivac · 20/07/2017 08:57

Somewhere in the small print they say they'll send a free copy for your kid's school library. So that's where my two got to 'see their really quite rubbish poems 'properly published'".

Strawberrybubblebath · 21/07/2017 23:20

It's a scam.
In our school for some reason just one poor child out of the class of 31 wasn't 'selected for publication' but everyone else was. There was a glut of people posting on Facebook about how proud they were of their talented offspring but then everyone twigged that all the children had been selected. Except that one poor child who I imagine they randomly chose just so they can reply 'Of course we don't selected everyone who enters'.
Note they tend to send the letters informing you that your child has been selected for publication to arrive on a Saturday so people can't compare in the playground and realise it's a con. By the time you do se everyone else in the playground on Monday a lot of people have already placed their order.
I am sure a few of their PR people will be along on this thread to assure us it's not a con though!

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