Mental Meanderings

Who's Who in Poetry - Poetry.com

I got an email today. Yes I know, that's not so unusual honestly. It's just that this email was from the people at poetry.com. Apparently I've qualified for two pages in an upcoming book, The International Who's Who in Poetry. I wonder how many other people were sent the same email.

Poetry.com is given a pretty bad rap by some people because it's almost vanity press. You submit your poem and I think they probably publish all of them. So far all the poem I've submitted have been published, I've never known anyone to get turned down. It's tempting to write a crap poem just to see if they'll turn it down, but I don't want my name on a crap poem if they accept it. Mmmm, alias?

I don't mind poetry.com because they don't demand money to publish your work. I don't know if they publish those people who don't order the book. I've not hunted around for a copy of one of the books I was supposedly published in which I didn't buy. If you have any of their books feel free to look me up and let me know if you find me.

The Who's Who is the same. They've offered to dedicate two pages to me and all I have to do is fill in their form. It's free but you are welcome to buy the book. I know that's where they get their money. So many people want to own a copy of the book that their name appears in. A lot of people argue that since they are featured in the book they should get a copy free but if you think about it poetry.com can't afford to think like that. Each anthology has a hundred, perhaps more, poets published. It would not be cheap to give away that many books.

Anyway, contemplating. I will probably fill in the form. It can't hurt to have my name out there again and it's only costing me the time it takes to enter my details. Besides, it's another credit on my personal bibliography.