July 2003

(if you drop in here straight, you need to read the previous parts first to get the whole picture. Start reading with Poetry scam(s), Part I.)

Just a couple of days ago I got an entry in the guestbook from Nowun. She told me that she had ordered from Noble House Publishers the book Theatre of the Mind and that her poem was on the first page of the book (a page that was a weeny bit shorter than the rest of the book). She was wondering whether or not this was some kind of "trick", too.
This was obviously a nice thing to go after so I posted a message on a number of boards and forums asking who bought the book and if their poem was on the first page. I was still amazed by the amount of people that also bought the book from NHP, since, to me, it was instantly obvious that they could've laid their hands on my info only through poetry.com.
Anyway... I got a whole bunch of reactions and guess what?
This Noble House book is a vanity thing of a size you wouldn't believe. Actually, in this case we can really say that it's an outright scam. The book is pre-printed, and the poem of the poet who orders the book is a printing-on-demand piece of work. It's printed the moment the book is ordered and the print is pasted on the first page of the book. So, vanity at best, the poet who orders the book always has his or her poem on the first page. And SCAM at best: the poem of the poet who orders the book isn't in any other book than the book he or she orders for him- or herself.
This is really a sick thing!
I wonder if the people who are published in the pre-printed book are aware of the fact that they are published and if they have given their permission for it. I'll try to find out a bit more and get back to it later.

TO BE CONTINUED!
Continue with Poetry scam(s), Part XV.