Author: Arno
Date:   04-22-03 13:02

Hiya all,

I have confirmation of what you all probably already knew or at least suspected.
I was on the phone with ILP and they told me that they had started some kind of co-operation with Noble House Publishers supposedly to give poets the chance to "publish outside the USA and in a different form".

Check on my website www.poetryin-e-motion.com for all the details. Journal of stupidity, Poetry scam(s), Part I-IV.
Delete your poetry from poetry.com!

Cheers!

Author: Billy Cryer
Date:   04-23-03 12:18

Wretch!! Well, like the millions of others who have been fooled into thinking we were something exceptional, I'll erase my email from Mr. Hillary and gracefully sit back down. I'm beginning to wonder if poetry.com is the biggest hoax ever contrived on the face of the planet.

Maybe the others were something exceptional, but getting ripped off doesn't make me feel all that special. Maybe I'll vent my disillusionment by writing a poem and sending it in. I'll call it "Why Noble House is a Scam." They will probably send me a letter saying, "Congratulations! Your poem "Why Noble House is a Scam" has been selected to be published in our next volume, Sounds of the Soul. You can buy Sounds of the Soul for the small price of $300.99...." It wouldn't surprise me, Ha ha.

Author: cheryl
Date:   04-24-03 09:29

thank you, i was very disalussioned into believing i had really acomplished something but when i tried to ask questions by hitting the reply; the address doesn't exist. i feel such a fool.

Author: Chris
Date:   04-24-03 10:27

i recieved an email from noble house today, and was curious on how anyone from the UK would have read MY "poetry that i have published in the United States". Arno,I went to your web page and read what you said about ILP and was just wondering what ILP was and how i could contact them to get my stuff off of poetry.com. also thank you for checking on the Noble House thing, i almost had my dad buy me a copy! feeling a little salty.
xoxo

Author: Euterpe
Date:   04-24-03 16:14

I just received the e-mail from Noble House. Maybe I should just write up something about some "publisher" scamming for money and send it back to be "published"...good idea?

Author: Erika
Date:   04-24-03 18:25

Hey! I got my letter today. Since I'm a little new to the publishing world, I was sooooo excited. Talk about 'pissed' when I found out it was a scam. It's the 2nd time I've been scammed, and I'm starting to wonder if there is any way to actually be published for real!

Author: Jeff
Date:   04-24-03 18:41

I got one of these e-mail's today too--I don't know any of you by the way but hey, haha. I actually came across this site when trying to find out if the Noble House Publishers was a scam or not on google.com and this is what I got. Anyway, I figured it was bull because in the e-mail they kept calling me Jeffrey and although that's my real name in full, no one calls me Jeffrey, but Jeff instead. The only time I have ever had a poem of mine published or submitted anywhere using Jeffrey is on poetry.com so I figured, the two had to be connected.

Anyway, all I have to say is NEVER pay money to have your poem published. Get one of those Poets Market books from your local bookstore--they're good. And find the publishers who release your works to the public for free. As the old quote goes, "There's no money in poetry and there's no poetry in money either."

Thanks for helping me figure out this was yet another scam.

Black Ribbons afire!

Jeff from Virginia
geocities.com/scab_da_radical

Author: Nicholas
Date:   04-24-03 19:36

I also just recently got this letter from Mr. Hillary, coincidentally a fewweeks after first posting my poem on poetry.com...

However, I see nothing that requests that I pay to have my poem included in their publication. Should I be looking forward to that "wrinkle" shortly? I realise it would cost me $25 to buy the book in which poem will purportedly be featured, but the suggestion was clear that the poem would be included, regardless of whether I purchased the book or not.

I've submitted the poem, and we'll see what happens...unless one of you has some info to which I should be privy?

Pleased to share my work with others, saddened that there are those with little interest save the fattening of their purses...

Author: Gary Kessler
Date:   04-24-03 19:52

The scam is that the only people they sell the books to are the folks who have poems in the book. (Just like the only people who pay any attention to poems sent to poetry.com are those sending the poems.) They must put a whole load of poems in each book, because the scam must be profitable--it's been going on for years and years.

One question (in Dr. Phil style) to everyone out there who suspect this and poetry.com are scams but who still give them their credit card numbers. What were you thinking?

Author: Lauren Weiss
Date:   04-24-03 20:02

I got the letter today too. I thought it was real, and was very happy to get published. But as I was reading, they just said my name way too much. It became kind of creepy, so I searched for Noble House Publishing on google and found this site. I'm really glad I did! I was about to take out my credit card and buy a book! How can I get my poetry taken off of poetry.com? I have a lot on there. Right now I'm saving it to floppy disks so I can take it to a REAL company!

Author: Terra
Date:   04-24-03 20:10

I got an email from Nobel House today, too. I had a feeling it was a scam so I decided to look into. Thank heaven I looked here first.

Author: pleso
Date:   04-24-03 21:34

Hi,

I'm so glad that I found this site through google search. I too received the letter from Noble House Publishing and also have posted a poem (in 2000) I think on poetr.com. It was selected for 'publication' but I didn't order the book as I thought then that it sounded dodgy. I almost fell for the Noble House thing though, but I'm very glad that I found this discussion board in the nick of time!

I think it is disgusting, though not suprising, that sites run scams like this. It is extremely difficult to achieve any recognition as a poet and therefore all the more dispicable that these people are scamming writers with false hope of their dreams being realised. It has made me terrilby sad reading these postings and learning of the excitement and joy that has been negated through learning of the scam, especially as I too am one of those people.

All I can say is to keep trying to get your work out there through legitimate avenues (as hard as that is) and don't let money hungry ****wits who don't have a clue about the true value of your art hinder your ambitions.

Author: Mashal
Date:   04-24-03 23:33

it's funny, I thought the same thing hon. Now i just want to cry!

Author: Mashal
Date:   04-24-03 23:36

hey,
I did the same thing! I am glad I found this site.

Author: Jerrye
Date:   04-25-03 00:37

Chuckle!!..Like the rest of you, I thought "oh, how nice!"except...Clue number one: Over a year ago I submitted online to Poetry.com.Just in the past few weeks received in the mail a copy of that poem and solicitation to include it in current book.Since this is the ONLY site where I submitted a poem,I was curiously aware,somehow it must have been directed thru them to Noble House.
It seems the books these people sell include just about ALL poems submitted.My question: Since we,the poets,keep the copyright,shouldn't we be entitled to some of the profit from the book if we are included?Shouldn't we be the payee and not the payer? Also tonight,as an afterthought, in reading the Artist's bio,realize there is a charge of $25US to include that with poem.
Realizing it was probably a hoax,the following poem was submitted to them.I will share it with you all.
Shamoo
Shamoo shame on you,Shamoo
Shamoo,lame of you,Shamoo
Shant you sham,Shamoo
Moo!Sham!
Maybe we should all Spam the Sham??

Author: Tenesh Ramsunder
Date:   04-25-03 02:55

i got an e-mail from noble house and i boguht the book with the biographicl info for like $80 do you tihnk i'll get the book with my poem in it.

Author: pavel
Date:   04-25-03 05:44

well, guys, you should keep a spam box with yahoo or something to have thing sort of thing delivered right into the "Bulk" folder...

Author: jennie
Date:   04-25-03 07:09

how disheartening to think that your poem amongst so many others was noticed and selected for publication, only to find out it was selected to simply fatten someone's wallet. check out Writer's Market...you should be able to get at any bookstore. it lists tons of legitimate publishers and useful info about getting published.

Author: Anna Kortesalmi
Date:   04-25-03 08:12

Hi Arno,

Thanks for this info; I suspected that it was a scam when Noble House asked to publish my poetry. I have to find out how to get ILP to take off my poetry from their website, as well.

Anyway; I wish you a relaxing rest of the spring and a happy vappu,

Anna Kortesalmi

Author: unknown
Date:   04-25-03 08:31

thank you so very much. i got letters and e-mails from poetry.com (aka The International House of Poetry or whatever) and i considered getting both books! i am so glad that there are honest people who are willing to tell others who have no clue whether it's a scam or not. thank you so much again. i can't believe that i almost helped out these disgusting companies make money when they don't deserve a thing!!!

Author: Yvonne Tolentino
Date:   04-25-03 09:13

I also submitted a poem to Poetry.com. As I was writing it, I was feeling a little strange. But I still pressed the enter button. A couple of weeks later, I too received their letter informing me that I won and I was also nominated for Poet of the Month along with 8 other poets. Excited and overjoyed because I have never won anything, I told all my friends about it. Then I received their letters and invitation to their Symposium. After all the excitement subsided, my guts again began to bother me. So I read everything in the correspondence and e-mails they sent. It was strange to me that for me to get my prize I would have to go to the Symposium and "pay" to get there. I thought to myself, If I "won" why should I have to pay? I let it go and did nothing. I was asked to send the Artist Proof with a biography ($25). I held on to it. By this time I was getting really bad vibs so I decided to do some checking. I found all sorts of sites indicating that Poetry.com was a big "scam". My guts no longer bothered me and I discarded all their correspondence and emails. But they continued to write and I continued to throw away. The correspondence finally stopped.

Today I received an email from Noble House Publishers. The first thing I did was check up on them, and I found this website. I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. All Poetry.com has from me is my poem but with no rights to use it, and today I will seek to find a way to delete my poem from their site. This also taught me a valuable lesson. Take the time to do some checking on things.

My heart goes out to all those fantabulous and wonderful poets out there who were ripped off by these unscrupulous and evil people.

Author: Gary Kessler
Date:   04-25-03 09:28

To respond to the question further up the line on whether a book bought from these folks for $80 will be delivered. Certainly it will. Just because Poetry.com and affiliates are scams doesn't mean they are illegal operations. Everything they are doing is quite legal--they just are setting everything up so that anyone who is so hopeful that she/he is easily mislead has no trouble misleading himself/herself. Poetry.com will continue to be pleased as punch to send you that $80 book you ordered (which, at best, cost them $15 to produce and distributed).

And to the question of whether or not you should share in the profit rather than pay to be published. Are you not understanding the scam in play here? Poetry.com sees nothing intrinsically valuable in the poems you send (and neither does anyone else in the publishing industry, because everyone there understands that Poetry.com doesn't pay any attention to the poems themselves). They only see you as someone so hopeful about getting your poems in print that chances are good you will pay outrageous bucks to fulfill that hope. And it must work. They are doing--and have been doing--a very good business off this scam for decades.

Try to understand. You aren't published when you send a poem to Poetry.com. You are duped.

Author: Krissy
Date:   04-25-03 15:56

I got one too...Sheesh, I'm glad I did a quick search to make sure it was a hoax. I figured that since it said waaaay too much about how I could buy this amazing book with hand crafted covers...blah...blah...BLAH, that it might be just a scam to get money from us. How do I go about deleting my poetry though? And did anybody else get a letter in the mail saying they were a semi-finalist or something? Much thanks :)! -=*Krissy

Author: Kristy
Date:   04-25-03 16:50

Way back when I fist started writing again I even got a Bronze Medal from them! :-D However, the second I opened the mail from them I realized it was just a scam. I really wasn't upset. I just grinned and threw it away.

Author: Michelle
Date:   04-25-03 17:30

I am thoroughly upset to find this website. I have submitted two poems on behalf of my 9 year old daughter. Her poem, which is very good, was selected for publshing. All of our family were sooo excited about her accomplishment. I have tried to check up on Poetry.com and ILP. I looked them up on the BBB (Better Business Bureau) website and the only thing mentioned was that some customers had a hard time getting their books that they had ordered due to "publishing delays". This did not seem like such a big problem to me. Anyways, I sent in an order but I never sent any money with it. I wanted to see exactly what would happen if I did that. I'm still waiting for a response.

I also received the Noble House email and I was kinda suspicious. I 'm glad I was because I came across this website. I was highly upset. This means that I will have to tell my daughter that her work probably won't be published...at least not at this time.

I'm not sure if any of you know of a site called 1stbooks.com but I found it while trying to check up on Noble House. I requested info about the publishing company and I'm waiting right now to find out what they have to say.

Don't give up your search for legimate publshing of your poems. It'll happen for you all.

Author: ike
Date:   04-25-03 17:32

A similar scam exists in amateur photography. A friend of mine paid 75 bucks for a volume that included one of his pictures. Looked nice but it was a coffee table book that normally would have sold for $45 at the most. Legal yes but ethical or moral - I don't think so. But what do I know- I think it's immoral to poison dandelions and perpetuate lethal green lawns. -ike

Author: SAM
Date:   04-25-03 20:57

I got my email today and at first was very excited about being selected for publishing. I thought poetry.com was to good to be true and it seem that I was correct. I'm glad that I did not send them any money. I'm also glad to know that we have honest people willing to expose those money hungry companies that take advantage of people time and talent. Keep looking and keep writing, don't be discouraged. I'm very grateful for this site...I'm not alone. Thanks guys.

Author: Gary Kessler
Date:   04-25-03 21:26

Just a couple of notes:

Several folks on the multiple strings going here on Poetry.com and affiliates said they had thought this was a respectable business because they checked with the Better Business Bureau and found few complaints. The BBB doesn't really go out of its way to collect and then reveal complaints on businesses. The BBB is sponsored by and paid for by the business community. Don't confuse it with an independent, unbiased consumer protection agency.

Also, 1stBooks mentioned above is a vanity self-publishing company. It won't take your writing career anywhere Poetry.com doesn't take it--it will just charge you more money to print (and to try to distribute) your work. It will, though, be less crass in trying to make you feel like you've been published and that your work is terrific. And Publish America, which is mentioned on a previous string, is little better in cost than 1stBooks and no better in complaints from previous clients than Poetry.com.

Author: Jerrye
Date:   04-25-03 22:32

A friend of mine was bragging on his 85 year old mother a few years ago about how she had won poets awards,etc.Money being no object to his family,the fact that her poetry had gotten recognition was the major thing.After seeing the "award",I realized that it was bogus.To her and her son, however, it was wonderful.
A niece of this same lady did a really wonderful thing.She compiled Aunt Mabel's Poems into a little booklet,printed with some small drawings and done on the computer.It was a beautiful little booklet.I received a copy as did anyone who knew about it.Her poems were quite insightful and sweet.I cherish the little book.
A nine year old's poems could easily be done into a booklet for posterity much the same.It would be worthy of bragging rights and could be enjoyed by anyone worthy of receiving a copy.Easy enough.It would boost her confidence in continuing her writing and expression.So what's wrong with sharing with a few? Who knows what could happen later?
And your money would be wisely invested in your child, not some scam artists.

Author: Smurf
Date:   06-24-03 03:01

Hello,
Thank you so much for writing this letter and posting it. My older sister is really into poetry and she just received a letter in the mail from Nobel House.SCAM.. lol
But anyways,they told her they were going to publish her poems in the UK. Its like... DUH! Ok.. shes a blonde. Me.. I know better. I believe that any ofter that is too good to be true, is just full of BS! But she called me up the other day and asked me to see what my daugher could find out, since she lives in England. See... my sister doesnt have the internet. I told her I could look.. and I saw this letter. THANK YOU so much.!!!! You really helped alot and saved her alot of hardship. I also found that message board, Scifi Minds. Alot of people, I guess , Are finding out the hard way.
Have a wonderful day!
God Bless

Author: Stefanie
Date:   06-24-03 15:58

I was thirteen and in middle school when I was first contacted by the International Library of Poetry. I'm twenty-two now, and just today (June 24, 2003) I received a letter from Noble House.

That first time, about nine years ago, not only did I submit my poem, including the biographical information, and buy the book (well, my parents bought it, but they were as excited about the whole deal as I was--what does a thirteen-year-old know about poetry scams, anyway?), but we bought a second copy of said book (A Sea of Treasures) and gave it to my middle school's library when I finished eighth grade.

I'm not quite so gullible anymore; although I kept receiving leters from ILP, and although I did send in several poems to their various contests and whatnot, I never sent them any more money.

When I got back from college about a month ago, I found an old ILP letter on my dresser, with the "publisher's proof," dated way back in the summer of 2000. That one, along with several prior "publisher's proofs," never got sent in, and I haven't sent anything else to them, or been contacted by them, since.

Therefore, I was immediately suspicious when I received the Noble House letter (after all, I've learned in my writing classes--I went to college for and received a BFA in creative writing--that poetry is *not* a very good seller, as far as bookstores are concerned), and even more suspicious when, as I searched google.com, I didn't find any references to Noble House as a publishing company, only as the name of other businesses.

Then I found this thread, and confirmed all my suspicions triple-fold. Now I'm off to see if there's anything, legally, that I might be able to do. I'm not in law school yet--applying to several at the moment, though--and I doubt that there's much even a trained lawyer could do, but it can't hurt to try, and maybe I can prevent some other poor thirteen-year-old from being let down in such a fashion.

Stefanie

Author: Sara
Date:   06-24-03 22:23

Ok I can sit down and come back to reality now, thanks so much for all the threads, I was JUST ABOUT to send in 45 bucks to these scam artists for my book. UM JUS KIDDIN. lol. I was like WOW my poem on its OWN page! AMAZING! Pssssh....well, upon checking on a website for this cool company I stumble upon this site!! THANKS AGAIN!

Author: Nicole
Date:   06-25-03 14:28

I got my letter in the mail yesterday, I had a poem published in an ILP anthology several years ago. We purchased three copies and I had my biographical information included for an extra cost. When the books came the page numbers were misprinted and we got ahold of TroubleShooters and got reimbursed for the two extra copies we bought due to the misprints. I was so proud of that poem and I'm still proud of it, I know ILP is a huge scam but I know my poem was great!!
Anyway, I got that Noble House letter and I'm not sending them a red cent!!
Thanks for this forum!!
Nicole }i{

Author: Stefanie
Date:   06-25-03 14:47

An interesting update of sorts:

I wrote down the ISBN of the book my poem is in (A Sea of Treasures) and the ISBNs and titles of all the other National Library of Poetry books that appeared on Amazon.com. Then I went to the Library of Congress homepage, and tried searching for the books using titles, ISBNs, and National/International Library of Poetry. The search came up with forty-nine different books. However, *none* of them were the book I own, that is currently sitting on my desk above my computer (A Sea of Treasures). I could not find that book, by ISBN, title, *or* under National/International Library of Poetry.

I don't know about anyone else, but I find that just the slightest bit fishy. I'm now off to go call ILP, to get the few poems I have up on poetry.com removed, and I'm going to ask them about this little descrepancy. Wonder what they'll say?

Stefanie

Author: Michelle
Date:   06-28-03 13:29

If you would like to talk with a real publisher about publishing your poetry, contact Dave at the following address. He published my mother's poetry book. Tell him I sent you. Michelle Reed Abrajano

editor@elderberrypress.com

David W. St. John
Elderberry Press

Author: Gary Kessler
Date:   06-28-03 14:01

As has been noted on this discussion board before, Elderberry Press is an extremely expensive vanity press.

Going from Noble House to Elderberry would be out of the frying pan and into the fire (at additional expense).

Author: Cameron
Date:   07-02-03 15:35

Well as far as getting stuff taken off of poetry.com, I think I've been successful.

I just went into poetry.com after logging in, searched for my name, got the list of poems, chose one at a time, and simply "edited" it -- now my poems have a striking resemblence to eachother, having nothing but the word "blah" written over and over again. The sad part, of course, is that in a few weeks I'll get a letter "honoring" my piece of blah art.

Author: Michael McAlexander
Date:   07-02-03 22:42

I, too, have been had. I rather enjoyed being published, and was overjoyed when my two, yes (2), books came in. As I was reading some of the other poems, I began to speculate as to how the **** they got in there, but I was so naive, I didn't care. I mean, come on, I was PUBLISHED! Anyway, that was a long time ago, last year I think. I just now received the Noble House publishing letter, and I was very excited about this second publishing. My only concern now is: Am I going to get my copy of a book with my poem, on its own page? Or will that one not even come in? One other thing I did think about from the poetry.com publishing was how they changed the name of the album. Do you think that has something to do with the scam? This is so belittling and humiliating; I have people at work that want a copy of the book from Noble House, so I can sign my name next to it! All because I thought it was extraordinary, that they only have offices in London, Paris, and New York. Man, I am certainly going to look before I leap again. And all this time I thought I was building credibility by being published! I will try to remove my poems from the poetry.com. I will really get pissed if my copy from Noble House doesn't come in. Well, I hope that whoever reads this learns the lesson that we obviously all have learned the hard way- Don't judge a book by its cover. On another aspect, I am curious if I have any real talent at all with poetry. I would love to hear from someone [ if only one person ] on my poems. My email is listed above. All comments are welcome; honesty is preferred. Thanks, to all who have contributed to this listing.

Author: Aurelia
Date:   07-08-03 03:24

I think I found the thread a bit too late; I wasn't aware it was a scam when I said okay to having my poems published. Glad to ahve found this place! I have 6 poems up at poetry.com and have had the usual 'semi-finalist' and 'poet of the year' drabble sent to me. I also got a letter from Noble House...I haven't sent any money yet, but I also can't find the URL for Noble House to take down my poem. Can anyone help me with this?

Aurelia

Author: tecdavi in san antonio
Date:   07-11-03 08:47

Dear Readers:

I dont know about you people but i never had to buy a book to get anything published. I have had two poems published with poetry.com, and one due in theatre of the mind. I didn't have to buy the book, I wanted to.

I know that my poetry is exceptional, and feel a little cheated that so many people would think its a scam. Of course they want to sell books! But I received publication and I didn't even have to pay for it. I am also being featured in who's who of american women and i didnt even buy that book...jeez get a grip.

Author: Rob McAllister
Date:   07-13-03 07:03

I have been gettign letters and e-mails from poetry.com etc. for almost a year now and I am getting sick of it, someone should really get to the bottom of this thing and straighten it all out, and possibly file a class action against poetry.com. It is definently not right that they are doing this to people, I am glad that I could not afford to purchase any of the things that they offered! I know I wouldnt anyway! What a scam! Come to think of it, someone should start a forward e-mail denounceing poetry.com and noble house and all the rest of its affiliates! If someone is going to or has allready done this please send me a copy. If you would like to veiw my poems you can see them at poetry.com however I will probalby use camerons idea and change my poetry to "blah"
bye all!

R. J. McAllister

Author: Alana Sinclair
Date:   07-15-03 17:55

I am bitterly disappointed, as i like so many others believed my work was chosen because it was well written, and not because someone wanted to make a lot of money. I feel very foolish now, but i have got all my work in a folder, and i think your idea of making your own little book is lovely. I shall put together some lovely scrapbooks for my family and friends and like you say, give my work to people who really appreciate it.
I am proud of my poetry, and i am sure one day it will be published for everyone to enjoy. i am so glad to have found this site, and be beside others who have suffered the same disappointment. Thank you.

Author: Alana Sinclair
Date:   07-15-03 18:55

I have discovered a site that shall give you all the necessary information about these scams. It is www.poetrynotcom.tripod.com
I only wish i had found it earlier.

Author: michael
Date:   08-02-03 16:09

all you ppl sayin that u got yer letters from noble house a couple weeks later, i got mine like 2 years later

Author: michael
Date:   08-02-03 16:13

umm someone already did that. name:ted l. nancy. book:even more letters from a nut

Author: michael
Date:   08-02-03 16:17

u can even search his name on poetry.com. you'll find everyone of his poems

Author: AK
Date:   09-18-03 23:31

i totally understand why you all feel this way. i had some free time and looked up NOble house online, and found this site. unlike most of you, it seems, i was published by four or five different companies, so i didn't think to associate NOble house publishing with poetry.com. It really seemed like finally i was geting somewhere outside of the us, which, if you think about it, is not realy known for great literature or arts, but i never go tmy book, theatre of mind, which was promised to be delivered "the beginning of summer 2003"

I'm just glad that i never went to their conventions, mainly cuz i couldn't afford them.

But, you must all also remember, that there is a real publishing company called noble house, and it is legitimate, so if you ever get a REAL letter, like i did, vs email, read through it before throwing it away-it might be the real thing

Author: HollowHeart
Date:   12-04-03 00:48

Oh my god, I just submitted a poem to Noble House like 5 minutes ago. I got curious because I`m not a poet and somehow, I got the letter. Someone else must have used my e-mail. So I checked and I found this site. Stupid frauds.

Author: HollowHeart
Date:   12-04-03 00:51

Well, I hope those jerks are happy. At least I won`t be cheated off my dollars cause I ain`t got any to spare. Being tight on me budget has some advantages sometimes. But having my ego being inflated one moment and deflated the next ain`t no fun. Someone should do something to shut that goddamm site.

Author: Satu
Date:   12-04-03 09:57

Hello! I have never seen this site before, but now I just got yet another letter from Noble House. I did have my suspicions before, but i never looked up about Noble House on the net.... So, I was right. But, I have to say that I have bublished abot three poems in different books, but never paid anything. I have never even seen my poetry on these books (I live in Finland, and u cant find those books from the bookstores here, I guess), but i assume that they do exist, do they??!! I´m a bit confused. So if somebody could one more time explain this whole Noble House- poetry.com -thing, I would be so glad!

Author: Bayard
Date:   12-04-03 11:37

Wow, when i look at this from all of your perspectives, it looks like I'm another sucker to add to the list! I've already ordered 6 of the books from poetry.com! I was going to give them to family members as christmas presents. I guess this is a good lesson in humility, and my ego too has just been wholly deflated as far as my poetry is concerned. The thought that this was a scam did enter my mind, but my ego took over that suspicion! Yesterday I recieved an e-mail from Noble House as well, and decided to submit a poem with them without paying for a copy of the book. If they end up publishing it without my having paid anything, then I figure its still good exposure. They certainly aren't getting any more money from me, in any case, those b@st@rds!!

Author: Maura
Date:   12-04-03 14:25

Hi
Well I got a letter just now and knew for sure straight away that it was a scam....anyone who wants you to pay fro something ,in this case a volume of poetry, is usually a crook

Maura

Author: Carol Walsh
Date:   12-04-03 14:46

I submitted a poen in April and ordered the book it was to be printed in Theatre of my Mind.I charged it on my credit card and still have not received the book.
Carol Walsh
713 East Prairie St.
Jerseyville ,IL 62052

Author: Vanessa Lebeau
Date:   12-04-03 15:30

Erika Rebelchick@awild.com

There is a way, A real contest with real things and no scamp present, I ahve been scammed by ilp and noble house and i have found a palce I am pretty sure is ok as it involved the sudent's(if ur a student, or else, they just contact you) school. And when you get published, the school name and year are stated. Also, i sent three poems in there. (they accept only 45% to be published) and only one got published and i am convinced.

Author: Jennifer Nelson
Date:   12-04-03 15:30

I've just recieved another email from "Nigel Hillary". The latest scam is a new book called "Colours of the Heart".

Author: Nicole
Date:   12-04-03 17:55

Awwwww I did the same thing as all of you, I was "published" in Poetry.com's "Patterns of Life" anthology, and then I received this... I wasnt going to buy, but they are still publishing my work and Im not gaining anything so I sent an email saying I should be paid or at least get a copy of the book and then the postmaster said i couldnt send it, so i looked it up on google and VOILA! here I am. i'm so disappointed. Writing is my thing, i'm 15, so when I got those letters I was so happy and everyone was proud cause they said I was really oung to be published and now its all a scam! Do they even print these books to those who dont write in them? or do they prey on egos? Yes you are published! Come buy the book youre published in cuz noone else will! aww gosh when I got the email I was like, this isnt right, the other one i could understand cuz it was a contest but why should I let them make money off of me??

Now I feel bad, I was hopeful :) oh, well. all writers hit roadblocks.

Nicole

Author: nikki
Date:   12-04-03 18:10

i got the same email tonight so decided to submit them a different one
there was a publishers named noble
who promised ur poem would go globle
but the whole thing is lies
they tell porky pies
i think a court case could be very probable
So Mr Hillary you know what you can do
what you say is a pile of poo
if you think u are wise
then look in my eyes
cos i will say to u "sir **** you!!!"

I suggest u all do the same

Author: Vanessa Lebeau
Date:   12-04-03 21:33

I have received that e-mail to from the hilary person. I have decided to warn everybody I meet to be carefull for spam. Here in this site, you can learn lots of things about scamming with poetry. Also a list of all the scam sites. http://www.poetryin-e-motion.com/ And also Arno had experiences with ILP and talks about it. very good to read. He is a spam hater and we should do the same!!!

~Vanessa

Author: Sue
Date:   12-04-03 22:15

Hi,
I live in the UK and like allof you I got an Email from Mr Hilary.

We have a few places here that deal with this sort of thing and I am going to be making enquiries with them later today (its currently 4am here). I have emailed an enquiry to them.

These people have international connections and hate scams. They are the Office of Fair Trading http://www.oft.gov.uk/default.htm

Maybe if enough people contact them they will do as you all ask and do something about this?

Author: SJ
Date:   12-04-03 00:09

absolutely right. I had suspected foul play and i got my confirmation from this sight. Thanks!

Author: Melina
Date:   12-04-03 00:43

Total ****heads.

(pardon my language)

I just got an email, and decided to check out the sender before i opened it, and found this site through google, like many others here.

Total foul play. Poetry.com should be shot...

Did anyone get those emails inviting yuo to the festival of achievement thing, where you would be awarded with a silver cup for being an outstanding poet, for the mere price of like $250 or something???


(and now, in the style of Dr Seuss)

Scam scam scam
you are a scam
I do not like stupid scam
I do not like them stupid scam
I will not pay you for a book
I will not give you a second look
I do not like you silly scam
sham sham sham.




Melina

Author: Iris Gerlach
Date:   12-04-03 00:36

Hello
I am a german writter (book: 'Einmal Mehr'- Gedichte, www.amazone.de, www.bod.de) and received a mail from Noble house today too. Before I tell you my bad experience about them.......I once published the poem: 'love on first sight' with poetry.com. It is still on their page.
Thank god I found my own way to publishe all my poems in Germany with www.bod.de as book on demand! Sorry my english is not so good, I hope you still understand.
PLEASE never forget that you as a poet should not have to pay publishers a high amount for publishing your poem - If so they should at least pay you a certain amount back after publishment of a book including your poem.. Many, many people unfortunetely believe in this...strange publishers ;-(
I recommend to you: Publish your poems as book on demand and if you dont have enough poems to gather them in a book already then register on as many Website as you can and try also to find other poets who perhaps want to work with you and publish .-) I am now planning to publish my poems also in english translation as abook on demand. Additionally I always give other poets or artists a chance to show their work on my webpage and they do not have to pay any money to me. I have now showed pictures of a artist from USA on my page. So dont hesitate to contact me ;-) .
-----------------------------------------------------
A while ago I have send a pooem to poetry.com and they wanted to publish it, also month later received a invitation to a Hoel in Wahsington where they had a Festival for all poets and wanted to give me a silver bowl. I did not do this all of youse because I wohld have end up paying at least 500 DOllars for a flight ticket, hotelroom.....I Told them to send my price which I won to my parents in the states. They informed me that I would have to pay for the shipment. Nothing happended nomore.

Forget abou them! ;-(((

Author: Jane Myriad
Date:   12-04-03 00:01

I can't believe I actually decided to check this noble publishers out on google.com. when i couldn't find an actual publishers site I got suspicious and then i found this, luckily. I didn't send off money for the first poem that they said would be published and i did not order a book but i did authorise for the book to be published. will it? I couldn't believe that it was just a scam and it made me feel really bad about the world for just a few minutes. i mean - trying to get money out of poetry, poetry which is often really personal? Anyway, just like the others I just want to say that don't get disheartened by this stupid scam. I'm glad I found this site - I'm really gullible and believed poetry.com until I got the email from noble house publishers. All the best to aspiring poets.

Author: L
Date:   12-04-03 00:22

I received my letter from poetry.com a few weeks back. I post on another poetry forum and when one of the posters there said she was published, I was intrigued and decided to enter too. (It may be cruel, but if she could do it, i could do it too.) And I am very happy that they decided to publish me.

But I won't send any money. And when Noble House sent me the email, the happiness returned. And it is staying. Yes, I am disillusioned after reading this thread, but I won't send them any money, so where's the harm?

I'm sure people have been scammed, and I am sorry. But let others just bask in the feeling of achievement. We're good at pretending.

www.lovingyou.com/library/

Author: ANNA
Date:   12-04-03 00:24

Hi all,

As I have read on different threads on different sites is that they actually DO publish the book. If you order a copy, your poem will be on the first (?) page, but the rest of the book is similar to everybody. So, someone else won't even be finding your poem in there, as the first page is different for everybody. At least thta is what I heard. I don't believe i paying money, and \i have never seen a book of this publisher ion a bookstore...

But everybody is entitled to their own opinion, just try not to be gullible!

Good luck all of you

Author: Natasha Dumas
Date:   12-04-03 00:47

Hi Nicki,

After having read other message boards it seems that they have a generic book already published and then glue in your poem as the first page when you order it. So everyone who orders the book has their poem printed on the first page. It's shocking stuff and I'm sorry it's happened to you but it will serve as a valuable lesson. If it seems too good to be true, chances are it is.

Best of luck with your writing.

Author: Rob
Date:   12-04-03 00:54

Like so many people I was quite chuffed when I found out I was a 'semi-finalist', but having written my poem in 10mins I was pretty sure it was a hoax. And when I got the e-mail today from Mr Hillary I checked Noble House on google and almost all of the results were for a website detailing the scam. I can't believe that people are actually making money out of this. I'm glad my instincts were right with this one, but feel very annoyed that Noble House is treating so many poets with such behaviour. Thanks for all the honest people out there who put their own experiences on the web about this company!

Author: chris scates
Date:   12-05-03 15:13

YEP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Author: Christine
Date:   12-05-03 15:48

Ok, people, you seriously ALL need to stop it with the Noble House scam. Yes, it's a bad scam, oh no, how terrible. But I get 30 emails a day from one damn post I made and I can't stop it! People should just read the info, say "Oh good thing I didn't buy the book!" (to themselves) and move on. If you bought the book, well then you're an idiot and sadly scammers will get you for the rest of your life.

Author: Rosie
Date:   12-05-03 19:14

Woo hoo, dont I feel like an Idiot lol I just got an e-mail from Noble House... Alas, I feel like a popped Balloon at the moment, but at least I dont feel like a fool anymore.. and whoever that was with the creative idea of replacing their poetry with "blahh" thanks... I just updated ALL my poetry on there hehehe, perhaps I will FINALLY be removed, its been a pain in the ass trying for some many years.

Thanks for opening up my eyes guys and glas, and I wish you all the best, just dont let some wanka's get you down

R

Author: Holli
Date:   12-05-03 19:59

I am sure that your poetry /is/ exceptional, but there is proof that it is a scam: Several attorneys and individuals are currently looking for poets who have been defrauded or displeased with the service from the International Library of Poetry (poetry.com and poets.com) also known as the National Library of Poetry, Poetry.com, the International Society of Poets, the International Poetry Hall of Fame, and/or Watermark Press
this is not all. my father entered the contest, and he recieved his book that he ordered, however, it was lost when when we moved. he tried to order another copy, only to find that the book his work was \'published\' in never really existed. just recently he sent in another poem, in which all he wrote was \'poo\', and he was also told that this poem was a winner. Do you really want your art to be next to someone\'s joke?

Author: Joan
Date:   12-05-03 20:54

Well I got my email today saying they read my poem which was "Published" in the US. First of all, as all of you, my poem was NOT "Published" in the US...all I did was post it on a website. little did I know. Well, I wrote another little poem that I think they'll love. :)

I came upon a site one day
with nothing else to do
So I decided to write a favorite poem
to share from me to you
Your site seemed so interesting
and I thought i'd give it a try
So I did my thing and hit submit
and here's my reason why
I like to write, as many do
and share my thoughts aloud
It's fun and it's exciting
and it makes a person proud
But now you took advantage
of people including me
you can kiss my a$$ and go to hell
with your Noble House poetry.

Author: JoAnn
Date:   12-05-03 21:06

You're only 15? Consider yourself lucky, most people don't learn this lesson until way later in life. Good for you for figuring it out! I'm 32 and it took me a few days and some research.... I should have known better.

Author: Joan
Date:   12-05-03 21:07

By the way I thought i'd share one of my poems with you all. You all seem sincere and i'm sure showing you will do no harm. I wrote them when my cat passed away this November 2,2003. The following is what they (Noble House)asked me to write as a publishers note. I'm glad I did not hit the submit button this time around: My husband Robert bought me a Blue Persian cat for my 26th birthday, who we named Gizmo. Gizmo was two months old when I got him. He has been by my side 13 years. He was never an outdoor cat. Everywhere in the house I was, he would be by my side. He was the kind of cat who adapted to many of the changes we've gone through. Like our first born daughter Taylor Lynn, two moves, and our second born daughter Elizabeth Anne. We also got two more cats, Angel, then Tiger. He never minded. Although they would hiss at him alot in the beginning, he would just look at them and walk away. Knowing that cats do not live very long, I never really thought about how I would handle Gizmo's death when the time came. And when I thought about it, I knew I had plenty years before I even had to think about that. In June of 2003, I took Gizmo for his grooming. When I got him home he could not walk. I thought they drugged him which I knew could not at all be possible. The woman said he was the best cat she ever worked with. I took him to the vet the next day because all day and the next morning he just could not walk. On June 2, 2003, my birthday, Gizmo was diagnosed with Kidney failure. I had the option of putting him to sleep or leaving him at the hospital and continuing fluids for the duration of his time being home. Putting him to sleep was out of the question. We took him home June 7th and every day thereafter we brought him in for fluids. I was eight months pregnant with my daughter Elizabeth. Gizmo died on November 2, 2003. The poem I wrote, "Go To Sleep", shows what the day was like when Gizmo reached the end. I had a very special bond with my cat Gizmo that will always be in my heart. I dedicate this poem to Gizmo. For everyone who owns a cat, you know how special that bond can be. People don't own cats, cats own people.

Also, to all you sincere people out there, I went out of my way to tell them this story thinking something could come of this. I hope no one else gets trapped into this scam. I'm very glad I DID NOT go ahead with it.

"Go To Sleep"

I woke up Sunday morning
and went about my day
I went into the bathroom
there on the sink you lay
You waited for me to brush my teeth
so you can drink from the tap
and when you were done, you layed back down
and continued with your nap
We all got dressed, there were things to do
so we hurried out the door
when we returned, on the sink you lay
just as you were before
Lying there on your side
something just wasn't right
There was a sudden change in you
that happened over night
The doctor called us in the room
and said you reached the end
The time had come to say goodbye
to our fluffy feline friend
She carried you in her arms to the room where we had waited
She promised us you'll feel no pain
you were heavily sedated
She layed you on the table
and not to my surprise
out of habit I took a tissue
and I began to clean your eyes
I stroked your head and kissed your face
and I could not hold back my tears
You gave this family lots of love
through all your thirteen years
I still have your baby that you carried around the house
you took it from me when you were two months old, and since then it's been like your spouse
Now you're gone and we miss you so
our home is not the same
I don't know whether to laugh or cry
when our parrot calls your name
I'll miss your purring in my ear
as you did every night
Go to sleep our beloved Gizmo
while mommy turns out the light.

Author: Joan
Date:   12-05-03 21:10

No, actually i'm not 15. I'm 39. Now you got me thinking what I said to give people the impression that i'm only 15!! lol :)

Author: Chris Harrison
Date:   12-05-03 21:39

hey i know a good place to get published and it is completly legit. bro. come on i got published from that place. go to www.poetry.com and enter in the contest and thats a good way to get published.

if you wanna see my stuff search for christopher anthony harrison... and my poem is called Je't aime( i love you)
and three others.
later
chris harrison

Author: Ivan
Date:   12-05-03 23:12

I had this to say in reply to an invitation from Noble House Publishers: "You may not publish anything of mine anywhere. As you glut yourselves upon the innocence of youth may your greed and dishonesty suffocate your souls and deprive you of all that is wholesome and pure." I suggest similar measures for those who have felt the sting of their deception.

Author: Joan
Date:   12-06-03 00:37

Sorry to have to tell you this Chris, but that's the site that's being discussed here. Poetry.com is where my poem is also. All you need to do is put in the name of anyone who has posted a poem on their site (including myself)and you will see their poem. I saw mine. They even trimmed my poem so it looks pretty (eyeroll). The exact site is Poetry Bash.Com and you enter their contest and they lead you to believe that you can win up to "X" amount of dollars. You can even call their # to enter your poem online via audio. That part I did. This was before I got the email. By doing that they ask for no money. The only thing that worries me now is when I get my phone bill I can only imagine what I was charged. I do not intend on paying that part of my phone bill. Some people posting on this message board have mentioned that when someone purchases a book from NOBLE HOUSE that supposedly has their poem printed inside, their poem appears ONLY in THEIR BOOK that THEY purchased and can NOT be found in any other book. Now i'm realizing that when they catagorize all the poems from different bashes and keep moving people around and finalizing 4 finalists, the person (YOU)appears as though they have a chance @ winning because it's just them and one other person, then two more people move into your bash and so on. Well, I was sooooo close to winning, well I thought, but I didn't make it. But i'll bet on someone elses email I did win, and made it to the bracket standing alone. Get what i'm saying here?????????

Author: Darren Alexander
Date:   12-06-03 00:52

I just got the same email from Nigel Hillary at Noble House.

This kind of thievery needs to be stopped. Dude needs to be flipping burgers. ;-)

Author: Brenda Smith
Date:   12-06-03 01:05

So What did they say? I have had 5 poems published by poetry.com and am buying the book for the first time to see what I get. I would aslo like to know how to look this stuff up. Noble House has published me in "Theater Of The Mind" anyone see it? lol. I was told it was a scam by a friend and so cancled my credit card before they could charge it and of course got the letter saying, "we could not process your card but your poem is published. So I was just wondering if anyone saw it. Any ifo anyone has would be appricated! I have also written Noble house a letter telling them if they do not send me a copy of the book with my poem in it I will sue them. I will let you guys know what happens there.
Thanks,
Brenda Smith

Author: Spring Ryding
Date:   12-06-03 01:07

In reply to your question about 1st books. Unless I am mistaken, this is a company based in Bloomington, Indiana that publishes 'e-books' and actually prints a book only on demand. I think the rationale is that they do not lose money on inventory taxes and that it also a means for lesser known or unknown writers to get published, at least this is what I understand from someone who has worked there.

Spring Ryding

Author: Glory
Date:   12-06-03 08:52

I just received a letter from Noble House Publishing...I see everyone thinks it is just a scam. I may send a poem but do not intend to send any money. Not yet published I did not expect to get paid. Poetry.com also said I was picked to be published.

Author: Vanessa Lebeau
Date:   12-06-03 09:16

Hey Joann, Well, I am someone that pressed submit on the noble house publisher's thing ( I gogoled it up but It did not give me anything interesting.) but I did not buy any books, also I have been 'published' with the ILP but I still did not buy any books. I was too suspicious, even after getting my letter from snail-mail. I HAVE received the invitation for the conference... twice. Still, I was suspicious. When I received another mail from nhp, I googled it again. I have found various threads treating this subject and saying it's scam. I got my proof, and I did not send anything in. It's kind of humiliating you know... So I went on poetry.com and modified all of my poems, (Since you have to call them to take them off completly and It would cost alot...)Well, just to say, I was 14 when it started... Now I have been 16 for a couple of days. It does bring your hopes down alot when you're my age... Well I entered another contest, A real one, twice. And got published once. A real book, and my poem isn't on the first page, it's on the 279th page with 5 others. It was hard. I kind of stopped wanting to write poetry thinking that I was no good. But no. Just wanted to say, that... Well I don't really know what to say. I am now participating in all threads I can find on ILP scam and I plan to put up notices on everysigle site I participate in. Msn groups included! I don't know many poets my age though... most are older than me... I think that these threads are good.

~Vanessa

Author: Jackie
Date:   12-06-03 10:56

I too just received a letter from Mr. Nigel Hillary at Noble House and was a bit curious as to how they had even obtained my email address.
Well, after receiving a letter from Poetry.com congratulating me on my well written poem, I was a bit flattered that they would have chosen my work to be published. After all, I've been complimented by not only friends and family, but also by strangers who at one point or the other, had read my poems posted on various sites.
I thought it odd that they at ILP would want me to pay them for getting a copy of my own work when they in fact, would be the ones benefiting from publishing it. Either way, I did give the ILP permission to use my poem for their book, but decided not to order a copy of it. Heck why should I, I already know what it sounds like and have my own copy of it.
I was curious about Noble House Publishers, so therefore, just like many of you I decided to do some research on the web. And well well, what do you know, I'm here amongst many very unhappy people who has been scammed or who were potentials victim of a scam. I'm glad that many of you who has had the experience of being scammed, have decided to warn others of the scam so that we can be aware of what is actually going on.
I thank you all, and am sure that if not all, many of you are very talented in your works and will one day get the sincere legitimate recognition that we all deserve.
Thanks once again for those who have dedicated their time and frustration to share with those who are unaware or naive to the many scams out there to bilk the innocent and unsuspecting writers out there.

Author: My Dearest Me
Date:   12-06-03 12:32

Like everyone here, I am sadly mistaken. Noble House Publishers is a big fraud that should be disscused and is here. If everyone would like to take a big chance on a lawsuit, that would be great.

Is poetry.com such a fraud if people do get sent money?

Author: Mr N.G Hilton Pr of Noble House Publi
Date:   12-06-03 12:45

My name is Mr N.G Hilton of Noble House Publishers.It is mine, along with others, responsibility to deal with Noble House's public relations and to make sure that it contains its origional high standards of quality and creativity at its upmost best and to assure you that there is absoloutly no illegal business going on in Noble House and to assure you that you were/are not being led on by false pretences, or "scamming" as you prefer to call it.As most of you are now aware, there is a clear link between us and poetry.com, though Noble House and poetry.com are both independant and seperate organisations.We at Noble House feel that poetry.com are able to deliver poetry of a high standard which manages to obtain class and origionality.The purpose of being published by poetry.com is to gain international recognition for your amazing talents.We then purchase an issue of poetry.com's book and from there we take the poets that we feel stand out the most to us and that we feel are able to meet our standard of work and send them an email asking permission for Noble House to also be able to publish your poetry in Europe to help you broaden your horizons in the world of creative writing.Due to professional purposes all request letters are identicle exept for the persons name and the title of the book they are being published in.For everyone that orders our book and whom has had their work published in it they recieve their personal book with their poem first as each book is origionally ordered so that your poem will come first, whilst the rest with follow, and if someone else orders the book then their name will be first with the following persons placed in a new permanent position.There is no evidence to back up your personal theories in the court room, which there is non of as these accusations are completely false in every way, and though we are allowed our freedom of expression and speech, I must kindly ask you all to refrain from the spreading of these false accusations as it is a form of public discrimination.I do hope that this has cleared everything up for all of you and that you all will now be able to put this issue to rest so that further action will not be nessasary.

Yours faithfully

Mr N.G Hilton
Noble House Publishers
public relations

Author: Jasleen Shant D'Souza
Date:   12-06-03 12:46

Hi there
That is a sweet poem.Thank you all for the warning. I really did get excited when i got the mail from noble house. Why do these people do it?
Anyhow, thank God i didnt get into it. I started writing in high school but never really tried to do anything with it.I submitted my first poem to poetry.com in 2001 - A DREAM and then another this year MY FREEDOM- my happiness.
I am now 31 and still wait for something wonderful to happen when people like this disillusion you. I am a scientist by profession but a poet at heart like all of us, i guess. Thanks for letting me share my thoughts with you all. I would want to say one thing in the end- I still believe in dreams and the fact that one day they will come true.

Thanks
jasleen

Author: Gary Kessler
Date:   12-06-03 13:05

Mr. Hilton: Are you sure your mother knows of your sleazy operations and of all those people--including many impressionable children--that your "business" has toyed with and whose hopes and spirits they have dashed? The schemes of poetry.com--and now your offshoot--are well documented and publicized in the open media. You should be ashamed of yourself. Can't you find a more respectable job? Like maybe telemarketing or creating junk mail spam on viagra to mass e-mail?

Author: Vanessa Lebeau
Date:   12-06-03 13:19

Seems we have received a message today from Mr. N.G. Hilton Pr of Noble House Publishers himself. Keep in mind people, that many have been fooled.

And this part of the message, Mr N.G.Hilton, is for you.

I went to the site of Noble House Publishers and you know what I found? Three buttons... About us, New releases and Contact us. The information about your company is merely a page long and a third of it is explaining about a book! People have tried to contact you many times and have not been able to. And your book theatre of the mind, why are there so many threads going on about it and how it wasn't up to the poets's expectations. Some have even said that you were understanding but when it comes to turning the book back in, you fuss. And in the contact us part of the website, you just repeat the adresses that are under the book picture. If Noble House Publishers was such a great, scam-free company, (also stating that the internet is becoming, or already is, one of the best ways to advertise such things.) why is your site so small and contains almost any information on what you actually do? Well, I for sure, as would many poets around the globe who are involved, would love to have more, trustfull and reliable information. And as I have stated, we actually don't know anything so you can't prove us wrong.

We are not gullible.

If anyone else thinks the way I do, please state. I think that the 'Noble House Publishers' should maby give reasons for us not to think otherwise that it is scam. and again, Mr. N.G. Hilton, If you don't want us to think that way, please make an effort so that we have a reason not to.

And if anyone wants to see their site, here it is.
http://www.noblehousepublishers.co.uk

Yours faithfully

Ms. Vanessa Lebeau
Scam-Free Poet

Author: Vanessa Lebeau
Date:   12-06-03 13:25

Hello AK

Well, the site is
poeticpower.com
And it's completly legit.

I have been published, once, but I enter everysingle contest there. there is also information on how they work. Way better than nhp and here is a small part that they have put on their site(with all the ifnoration about them, the contest, the rules everything)(its compelte)
---------------------

Why Our Contest Is Different


There are hundreds of "poetry contests." Here are the problems that we have found with other contests. Many of them are scams that say they are a contest and then accept every entry with the expectation that you will buy a book. Some companies don't have a contest and they just publish poems. This philosophy doesn't reward poets for their creative writing. Several companies sell their books for over $40 and it can take up to 9 or more months to receive the anthology. Some companies never deliver a book and take your money and disappear. Several companies have entry fees. Many companies don't send the poet a copy of their poem so that they can make corrections before it is printed. Many companies don't keep the teachers informed about the results of the contest.

Here are the Top Ten things that make Creative Communication different.

No entry fees.



In publishing our anthology we reject more poems than we accept. Our philosophy is to be selective enough that it is an honor to be included, but not so exclusive that it is discouraging to enter.

To decrease any "pressure" that a young poet may feel to purchase an anthology we donate a free book to any teacher who has 5 or more students accepted to be published. This allows a student to see their work in print without making a purchase.

We contact each teacher who has a student accepted to be published 3-4 days before any of their students are contacted. This keeps the teachers informed with what is going on with the contest. At that time we provide the teachers with a list of their students that have been accepted to be published.

We send each poet a letter, a certificate of acceptance and a typed copy of their poem. This allows them to see their poem exactly how it will appear in the book. They can make minor changes or corrections to their poems before signing the proofsheet to give us permission to publish their poem.

Schools and teachers receive special recognition by receiving a poetic achievement award. This award is given to the top 10% of the schools who enter our contest. This award entitles each school to receive a certificate of achievement, a free copy of the anthology with their students' poems included, special recognition in the front of the anthology with the school's name and location and the teacher's name who helped the school earn this recognition.

Schools that receive a Poetic Achievement Award qualify to apply for over $17,000 in Language Arts Grants we award each year.

We award over $70,000 to poets in each contest and winners of the contest receive a free book that includes their poem as a "Top Ten Winner."

We produce a professionally bound hard backed anthology for under $20. We have been around since 1993 and our goal is to keep every poet, parent, teacher and school satisfied. We ship every book that is ordered and we have a no questions asked satisfaction guarantee with every purchase.

You do not need to purchase an anthology in order to be published or to even win a prize.



Need we say more? Our goal as a member of the Better Business Bureau is to provide a positive experience for every poet and to go beyond everyone's expectations.

---------------

and sorry about my typos, I am writing fast. the url of the particualr page in the site is: http://poeticpower.com/howitworks2.html

more later I promise
~Vanessa

Author: Mr N.G Hilton
Date:   12-06-03 13:26

Dear sir

I would kindly like to ask you what schemes you are refering to.In my previous document I have stated all that needs to be said and thought that it would be able to help you to understand the internal happenings of Noble House so as to put a halt to these rumours.Kindly help to show me what you are refering to and I will see if I can help you.

Author: Vanessa Lebeau
Date:   12-06-03 13:28

Mr N.G. Hilton

pleas read my comments and think about them, they might be useful to you

Author: Jade Byrnes
Date:   12-06-03 13:38

I, like many of you, were approached by both poetry.com&Noble House Publishers, but I have to say that Mr N.G Hilton's letter seems to make alot of sense to me.It tells me alot about hat happens and why, and it really seems to be real and logical.Maybe we weren't scammed after all?maybe this guys really telling the truth afterall?I'm interested in what you guys think?

Author: Lucky Luke
Date:   12-06-03 13:44

Thanks so much for the address Vanessa.I just logged on and I have to say that poetry.com can eat its dust!Keep writing all!Cheerio!

Author: Gary Kessler
Date:   12-06-03 13:58

N.G.: Do your own research on these boards alone--search and find all those folks who posted here since you started up business who say they can't even track anyone done in your "business" to register all their complaints. Many of them have put their e-mail addresses on here--start answering your phones and e-mails. That alone should keep your scheme bogged down for years. LOL, I do hope you shower often--and use a lot of cologne. What a scudsy life to live.

Author: Gary Kessler
Date:   12-06-03 14:10

I think over the past year and more that threads have built here about the sleazy practices of poetry.com and Noble House and trying to band together and do somethng about these schemes, I've come on from time to time and told posters they were just wasting their time posting their litany of hurts for being taken here and that they should just get on with their lives.

The fact that a claimed official of Noble House has come on this board to tell people to shut up or else, though, shows that I probably was wrong. By continuing to register your complaints here, you obviously have gotten through to Noble House enough for them to make a ridiculous attempt to muzzle you. So just banding together here is obviously helping to put Noble House on the run. Congratulations. You're getting through and getting somewhere farther than you were before.

Author: Jade Kouletakis
Date:   12-06-03 14:13

Hey all.My name's Jade Kouletakis and I'm 14yrs old.I've also gone through the whole poetry.com/Noble House thing, but I really have to ask:what's the big deal?All our poems are published on the internet so we are getting free(yes,free)international recognition and great exposure for our hard work and talents, even if it's guaranteed we wont win money or a prize for our work.I for one will continue entering poetry.com&Noble House Publishers, scam or not, as it's really good exposure.I haven't only been published in those two places as I am a writer(I have been published in numerous books and other places and am a steady reporter for an internet site)and am currently writing my second novel, though I have yet to find any publishing places to submit my stories although my one story titled Death Wish is published on www.kids-online.net.If you know of any sites I can submit my stories to(ones a horror and the others a drama)PLEASE let me know.You can check out some of my poems on poetry.com under Jade Kouletakis(duh?).See, now I've gotten even more exposure and it was all for free!keep the writing alive!

Author: Gary Kessler
Date:   12-06-03 14:20

Sorry, Jake, the only thing anyone who matters notices about poems of yours associated with either poetry.com or Noble House is that you got taken. You aren't published; you are printed. Tried selling anything to any respectable publisher/journal on the strength of poetry.com or Noble House credits? Wondered what all that laughter in the background meant?

Author: Vanessa Lebeau
Date:   12-06-03 14:23

what makes me upset, is that people like ilp and nhp take profit of something so beautiful, precious and unique as poetry to get money, that is not worth it. think about it!

and you welcome lucky luke

~Vanessa

Author: Vanessa Lebeau
Date:   12-06-03 14:26

Hey Arno, I have went to your site. And read all about the scam! THANKS!

Author: Jade Kouletakis
Date:   12-06-03 14:35

Actually I have.I live in South Africa and I wrote out my resume to a local magazine, including poetry.com&Noble House Publishers along with other things, and the magazine in question decided to do an entire article on me.i also got an amazing kid award for my stuff.I'm not trying to argue as lots of others seem to be, as I believe everyones point of view is to be respected by others, I'm just stating something down.I get your point though.If poetry&Noble where the first or only publishing houses to publish my stuff I'd probably be pretty pissed too, but the best thing you can do is put it towards your experiences in the writing world and let it strengthen you and teach you about the cons of this industry.

Author: Gary Kessler
Date:   12-06-03 14:52

Does show that media sources in South Africa can be duped about a U.S. market scheme as well. Over time, the news will (or already has) get down there. :-)

Author: Michelle
Date:   12-06-03 16:14

I am very upset that people are using use to make money. There has to be something we can do to stop this CO. from doing it again. Does anyone have any idea what we can do to turn them in...Better Buisness Bureau, contact our state legislature or congressman. SOmething could be done if we tried. They are violating our rights to publication and proper recognition for our poems and I would like to get some help to stop them once and forall. If you are interested please contact me with some ideas on what we can do about this and others that are being shamed.
Sincerely,
Michelle F.lcstudent2@insightbb.com

Author: Gary Kessler
Date:   12-06-03 16:34

Michelle: Just convincing people they aren't scrupulous and won't produce the start of a career in writing is about the best you could do. No one who helps you get published is going to do it for free; everyone is using you to make their money (as you will be using them to make your money) off a publication partnership. Doubt going to BBB will help much. Such companies usually know how to stay just within the law.

Author: Michael Updike
Date:   12-06-03 18:45

Here is what I sent as a reply to the Noble House scam...I knew it for what it was right away...

Mr. Hillary,

Thank you so much for your gracious offer to publish my poetry in your volume. As you are obviously familiar with my work, I would like to know which poems you wish to publish. Once this is established, we can discuss royalties and other matters of fiscal pragmatism. Only after we establish a mutually agreeable contract will I allow you to publish my poems.

Yours,

Michael Updike

Author: Diana Todd
Date:   12-06-03 20:31

Dear Friends...most especially to people new to the literary community...
Noble House, in conjuncion with Poetry.com, The International Library of Poetry, and several other names for the same company are what are referred to as VANITY presses. Vanity as in appealing to our vanity. It also preys upon people who do not know how the legitimate publishing houses work. Oh they are perfectly legal and operate within the letter of the law. They will provide the object they describe for the fee requested, as well as anything else they offer which you pay for including extra to add your bio...extra for a printed certificate stating you are in the book...extra for this extra for that...still more to attend "symposiums" to collect an award and hear your poem read to an "audience of your peers." These and other scams are commonly offered. However, the real publishing houses funcion quite differently, both large and small.

What is the difference?
1)THEY DO NOT collect money for the privalege of being printed.
2)THEY DO NOT CHARGE YOU FOR COPIES OF YOUR WORK IN PRINT!
3)THEY PAY YOU for the privalege of using your work, and the opportunity to collect a percentage of the profits.

Because of this, they are of course choosy about what they choose to print, and not just the quality of the work, but its salibility for a particular collection and or audience. Sadly, this means of course, that many would be authors of differing levels of ability are often rejected at least once if not many times as their work may or not be appropriate for what the publisher is doing.

Anyone can go to a vanity press and have anything printed up, just the same as anyone can go to a studio and sing a song, print up copies and give it to all your friends and family. This is not the same as publishing or producing something and having it promoted, marketed, and distributed. (Without costing YOU a penney!) The only people who will ever see this "collection" are the authors themselves, and their friends and family who are also sold the bill of goods. They are not going to be found in any bookstores, libraries, or other venues to purchase or peruse.

Thats about the extent of it...without belaboring the issue, if you are informed on how the legitimate system works, and cannot work within that system but must...at all costs see your work in print, regardless of everything, and are willing to pay the price, then by all means participate. You will pay through the nose, but you will have a "book" with your work printed to set out on your coffee table. But remember...once you do, that piece of yourself, that you have sold, will forever be associated with this bastard of the industry. You will forfeit any claim to legitimacy and will never be able to publish it elsewhere, as it will forever after be quoted as being first "published" by so and so.

The sad thing of course is that it is not the well informed people who this company takes advantage of, but those who dont know any better. THAT is why this company is the worst of the legal scams that are out there. Countless people have been dissappointed, humiliated, embarrased and hurt by the operation of this company, and many otherslike them. Many more exist in ignorance, feeling that they have recieved an honor, and have no idea that theyve been taken advantage of. Maybe if they are lucky, they never will.

Good Luck to you all...
May your pens never run out of ink, and the wellspring of your souls never run dry!...

Sincerely,
Diana L. Todd

Author: Raymond Sapp
Date:   12-06-03 21:29

I tried the iformation that you [Arno] put on here and on your site. I, too, went through the same exact process of letters and e-mails from both ILP and NHP. I am not asking them to pull my poem from poetry.com, because I like the prospect of people viewing my poem.

This is a copy of the letter I sent Nigel Hillary at NHP:

To: nhillary@noblehousepublishers.co.uk

Subject: RE: May we publish your poetry in the U.K.?

Dear Mr. Hillary,

I wish to ask you a few questions. One, how did you get my information? Two, which poem are you asking about? Three, how have you been in business for twelve years when your site was only registered in February of this year?

Now, I ask you kindly, is this information true? If so, why are you doing this?

If I am wrong about my assumptions and research, then I will apologize, and consider getting a poem published through your company.

Sincerely,

Raymond W. Sapp, III


From: "Noble House Publishers" To: Subject: May we publish your poetry in the U.K.? Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2003 19:03:36 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: from intranet.circapress.com ([38.164.39.7]) by mc1-f42.hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(5.0.2195.6713); Sat, 6 Dec 2003 16:03:28 -0800 Received: from mail pickup service by intranet.circapress.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC; Sat, 6 Dec 2003 19:03:36 -0500 X-Message-Info: JGTYoYF78jGtTGcBXrnMMdWUClTlqlP4 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.71.1712.3 Message-ID: <05e9c36030007c3INTRANET@intranet.circapress.com> Return-Path: nhillary@noblehousepublishers.co.uk X-OriginalArrivalTime: 07 Dec 2003 00:03:28.0873 (UTC) FILETIME=[8B1DBD90:01C3BC55] N o b l e H o u s e London – Paris – New York Noble House London Poets House 2 Harrington Road Leytonstone London E11 4QW England Noble House Paris Centre MBE 2 Bis Avenue Durante 06000 Nice France Noble House New York Empire State Building Suite 3304-19Q New York, NY 10118 Office of the Publisher Poetry Division London, U.K. 6 December, 2003 Dear Raymond, As you may know, Noble House is one of the foremost publishers of fiction and nonfiction works by new and established authors today. Our poetry division in the U.K. has had the honour of publishing the poetry of more than 1,600 poets over the past twelve years. Recently I had the pleasure of reading the poetry that you have had published in the United States. I congratulate you on this grand endeavour, and propose to you that your singular talent and vision deserves appropriate recognition in Europe as well. For this reason, I have posted this letter to request your permission to include one of your favourite poems in Colours of the Heart - a new poetry edition that is being published in the U.K. by Noble House and slated for worldwide distribution . . . a collection of poetry that is perhaps unlike any you have ever seen . . . one where each poem is featured on its own page, and one whose quality is reminiscent of the finest 19th century antique poetry books. Hearken back, if you will, to the days of Emily Dickinson, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and William Wordsworth . . . the age of grand bookmaking. Poetry editions were some of the most highly prized volumes because of their intimate attention to detail – quality typography, fine ivory laid paper, and colourful ornate covers. Raymond, for this Edition, we've returned to the traditional size, style, and quality of these classic 19th century antique poetry books. Scheduled for release in February 2004, Colours of the Heart will surely become one of your most treasured keepsakes. Your publication in this edition will establish you as an international author and afford you the respect and admiration attendant to such an honour. International Copyright notice for your poetic artistry will, of course, be in your name, assuring that you will retain worldwide rights to your work of art. Best of all, should you decide to obtain a copy of the edition for your personal library, or as a wonderful personalised gift (you are, naturally, under no obligation to purchase a copy, notwithstanding the publication of your work in this edition), as you proudly turn its pages you’ll find it one of the best values on the book market today. At only £28.95 (U.S. $45.55) for a hardbound, 200-page edition printed in two colours on ivory laid vellum, with a highly detailed, finely crafted, ornate cover, and a single poem to a page, this Edition promises to exceed your expectations, and will enjoy pride of place in your home. In fact, its quality is guaranteed. If for any reason you are dissatisfied, your money will be completely refunded in U.S. dollars with proper dispatch. Raymond, you may also wish to consider giving the public some insight about you and your artistry for this poetic showcase . . . perhaps the meaning behind your poem, or your own philosophical perspective. Because an entire page in the book is devoted to honouring your poetry, we can feature this additional material about you and your poetry on the recto leaf opposite your poem (you will thus have two full pages devoted to you and your artistry). Raymond, may we have permission to publish your work in the United Kingdom? Regardless of whether you purchase a copy or not, the international public deserves to see more of your artistic talent. You may submit your poem and biographical information, and give us permission all within the confines of the next page. And if you are inclined to order a copy of Colours of the Heart , you may also do so at the same time. Sincerely, Nigel Hillary Publisher, Poetry Division Noble House U.K. + P.S. For poets who may wish to obtain supplementary copies for gift-giving, to display, or for merchandising, special case pack discounts are available. Please consult the submission and order form for further details. Please proceed to next page to submit your poem If you no longer wish to receive material from us, please click here , or go to http://www.noblehousepublishers.co.uk/colours/optout.asp.

Author: Cody R.
Date:   12-06-03 21:30

Hi Everyone. I was a "semi-finalist" in the summer of 2003. I sent away my money for my volume and never got one! Is there anyway i can get my money back? if so please post and/or contact me. Thanks!

Author: Tara
Date:   12-06-03 21:55

For the last message that was entered, all I can say is WOW!I have "entered" 2-3 poems through poetry.com and of course I am one of the "published" authors that are out there. I also recieved the email from noble house today and was really psyched about being published in Europe! Man was I fooled! I would have never known any differently otherwise, but I found it kinda strange to recieve an email from a publishing house on a Saturday and also one that I never submitted any of my works to. Thanks for all of the information and also, do you know of any legit publishing companies that are online so we can actually recieve some of the recognition that so many of us truly deserve? And to Noble House, you still haven't convinced me that you are truly legit. I read your messages and I noticed that there was at least one misspelled word in that, and you say you work for a publishing house, what's that???
I wish everyone out the the best in all you do and write, good luck to all!!!!
Tara Rogers

Author: Raymond Sapp
Date:   12-06-03 22:45

From : System Administrator

To : phantom31017@hotmail.com
Subject : Undeliverable: RE: May we publish your poetry in the U.K.?

Your message

To: nhillary@noblehousepublishers.co.uk
Subject: RE: May we publish your poetry in the U.K.?
Sent: Sat, 6 Dec 2003 22:21:52 -0500

did not reach the following recipient(s):

nhillary@noblehousepublishers.co.uk on Sat, 6 Dec 2003 22:20:31 -0500
The recipient name is not recognized
The MTS-ID of the original message is: c=us;a= ;p=watermark
press;l=EXCHANGE0312070320X6WJWCXZ
MSEXCH:IMS:Watermark Press:Circa Press:EXCHANGE 0 (000C05A6) Unknown
Recipient

(After this point, the reply is the same thing I posted earlier on the the forum.)

Author: joey sykes
Date:   12-06-03 22:55

Do you know if anyone has ever really recieved any money.

Author: Tori
Date:   12-06-03 23:20

Yeah,I got the same letter a whole 5 minutes ago... I never even HEARD of Nole House Publishers and I jut got'published' by poetry.com...... at least I only got 'published' by them once, but I have the other four publishd poems...pretty good for a thirteen year old considering that the education where I live sucks... badly

Author: sonny
Date:   12-07-03 03:32

one question though....the copyright thing they offer is legitimate ...i hope? everything today is a scam...the simpler one's life the better of! anyway they will pay for it in the long run!

Author: Patrick
Date:   12-07-03 03:38

Hello,

I am one of the many people who have submitted a poem to Poetry.com and have received a letter stating that my poem will be published in their latest anthology, Eternal Portraits. This same poem has been published before, in a booklet circulated by a legit organisation, so I knew that I had a reasonable chance of getting it published again.

However, my suspicions arose when I got the infamous e-mail from Hillary. I, like many others here, discovered this site when I searched on Google for a Noble House website. I admit that I was pretty shocked when I heard about the scam. The package that Poetry.com sent me by mail, containing leaflets and accompanying letter, appeared legitmate and quie elaborate. Though I thought it odd that I was only required to place my initials on the declaration form rather than sign it.

Regarding Mr. Hillary's message above, you ask, Mr. Hillary, what is Noble House Publishing actually guilty of? Although I have never held a copy of a Noble House Publishing book in my hands, I have learnt quite enough of their standards of publishing from many disgruntled readers from a web forum similar to this one. Many people on the other forum stated that their poem appears on the first page, followed by the rest of the poems. You have stated this also here and you have given the reasons for the company doing this. What you have not stated here, however, is that the poem on the first page is glued in, according to the writers of the respective poems. Do you call this quality printing? You seem to devote much of the e-mail message, sent to everyone here and on the other forum, about the apparent 'quality' found in your company's range of books.

You also comment in the same e-mail that I should receive appropriate recognition in Europe for my poem. How can anyone here recieve appropriate recognition in Europe when their poem only appears in the copy of the book that they receive and no other copies? Many people who have ordered your books have cross-checked with each other, asking if each other's poems have appeared in the other's books. The answer is always 'No.' Explain also why many people have searched for ISBN numbers supposedly belonging to the books of Poetry.com and Noble House Publishing and have come up with invalid responses.

Though it should be pointed out that there are some who state that there is a legitimate company out there called Noble House or Noble House Publishing. The e-mails that everyone has been receieving obviously have come from a bogus or non existant company assuming a reputable company's name. Then again, if you search on the Internet for a website belonging to such an established company, why can we only find a relatively sparse one? Puzzling.

Author: Dan
Date:   12-07-03 09:21

Hello fellow poets.
I just received the infamous email from Mr Hillary. I also wondered why it would come on a Saturday night. Like many, I immediately associated them with Poetry.com. It is the only way they could have found my email. I have been waiting for the book with my poem in it, (Eternal Potraits) for a while now. I have called Poetry.com a few times and found out that the release date seems to keep changing. Lastly, I called and was told that it was shipped on Dec 1st. I am still waiting. I even recently sent in a new poem because I was told I was selected for the newest book (Best Poet's and Poems of 2003). Needless to say, this was quite a rush for me to think I had accomplished such a wonderful thing.
I am old enough to know better and had my doubts from the start. But when I expressed my doubts to friends who know my writting they very politely argued that I just didn't believe in my talent that they all could see and they wanted to buy the book for themselves. I ended up ordering six.
I totally agree with the response from Diana Todd from 12/6 who explained that these are vanity sites. We are paying for the thrill of seeing ourselves in any kind of print. We all, whether we like it or not must admit that when we were told we were to be published by Poetry.com received a real shot to our ego's. As long as there are people who do not know any better at one time (like us)then they will be able to keep taking our money and all within the limits of the law. I am a believer in what goes around, comes around and they somehow and somewhere will get their just rewards.
I will not answer Mr Hillary's email or submit a poem to them. I have about 20 poems out on Poetry.com and will "edit" them as someone stated before. One thing I will say about Poetry.com is that I did order two plaques with one of my poems on them for elderly relatives. They were very nice and I received them within 2 weeks. I do not regret doing this as they brought some joy to others as will the books I ordered. But I will do this no more.
I will seek other ways of being published and hope everyone will do the same. I know what writing means to each of you because I know what it means to me. We are dreamers, thinkers, and artists with deep souls having something beautiful to say. Keep writing and saying it. Life is a endless book of poems waiting to be written. My best wishes to each of you!

Author: G.J.C.
Date:   12-07-03 10:04

Dan on 12/7, I have had the exact same turn of events with poetry.com. First they said they'd publish me in Eternal Portraits, then they said they liked me so much they wanted me in the Best Poets and Poems of 2003. When I woke up this morning, I, too, had a letter (very professional-looking) from Nigel Hillary. Luckily, I never bought anything from these crooks!
I cannot believe that these people are taking advantage of artists. We are simply communicators who wish to have our thoughts in a communicable form. It is disgusting how maliciously we have been blinded. I definitely agree that we should all stop responding to the emails and take our poetry off of poetry.com. Maybe when they see that their reserves of poetry are dissolving, they'll begin to understand the magnitude of their crookedness.
Do not be disheartened, O great poets of the world; continue "sucking the marrow out of life*" and recording your emotions.

*Henry David Thoreau

Author: David
Date:   12-07-03 10:53

Sincerely,l find this strange. l have received requests for my poems a number of times. l took a few creative writing classes in collage. if you wont to be a paid poet, then you need have your work seen and read. poetry.com only promises you three things. 1. to show your poems. they do that unless your poem is longer or wider then the space provided. then your out of luck. 2. to copyright your poem for you. for me these two reasons are reason enough to use that site to allow my poems to be read. the same is true of Noble House Publishers they only offer you a chance to be published. l see nothing unethical about this, as they made no additional promises. would l like a free copy of my work sure. would l like to be paid 40.00 per poem, yes. but l realized something about the internet long ago, most of the information you find on it soon becomes public domain, because you never know were it started. if you want people to buy your poems. one way to do it - is to share your profits with a charity and have them sell your book of poems to raise money for their cause. so you end up helping each other. just keep in mind no poet ever got rich on poetry. Noble House Publishers my only problem with your site our computers are not compatible so I've never been able to send you one of my poems. for everyone who likes to read a good poem. this is my favorite that l wrote. it has never fit on poetry.com because it's 54 lines long.

Dear David

It’s a bloody sledge hammer
the pen, used for letters, communication, music,
Full of pain, truth, lies, promise.
I’ve got a No clue what women mean to me
I know what you have meant to me for years

You're my strength,
My courage,
My hope,
My champion,
My friend,

completely dependable
completely undependable
You’re dependable when people are in need
Undependable when life becomes is predictable.
And more

You’re my child,
My teen,
My father,
My hero,
You and I ... are one.

I’ve never written you a letter to tell you how I feel
It’s time I did.
You and I live by two different rules
You have the survival traits, to live to a ancient age
You’re lacking in one thing

A need to live

The truth is I don’t think you have any idea where to look
You would have been happier in the days of knights,
Robinhood, Sinbad, or others legends when
men were men and women were not.

Today you can’t tell the difference
Women look like men in dress, adapted and, manner
Men behave more like women,
in the process men have lost the ability to stand, and fight.

We won’t step in a women's way, it stunts their growth
They need to blossom, and flourish, to enrich themselves
You don’t see the traits you admire most about men anymore.
Women have crushed them,

I don’t think they are aware they’re doing it.
I’m not sure it matters
You’d never buy her a dress
Though you know she’d look her best

It has More to do with their preconceptions than yours,
Its your way of trying to be romantic, the corsages, roses, wine, dinner for two, kind of thing.
They see it as an attack on their personal freedom’s,
sometimes it is.

At one time
a man could be a gentleman, curious, kind, a fighter,
passionate, with purpose, strong, dependable.
A happy child when such was unneeded.
You feel stronger ties to the men you respect, than women
I believe the fault is in me, not you.

Author: Dan
Date:   12-07-03 11:08

Hey G.J.C
Thanks for the response. It is interesting to see that someone else is where I am with "Eternal Portraits and Best Poets and Poems of 2003". I will let you know if I ever receive the books.
One thing I didn't mention in my first response. Does anyone like me, think that it is strange that Mr. Hillary would personally enter this forum trying to convince us of his sincerity? This is a big red flag for me. I do not think a legitimate company would be responding in this way. It is unprofessional and negates to the same ends as a chat room. Come on Mr. Hillary, can't you do better than that?
I really appreciate the quote from Thoreau. It says it like no one else could!

Author: Arun
Date:   12-07-03 11:58

hi all,
I really dont mind that it is a scam.. for i know the real worth of my little poem, and what it means to me cannot change. but what hurts me most is that, i had told my best friend about this noble house stuff. He has been a fan of my poems, and must have felt happier than I did, to know that my poems might get published. I feel sadder to disappoint him than not to have my poem published.
Anyway there is someone to read these mails... so i publish one of mine here.. :-)

When blood finds its way
in and out of your heart
why cant I find a way in?

When blood finds its way
in and out of my heart
why cant you find a way out?


(is here a way out of the stupid feeling ? )
Arun

Author: Suzanne Montpetit
Date:   12-07-03 12:05

Again I am dooped, or should I say of lack of another phrase pooped upon. I guess I am gracious for this oppertunity and live and once again learn. We are a special group of humans and having a love for poetry will someday shine through. If anyone knows of a true place to submit my poems let me know. Suzanne

Author: Maria
Date:   12-07-03 12:23

Hi all! I was too fooled by this, I didn`t buy the book, but I did send my poem and all...and after finding this site, while searching for their homepage, I wrote this letter to Mr. Hillary!

Mr. Hillary, after reading this e-mail I was stunned and confused. I was even more stunned when I found out all this is just a big scam! I, as many others who have received your e-mail wants nothing more than fulfilling a dream as a writer one day. At first you gave us the hope but then you gave us anger. People must be very sad to have the strength to mock poetry! Tell me, how do you sleep at night, knowing you`re fooling and making hundreds, maybe thousands of people angry and sad?? Poetry of all kinds is a wonderful thing. And you try to ruin it. But the only thing you`ll ruin, is yourself.

I was naive enough to think it was a dream come true. If it wasnt a scam, it would have been a dream come true!

Author: Michael M. Kelly Sr.
Date:   12-07-03 13:00

I just sent this e-mail off to an Attorney (Tony Kim)looking in to poetry.com, thought you might find it interesting:
Dear Tony,
I don't know if this e-mail is still a valid place to send information regarding "Poetry.com" or not but since I don't have any other recourse that I'm aware of, here goes.
Yes I fell into the poetry.com trap also. I saw an ad for them and checked out the webpage and sure enough, here was a chance for me to not only get published but maybe even win some money. I submitted one of my poems and crossed my fingers. I didn't hear anything right away, neither e-mail or regular mail, so I thought, what the heck the first one didn't take, I'll send in another. Again I followed the rules "only twenty lines,etc." and was warned that I could only submit one poem per contest period but they would still accept the second poem for later recoegnition. Still I waited. Lo and behold I finally received a letter in the mail advising me that my first poem had been chosen as a fianalist in the contest and that no matter what I would still be published in the wonderful book of poems that they were producing. Now, "did I want to reserve a copy?" for my own use and to show everyone what I'd accomplished ? You bet I did! I was so excited I told all my family and friends that I was now a "published poet". That was in September, I'm still waiting for the book that I sent $54.95 including shipping to arrive. The only type of communication these people allow is by regular mail (which I don't trust) and by telephone if you can get someone to pick up the darn phone. I waited on line for fifteen minutes one day and no one picked up. I don't have that kind of time or money to spend on long distance calls. Anyway I ran accross this web page when I was looking for some other means of communicating with these people. That's when I sadly came to the complete realization that I'd been had by an obviously crooked and malicious bunch of no good slimey gangsters in the holy name of poetry. If you or anyone else is out to hang this bunch of rotten individuals please include me. Oh and by the way I received the included e-mail from another possibly insidious bunch of international poetry crooks. You read it and tell me. Thank you for at least giving me a chance to vent. If this does go farther I will be pleased to accompany you on the journey. Sincerely, Michael M. Kelly Sr., Poet.

Author: my turn
Date:   12-07-03 13:33

bubble mouth
----------------
car got a needle
monoxide puff
egyptian beetle
smell that stuff

calling up a yeti
blam blam blam
donkey drip spagetti
cram, cram,cram

fountain of slurry,
(ooo, ooo)
geyser in a dump
(oh ho yeah)(oh ho yeah)
bubble mouth don't hurry
i do control the pump.



Now, let's keep it real, okay?

Author: Maria
Date:   12-07-03 14:30

I am so.. wow! This is..whew! I was so proud and so were my parents, friends, and teachers. I was so indescribably happy. I'm a sophomore in high school and to be published was really special to me. I got "Editor's Choice Award" and they asked if they could put my poem on the "Sounds of Poetry." Knowing that it's all fake just...I can't understand how people can be that slimy. I'm glad I didn't pay them any money, though. This is a big schock, finding a thread about the scam.

Author: Vanessa Lebeau
Date:   12-07-03 15:45

I too was 'chosen' for the best poets and poems of 2003 as was my friend Jamison Rhode, but we both know now it's a scam!

~Vanessa Lebeau

Author: jodie saxton ward
Date:   12-07-03 17:43

oh my god...

i feel so sick and stupid..
i put my poem on poetry.com and i even got the book..everyone has been so nice to me when they saw the book..im even on the first page.

i feel worthless

it ment the world to me to see my words in print.

i feel so sick..

thank you for stopping me going further..

Author: Patrick
Date:   12-07-03 17:44

With the e-mails that we have all received from Noble House Publishing, it was clearly stated that Nigel Hillary's position in the company was Publisher in the Poetry Division. However, as can be seen in Mr.Hillary's message above, in the very bottom of the message after he signs his name, he is a member of the company's Public Relations section! Hmmmm, perhaps it is a one man company?!?

Author: jodie saxton ward
Date:   12-07-03 17:47

i got my book...its nice..buts its called the colors of life.

i feel so let down..

Author: Patrick
Date:   12-07-03 18:06

Woops! That was in fact NG Hilton in the Public Relations division, not the infamous Hillary. Blunder on my part.

Regarding the hefty price Poetry.com has requested from us for the purchase of their books, I had only paid a deposit (regretting it now that I have seen their deceitful nature.) However, what surprises me is that they sent me a letter stating that they are going to send me the book Eternal Portraits. I thought that such a seedy company would only send a me a book after I had paid the full amount. Obviously, I am glad of this - not having to fork out a massive amount of cash. Nevertheless, when that book arrives, it will be going straight back to the 'publisher' and I will request a refund of my deposit.

Author: Ify
Date:   12-07-03 18:47

this is the biggest piece of trash i have ever recieved, that guy needs to get a LIFE!



N o b l e H o u s e
London – Paris – New York

Noble House London
Poets House
2 Harrington Road
Leytonstone
London E11 4QW
England

Noble House Paris
Centre MBE
2 Bis Avenue Durante
06000 Nice
France

Noble House New York
Empire State Building
Suite 3304-19Q
New York, NY 10118


Office of the Publisher
Poetry Division
London, U.K.

6 December, 2003

Dear Ifunanya,

As you may know, Noble House is one of the foremost publishers of fiction and nonfiction works by new and established authors today. Our poetry division in the U.K. has had the honour of publishing the poetry of more than 1,600 poets over the past twelve years.

Recently I had the pleasure of reading the poetry that you have had published in the United States. I congratulate you on this grand endeavour, and propose to you that your singular talent and vision deserves appropriate recognition in Europe as well.

For this reason, I have posted this letter to request your permission to include one of your favourite poems in Colours of the Heart - a new poetry edition that is being published in the U.K. by Noble House and slated for worldwide distribution . . . a collection of poetry that is perhaps unlike any you have ever seen . . . one where each poem is featured on its own page, and one whose quality is reminiscent of the finest 19th century antique poetry books.

Hearken back, if you will, to the days of Emily Dickinson, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and William Wordsworth . . the age of grand bookmaking. Poetry editions were some of the most highly prized volumes because of their intimate attention to detail – quality typography, fine ivory laid paper, and colourful ornate covers. Ifunanya, for this Edition, we've returned to the traditional size, style, and quality of these classic 19th century antique poetry books.





Scheduled for release in February 2004, Colours of the Heart will surely become one of your most treasured keepsakes. Your publication in this edition will establish you as an international author and afford you the respect and admiration attendant to such an honour. International Copyright notice for your poetic artistry will, of course, be in your name, assuring that you will retain worldwide rights to your work of art.

Best of all, should you decide to obtain a copy of the edition for your personal library, or as a wonderful personalised gift (you are, naturally, under no obligation to purchase a copy, notwithstanding the publication of your work in this edition), as you proudly turn its pages you’ll find it one of the best values on the book market today. At only £28.95 (U.S. $45.55) for a hardbound, 200-page edition printed in two colours on ivory laid vellum, with a highly detailed, finely crafted, ornate cover, and a single poem to a page, this Edition promises to exceed your expectations, and will enjoy pride of place in your home. In fact, its quality is guaranteed. If for any reason you are dissatisfied, your money will be completely refunded in U.S. dollars with proper dispatch.

Ifunanya, you may also wish to consider giving the public some insight about you and your artistry for this poetic showcase . . . perhaps the meaning behind your poem, or your own philosophical perspective. Because an entire page in the book is devoted to honouring your poetry, we can feature this additional material about you and your poetry on the recto leaf opposite your poem (you will thus have two full pages devoted to you and your artistry).

Ifunanya, may we have permission to publish your work in the United Kingdom? Regardless of whether you purchase a copy or not, the international public deserves to see more of your artistic talent. You may submit your poem and biographical information, and give us permission all within the confines of the next page. And if you are inclined to order a copy of Colours of the Heart, you may also do so at the same time.

Sincerely,

Nigel Hillary
Publisher,
Poetry Division
Noble House U.K.
+

P.S. For poets who may wish to obtain supplementary copies for gift-giving, to display, or for merchandising, special case pack discounts are available. Please consult the submission and order form for further details.

Please proceed to next page to submit your poem

If you no longer wish to receive material from us, please click here, or go to http://www.noblehousepublishers.co.uk/colours/optout.asp.

Author: Sydney
Date:   12-08-03 00:44

I found this site after recently submitting a poem to noble house publishers. well, its a little bit of a let down to find out that they aren't really interested in my poetry. bummer. i thought it was a little quirky that they called me Syd, when the only time i've ever submitted poetry under that name is through poetry.com. Well, thanks you guys for the truth! what other poetry sites are scams?

Author: Chicken
Date:   12-08-03 03:03

Funny how a guy claiming to be a top dog at a publishing house can\'t even spell \"identical\"!

Warning bells should be going off in your heads people!!!!

Author: Jocelyn Yarbough
Date:   12-08-03 07:27

Glad to hear I am not the only one in this perdicament. I sent in 3 different poems and with the last one I received a letter in the mail saying I was a semi finalist and then I received an e-mail from the UK a couple of days later saying they wanted to publish my poem. I thought it was too good to be true. I was excited that I had made it so far with this poem and decided to check out the website and came across your e-mail. Did you ever find out how to take your poems off of the web site? Thanks for any info and your help.

Author: Latonya
Date:   12-08-03 07:32

Hey all out there.Isn't it funny how you get this feeling of being stabbed in the back? I felt like that upon recieving an e-mail from noble house. Never heard of them and luckily I didn't submitt my poem. What I am upset about is that I have poems on the internet in which is copywritten, but when I wanted to check out the "Scammers" at noble house on the internet I was shocked to find this website indefinitely. So,poetry.com is a scam too? Ouch!! That really hurts cause they sent me letters saying my poems were picked out of thousands and even sent me a certificate for "Best Poem" of 2003. What??... I am glad that I never sent off for the book they claimed to have published my poems. However, I am upset for being lied to. I'm just glad that I was taught not to believe everything that someone or some "Fake Company" will send you! And one more note: How did they obtain getting my name???

P.S. Anyone want to reply to what I have written, please share your comments with me.

jayzzgurl@yahoo.com

I will respond to all e-mails in alloted time

Author: Dave G
Date:   12-08-03 09:38

Hi All,

I'm located in Perth, Australia.

We have just realised that we have been duped as well. My wife submitted a poem back in August after receiving a competition entry form from a friend of ours.

My wife completed this paper form and attached a piece of her own writing and sent it through the post to this UK office. (Interestingly that we did not get the postal mail back saying undeliverable.)

Yesterday, my wife received an email from N/H requesting permission to print the poem. An email was formulated and sent back to this Nigel person giving permission to print, only to have the email bounce.

After investigating on the net of the three physical addresses for N/H, they all appear to be bogus addresses. No listing at all. In addition, there is not only this message board but others stating that people have given their C/C details requesting the book. Some of these people have had their C/Cs billed but (guess what) no book arrives.

To Nigel: Won't be long before the authorities catch up to you mate.

It pays to stay alert.

Author: Brent
Date:   12-08-03 09:45

I looked up the Noble House Publishing at their listed address at the Empire State Building and they do not exist.

Author: Don Elliott
Date:   12-08-03 10:11

As a general rule with publishers, if they ask YOU to pay, it's a scam. Don't get suckered. Find an agent and stick with them.

Author: Larissa
Date:   12-08-03 11:05

I realised Noble House Publishers was a scam when I sent the exact same poem in under two different names with two different e-mail addresses and Noble House Publishers praised and proposed to publish the poem. They e-mailed me BOTH e-mail addresses under each different name. I'm just sorry I didn't write about it sooner so others wouldn't be scammed. Sorry.

Author: Kirandeep
Date:   12-08-03 12:08

I did have a funny feeling about Poetry.com, and now when I received an email from Noble House, I decided to look it up; of course, I found quite a few websites such as this one.

I would like to say this to the people who submitted poems: don't get too disheartened by this, and don't ever stop writing! All of us may not become famous poets, but each time we write, we ignite the poet in ourselves, and keep the flame of poetry bright.

Author: Francine Price
Date:   12-08-03 12:34

Their still sending email to people. I received one this weekend. I'm a single mother. I did write a literary agent in London, though, and asked him if this company is real.
Hopefully, I'll get a response to my email. I even forwarded a copy of the letter Mr. Nigel Hillary sent me.
Hopefully, he'll be able to tell me the truth.

I am studying to be a writer and don't appreciate being scammed.

Francine

Author: chinar
Date:   12-08-03 14:10

Office of the Publisher
Poetry Division
London, U.K.

6 December, 2003

Dear Chinar,

As you may know, Noble House is one of the foremost publishers of fiction and nonfiction works by new and established authors today. Our poetry division in the U.K. has had the honour of publishing the poetry of more than 1,600 poets over the past twelve years.

Recently I had the pleasure of reading the poetry that you have had published in the United States. I congratulate you on this grand endeavour, and propose to you that your singular talent and vision deserves appropriate recognition in Europe as well.

For this reason, I have posted this letter to request your permission to include one of your favourite poems in Colours of the Heart - a new poetry edition that is being published in the U.K. by Noble House and slated for worldwide distribution . . . a collection of poetry that is perhaps unlike any you have ever seen . . . one where each poem is featured on its own page, and one whose quality is reminiscent of the finest 19th century antique poetry books.

Hearken back, if you will, to the days of Emily Dickinson, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and William Wordsworth . . the age of grand bookmaking. Poetry editions were some of the most highly prized volumes because of their intimate attention to detail – quality typography, fine ivory laid paper, and colourful ornate covers. Chinar, for this Edition, we've returned to the traditional size, style, and quality of these classic 19th century antique poetry books.





Scheduled for release in February 2004, Colours of the Heart will surely become one of your most treasured keepsakes. Your publication in this edition will establish you as an international author and afford you the respect and admiration attendant to such an honour. International Copyright notice for your poetic artistry will, of course, be in your name, assuring that you will retain worldwide rights to your work of art.

Best of all, should you decide to obtain a copy of the edition for your personal library, or as a wonderful personalised gift (you are, naturally, under no obligation to purchase a copy, notwithstanding the publication of your work in this edition), as you proudly turn its pages you’ll find it one of the best values on the book market today. At only £28.95 (U.S. $45.55) for a hardbound, 200-page edition printed in two colours on ivory laid vellum, with a highly detailed, finely crafted, ornate cover, and a single poem to a page, this Edition promises to exceed your expectations, and will enjoy pride of place in your home. In fact, its quality is guaranteed. If for any reason you are dissatisfied, your money will be completely refunded in U.S. dollars with proper dispatch.

Chinar, you may also wish to consider giving the public some insight about you and your artistry for this poetic showcase . . . perhaps the meaning behind your poem, or your own philosophical perspective. Because an entire page in the book is devoted to honouring your poetry, we can feature this additional material about you and your poetry on the recto leaf opposite your poem (you will thus have two full pages devoted to you and your artistry).

Chinar, may we have permission to publish your work in the United Kingdom? Regardless of whether you purchase a copy or not, the international public deserves to see more of your artistic talent. You may submit your poem and biographical information, and give us permission all within the confines of the next page. And if you are inclined to order a copy of Colours of the Heart, you may also do so at the same time.

Sincerely,

Nigel Hillary
Publisher,
Poetry Division
Noble House U.K.
+

P.S. For poets who may wish to obtain supplementary copies for gift-giving, to display, or for merchandising, special case pack discounts are available. Please consult the submission and order form for further details.

Please proceed to next page to submit your poem


THANKS I SAVED MY MONEY, WHAT A SCAM

Author: Ruba
Date:   12-08-03 14:57

I entered two poems into potry.com and they seemed realistic enough to me,then the noble house publisher thing seemed a bit far fetched.i entered a small poem, but i haven't yet bought any copies of anything, i just don't like thge idea of my poems still being on that site, is there no way in which anything can be done? I am only 16 years old, from the UK and it all seems a bit much, boy would i like to get a hold of these people and... sorry if i seem a bit chessed off bit you know, i think it's understandable considering that i love my poems, i could have entered them elsewhere man, oh well...pretty good scam tho innit.
Has anyone ever actually ordered the books and if so then what happened?

Author: Heather Sinclair
Date:   12-08-03 17:03

I just received the same information as everyone and I
would like to know about the rights to the poems that
we have written. I never gave anyone permission to
publish my poem in the first place. So what is the
deal? Is it automatically published anyway? How do
take our poems off poetry.com?
Heather

Author: Arno
Date:   12-08-03 17:58

Dear Mr Hilton,

You state to be an honest and respectable publisher? Then explain a couple of thingsto me (or to us):

You promise people to be published in Europe, give your definition of 'to be published'.

And maybe you should also give your definition of 'honest'.
How do you explain that everyone who orders the Theater of the Mind book is 'published' only in his or her own copy of that book and not in eachother's copy of the book?

And why do you let us pay about 30 GB Pounds for one simple print on A4 that is glued on the first page of only our own copy of the book we ordered?

Is that your way of showing your honesty?

To be honest:

I think you're full of that brown stuff...
And I'd rather not come near you to take a snuff...
Because you and what you do stink like hell...
And it's so obvious everyone can tell...

How's that for publication,
on a page all by itself,
in an overpriced coffee-table edition
which is not worth to be on my shelf.

Author: Timothy Gray
Date:   12-08-03 19:17

i have even more proof of the scam. notice this in their letter.exact copy. case closed. they also got my name wrong in the email.

Noble House is one of the world's foremost publishers of fiction and nonfiction works by new and established authors. Our poetry division in the U.K. has had the honour of publishing the poetry of more than 1800 poets over the past 12 years.

Hearken back, if you will, to the days of Emily Dickinson, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and William Wordsworth . . . the age of grand bookmaking. Deluxe literary editions were highly prized because of their intimate attention to detail--quality typography, fine ivory laid paper, and highly detailed, finely crafted covers. At Noble House, all of our eagerly anticipated releases feature the traditional size, style, and quality of a classic 19th-century antique edition.

We are very confident that you will praise our quality, and are pleased to offer an unconditional money-back guarantee on all of our releases. If for any reason you are dissatisfied, your money will be completely refunded with proper dispatch.

Author: Diana Todd
Date:   12-08-03 22:32

...this is to all of you who responded to my post...please forgive me for not begin able to answer you all personally...this is especially for the 16 year old poet who is feeling angry and dissillusioned...and i hope they dont mind my sharing the info...but some of it might be helpful to others as well...

Hi...Just wanted to say a few things I hope may help you...first of all do not feel too badly hon...you are in good company as far as being taken in...the dreams and aspirations of unpublished writers of all ages make them an easy mark, falling for half-truths and dubious incentives which flatter and promise a glimpse of the recognician we all crave...throw in a little bit of slick salesmanship and fancy graphics and bingo...they just reel them in...secondly...yes many people have ordered books and other materials...as i understand it some people have gotten the book...many did not...sad to say, there is little that can be done about them...many many legitimate magazines and other literary forums and groups have made it their mission to try and get the word out, but they still only reach their own audiences, and thats not where poetry.com and ilk reap their harvest...they depend upon and take advantage of the unwary, uninformed amateurs out there...20/20, a major television news magazine here in the United States did an expose on them on nationwide tv in 1998...and that did take a bit inito their profits for a bit...but it didnt last for long...(ps..they have about 15 different names they function under)...
...Now, all the gloomy stuff aside...there are some excellent places where poets can share their works with each other, and offer advice and critiques... i can reccommend two of them that i have had personal experience with. It is nice to be able to consult and share with your peers...and many of them have links to other sources as well...
Mutington's Meadow... www.voy.com/7622/
and
A Dove's Nest... http://pub11.ezboard.com/bpoetryforuminthenest
There are of course others out there, and it might be fun to take the time to research a few of them.

As for more traditional publication sources...one direction you might take, is to contact a local university and see if they have a publication themselves...most do...and their English/Literature dept personnel might be a good resource for you as are libraries...most of those have publications and lists of publications...
...also...since you mentioned you are in the UK...here is a cut from a UK poetry advice page with some listings you might be able to use...
Good luck my dear... all the best... Diana

Poetry Publications:
The best thing about being a poet is that a good piece of writing is sure to find a publisher. You just need to select from the wide range of poetry magazines available. Poetry publishers don't make an enormous profit and don't pay well. Sometimes, in fact usually, they don't pay at all. This means that poets aren't restricted by market forces in the way novelists are. It's far more difficult to get a first novel published because of the massive investment a publishing house has to make in order to sell a book by a new fiction writer. Poets can be more experimental and original, and if they are good they will get into print. If you want to get a book published it's more likely you will do so by getting your best work published by the better poetry magazines than by winning a major competition. In the best known competitions you will be facing well known poets as well as amateurs. We will be building a list of all the small poetry magazines where you can submit work or read poetry. To start we will list all the magazines which have a website so for you to look at easily. If you want to subscribe to a magazine or submit your writing it's a good idea to get a sample copy first or go to the Poetry Library on Level 5 of the Royal Festival Hall to browse through them all.

Anthologies
Reactions

The University of East Anglia publishes a prestigious anthology of poetry each year. Send submissions to: Esther Morgan, c/o EAS, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ. email: e.morgan@uea.ac.uk


Magazines with Websites
Organizations with stars **** are highly recommended.
Arete www.aretemagazine.com

Banipal: magazine of modern Arab literature www.banipal.com

Black Rose http://expage.com/blackrosepoetry

Blithe Spirit: Journal of the British Haiku Society http://britishhaikusociety.org

Brittle Star http://come.to/brittlestarsusrickards@yahoo.co.uk

Chapman http://www.chapman-pub.co.uk

Christian Poetry Review http://freespace.virgin.net/grendon.house

Coffee House www.charnwood-arts.org.uk

Cutting Teeth www.fringemedia.co.uk

The Devil www.thedevilmag.co.uk

Fire www.poetical.org

Harlequin www.geocities.com/harlequinmag

Jacket Magazine http://jacketmagazine.com a superb magazine with major writers. ****

Magma www.champignon.net/Magma

Manifold www.manifold.cjb.net

Mslexia: For Women Writers www.mslexia.co.uk ****

Never Bury Poetry www.nbpoetry.care4free.net/

Nomad www.spscot.co.uk

The North www.poetrybusiness.co.uk ****

Open University Poetry Society www.oupoets.org.uk ****

Page www.84spythere.freehosting.net

Panda Quarterly Magazine www.geocities.com/slap_dash/Quarterly_poetry.html

Planet: the Welsh Internationalist www.planetmagazine.org.uk

Poetic Hours www.poetichours.homestead.com

Poetic Licence www.poetsanon.org.uk

Poetry and Audience www.panda.uk-homepage.com

The Poetry Church www.waddysweb.freeuk.com

Poetry Life http://freespace.virgin.net/poetry.life/

Poetry London www.poetrylondon.co.uk ****

Poetry Now Magazine www.forwardpress.co.uk

Poetry Review www.poetrysoc.com ****

Poetry Wales www.seren-books.com ****

Rain Dog www.PAGE27.co.uk/jan/ps

The Review www.thereview.freeserve.co.uk

Route www.route-online.com

Rue Bella www.ruebella.co.uk

Shearsman www.shearsman.co.uk

Stand Magazine http://saturn.vcu.edu/~dlatane/stand.html ****

The Stinging Fly www.stingingfly.org

Tabla www.bris.ac.uk/tabla

Thumbscrew www.bristol.ac.uk/thumbscrew

Voice and Verse www.smallpresspoets.co.uk

Wasafiri www.english.qmw.ac.uk/wasafiri

E-Zines and Information
Electronic Poetry Centre http://epc.buffalo.edu/mags/

E-Zine list www.meer.net/~johnl/e-zine-list/keywords/poetry.html

Jacket Magazine www.jacket.zip.com.au/index.html

Little Magazine guide www.little-magazines.co.uk

Peter Howard's Poetry Site www.hphoward.demon.co.uk/poetry/maglink.htm

Poetry Kit www.poetrykit.ort/#magazines

Still: Journal of Short Verse www.into.demon.co.uk

Tim Love's Literary References www2.eng.cam.ac.uk/~tpl/lit/poetry.html#magazines

Versification http://sizcol1.u-shizuoka-ken.ac.jp/versif/Versification.html

Little Magazines Project http://english.ntu.ac.uk/littlemagazines/default.asp

Author: Jane in California
Date:   12-08-03 23:14

Hi, I just got my letter from "Noble House Publishers'" Nigel Hillary. I was SOOOO excited. I told my mother (a publisher herself) and she told me the painful truth; people don't buy poetry, it was probably a vanity publisher out to get my money. I did a little research and found the whole truth on this page. God, what a scam. I am now going to send them a poem about how much they SUCK!!

ps. Someone, please start a forward bout this. Boy am I glad that I did a little reseach.

Author: Spring Ryding
Date:   12-09-03 00:16

To Mr. N.G. Hilton:

For someone who professes to be a publisher, your letter on this site could use some serious editing to substantiate your claim.

If our work is 'published' we should be receiving royalties from the sale of our work. There is no mention of this with either Noble House Publishers or Poetry.com

Where are the financial agreements that should be made when a piece is accepted for publication? There are none. In short, we are giving you our poetry to publish your books and receive nothing in return. Of course, we may buy a book of our own, and I have no quarrel with that except for the exhorbitant price. But, we SHOULD be getting paid each time one of the books with our work in it is sold since we theoretically hold the copyright, and we are not paid. This suggests to me that in fact we do not have the copyright as claimed.

For a company that professes to be based in the UK, your diction and language is peculiarly American with the occasional British spelling used in the original e-mail letter sent to those who submitted work to Poetry.com

If you have read the poets' work in a published anthology from Poetry.com, then how is it that you are able to read work that has not yet been printed? Mine has not been printed, yet I received an e-mail from Noble House Publishers.

Your claim that the form letter is used for professional purposes does not hold when there is no mention in that e-mail letter of the published piece of work read or in what publication it was read in.

Why is it that when we try to reply to the e-mail sent to us when we wish to request further information, it is returned with a message that the address is unknown? This is highly suspicious.

Why is it that when people have tried to contact the office in New York, the people have been informed that it is only a warehouse with a forwarding address?

Children as young as 7 years of age have been receiving these 'publication' solicitations. By American law, they are too young to enter into any type of contractual agreement.

Many of us posted poetry to Poetry.com not to gain an 'international reputation' but to participate in a legitimate contest.

Who has won what in what category?

Why is there no list of winners from the month's contest in each category when we receive our mail from Poetry.com as promised?

Why are there no winners listed in certain categories since 2002?

Why is nearly everyone offered a chance at publication no matter how good or bad the poetry is WITHOUT being told whether a prize was won in the monthly competition? We are simply told that our poems have advanced to the semi-finals.

People have submitted poems with an effort to have something not make the grade and it has not happened. All of them have been "advanced to the semi-finals" which indicates that the contest is a sham.

Where are the promised evaluations of our poems? Being told that a poem is unique is not an evaluation; I already know that it is unique. Evaluation suggests that we will be told what works in the poem and what could be improved. We are, after all, amateurs and wish to improve our writing. To my knowledge NO-ONE has received such an evaluation.

It is my belief that both Poetry.com and Noble House Publishers should seriously examine their ethics and be honest about their purposes. While these companies may not be doing anything illegal, they are certainly skirting on the edge of it and are certainly acting unethically.

Sincerely,

Spring Ryding

Author: Spring Ryding
Date:   12-09-03 00:48

In reply to Patrick:

The name of the P.R. man is Mr. Hilton, not Mr. Hilary. Their writing styles are also different.

Spring

Author: Christopher Bowes
Date:   12-09-03 04:48

Damn. I've got somethign else in common wiht a few of you... I found this place searching for their publishing site. I've done the Poetry.com thing. Has anyone else been selected to have their poetry accompanied by music from poetry.com... or been given the chance to win valuable cash prizes? Personally, I'm a little peeved at this crap. Poetry.com, especially, considering they recieved that multi-million+ donation in 2002/2003.
Maybe poetry.com is legit... but whoever did this little add is pretty damn good.
The skeptic in me is going to send something, anyways. It'll be fun, and that's what it's about.

Author: rosa
Date:   12-09-03 05:30

wow! i just received that very same letter from those bloody noble house publishers. i feel kinda silly now coz i went around telling everyone how happy and flattered i was to be recognized. however, i kinda suspected that this whole thing was too good to be true. oh well...reality really bites. anyway, how long has this scam been goin? has it even reached the news? geez, i feel really silly about this. thank god that i never got around to ordering a damned poetry book and thank god that i bothered to take time to research on this. now, it all seems that almost everything on the net is a scam. it's not that easy now to spot a fraud. i guess that corruption is a big part of technology, and i've realized that although technology supposedly speeds up things like communication, work and so on, it doesn't mean that we'll always turn up with the results we want and expect. lesson learned: the easy way is full of deceit. it's much better to take the difficult way (like going out of your way to meet a publisher/s) in gaining what you want. at least that way, you don't end up so damned disillusioned or silly coz real publishers actually give you constructive criticism. well, good luck to all of you striving poets out there! hope that we don't get fooled into one of those blasted scams.

Author: Debbie
Date:   12-09-03 10:31

Dear Diana:

I don't understand how this can be legal

I submitted a poem to Poetry.com over the summer when a co-worker received an e-mail asking her to participate in a poetry contest.

Poetry.com "published" my poem, and I purchased the book, not expecting much in the way of quality, but my poem, on a page of its own as Poetry.com stated, has been glued into the book. It was never published. The rest of the book is bound, except for the first two pages, which are glued in.

It just doesn't seem legal to me.

Debbie

Author: Spring Ryding
Date:   12-09-03 19:04

It does not take technology for dishonesty or scams to occur. This is why it is very important to read everything very carefully, including the fine print and research whoever it is that you are doing business with. Check not only with the Better Business Bureau but with the Consumer Protection Agency as well. It is also a good idea to talk to someone who really knows the field. These people will know the kinds of questions to ask or research to determine whether something is aboveboard or not.

Spring

Author: aaron
Date:   12-10-03 04:42

Yeah, I think the whole scam is that the only way you'll ever see the book is if you buy it from them, so if you buy it, of course your poem will be included. I want to have a friend buy one with one of their poems in it and see if my poem is also there.

Author: yolanda
Date:   12-10-03 11:53

Hello everyone,

I really thought poetry.com was real. I was really excited
about getting my poems published in 2004. At first I was a little suspscious until I was able to talk with someone @poetry.com. Monday 12/8, I received a email from Noble House Publishing wanting to publish outside the u.s. I had that feeling something weird was going-on. When I try to reply and ask what poem they were inquiring about, it return unknown as spring mention. Spring is right about our so-call copyrights and not getting paid for it.
I hope poetry com. is not fake. I will further investigate
yolanda

Author: Kenneth
Date:   12-10-03 11:59

When I got the e-mail from poetry.com (Congratulations! Your poem e.t.c) I felt great. When I got one from Noble House Publishers, I felt even greater. Now, after reading your e-mail, I don't want to know how I feel.

Author: Tionne
Date:   12-10-03 12:23

How can we delete our poetry from poetry.com? I see no option.

Author: Sammy K. M.
Date:   12-10-03 13:28

thank you for this knowledge, it was very helpful.

Author: Candice Bustillos
Date:   12-10-03 15:55

Hello,
I am kind of concerned about this entire thing! I also received an email from Noble House Publishers as well. I had previously entered a poem on Poetry.com. In fact, I have 3 poems online. I want to know if its true or not.
Please clear things up for me.

Author: Patrick
Date:   12-10-03 16:41

I have already corrected my mistake previously. Since, then, I have also noticed a few more spelling errors in N.G.Hilton's first message. All of the following words were extracted from the first message of N.G.Hilton, representative of Noble House Publishing. I have left the original spelling intact.

'origional'
'absoloutly'
'origionality'
'origionally'
'nessasary'

Thanks also to Chicken who spotted 'identicle'.
For confirmation of all these spelling errors, read Hilton's message again and look carefully for these words.

Author: Karen
Date:   12-10-03 19:32

Honey, just finding out Nobel publishers is not worth the paper you wipe your bottom on.... None the less, you keep on trucking, continue to cherish your craft, and find someone legitimate. I\'m in the midst of a novel and was happy to find out soon enough that this was a hoax.
Best of luck to you in your endevors. Peace and Love- Karen

Author: lightfoot
Date:   12-10-03 21:06

Hi everyone,

I am really wild as hell,
Poetry.com lied as well!
Noble assholes obviously,
Scammed the gullible in me.

First I was excited by the book,
Eternal Portraits the aluring hook,
Submitting for 'Best Poets of 2003'
To be automatically published you see.

How nieve I got tricked it's tough,
But ordering those wasn't enough,
When Given 'Editor's Choice' award,
I felt certain all was well and soared.

Sure I'll order another now I regret,
And 'Sound of Poetry' the 3xcd set,
For these poems were fascinating you,
As they did to me when writing grew.

Then you all know the sad sad tale,
When Noble House knocks its about to fail,
They just raise yer suspicious alright,
Now I'll be hiding my checkbook outa sight.

I would like to ask my fellow esteemed poets here, for some feedback on Koalas in Despair, because Vanity publishers tricked me into a big esteem boost, and I don't have very good esteem, so I would be in a law suit if it happens later. Feedback warmly approved, to email address above, thanks!!

BLUE TEARS (yes, published work, BWAHHAHAWAA WAA :(

Soon there won't be a forest to protect,
Because the endless greed and neglect,
Will overwhelm our Tassie Ecosystem,
Logging and poisoning do we assist them?

As 1080 poison gets sown, look tearful,
Native fauna writhe abused by fearful,
Cold men of blatantly high-end greed,
Reverse this rape of Heritage with speed.

For our children spare The Blue Tier,
Answer the beautiful symbols in here,
Stop clear felling most ancient of bones,
With rivers giving Platypus her moving tones.

The Grandeur of this ecosystem appalled,
As planet's tallest hardwoods are mauled,
Screaming contempt for all Australian feathers,
Premier Bacon the leech of our National treasures.

We lose our forest it's folk and much air,
Support the Greens who definitely care,
They repel while disinterested looks geese,
Weaving action for these executions to cease.


Hemi Hill

Copyright ©2003

Author: Stephanie
Date:   12-11-03 00:04

Well, I definatley know that Noble House is a scam. I went through to thier so called website and got thier address to contact them, and low and behold it does not exist. THey said that they are based out of the Empire state Building in NY and when I cross referenced it, it said that no one by that name is located in the Empire state building. So who knows, but I too was gullible and excited, but I refuse to pay anyone to publish something I put my heart into, that is why I never allowed them to "publish" my works. I am glad that I found out this was a scam.

sam

Author: Melissa
Date:   12-11-03 09:13

I posted my poem on Poetry.com and was excited to get a letter in the mail. But I noticed that they wanted me to pay to get the book or even to have biographical information included. I didn't give them any money. Why should I have to pay to get my poetry published, and such an exorbitant price too? Shouldn't I get a complimentary copy instead, even if I didn't win a medal or prize money? When I got the e-mail letter from Noble House Publishers, I thought they just wanted to print the poem I submitted to Poetry.com. I noticed something strange though. Despite all the addresses they gave for New York, Paris, and London offices, they gave no telephone numbers whatsoever. So I did as many who posted here did and checked them out on Google. My suspicions were confirmed. This company and Poetry.com are totally bogus. Not that I would have paid to get a copy of the book anyway, but I'm glad I know about this. I'm going to go BLAH BLAH my wonderful poem too, on Poetry.com, as soon as I can figure out how to sign in. Incidentally, I did submit a poem to Noble House Publishers, in the spirit of telling them what for. I titled it "Howdy Do" and dedicated it to them.

Howdy do, you scamming cruels.
Do you think we all are fools?
Why is it you have no phone?
Why is it that no one's home?
Noble House does not exist.
Watch me as I shake my fist.
I will not fall for your ruse.
But print this poem if you choose.

Author: Nicole
Date:   12-11-03 15:57

Thank you for the information. I too received a letter from poetry.com and email from Noble House. I did send poetry .com my money, yet I asked the same question to myself, "how is it that I am sending them money to publish my poem and not receiving any royalities from their sales" . I dismissed it and sent the money any because I was so excited about someone recognizing my poems. I have learned a valuable lesson, that is, RESEARCH, RESEARCH, RESEARCH. Integrity is everything. I also learned to listen to wisdom. I did not send my poem to Noble House. I did call the office in NY and reached a real estate company. So, I don't believe they are legit

To encourage all who have been let down. Take courage- remember it's okay to get excited, but not okay to be lead by your emotions. Listen to that "gut" feeling God put it there to warn you. There are always legit opportunities to bless someone with the gift of words. Seek his guidance and he will show you. I did and it works.

Thank you for your comments

Author: Ashley
Date:   12-11-03 18:48

I got one of those letters from nobel house last night too. i was so exicted cuz i am only 14 and could be a "International Author" at my age. and it made me feel so mad when i found out it was a scam. But i do think it is weird how i sumbited 15 poems to them and they all got published even the ones i messed up on really badly.

Author: Tiffany K
Date:   12-12-03 07:25

Today, I received an email from Noble House Publishers overly praising my artistic talent. This is a copy of what Hilary said:


Recently I had the pleasure of reading the poetry that you have had published in the United States. I congratulate you on this grand endeavour, and propose to you that your singular talent and vision deserves appropriate recognition in Europe as well.

For this reason, I have posted this letter to request your permission to include one of your favourite poems in Colours of the Heart - a new poetry edition that is being published in the U.K. by Noble House and slated for worldwide distribution

At first I have to admit I was overwhelemed and elated. I called my dad and my sister to see the letter and they congradulated me. About 6 months ago, I submitted a poem to poetry.com...paid over $60 to receive a copy of my work published---to this day I havent received ANYTHING. I did a search on the net and realized that it is the biggest scam on the net and I feel totally distressed and angry. I just hope no one falls into their trap.
I wonder if there is anyway for us all to band together and get rid of the International Library of Poetry. To sue them and put them in their place.

Author: Kenneth
Date:   12-12-03 09:40

Tionne,

Should someone give you some help on how to delete our poems from these guys' libraries, please let me know. Regards.
Kenneth

Author: Cherish
Date:   12-12-03 10:26

About a week ater I put one of my poems on poetry.com, i got a letter from Noble House Publishing sayinng they really enjoyed reading my poem and wanted to know if I was interested in getting it published, but throughout the whole e-mail, they didn't even once mention the poem that they read. Sounded fishy to me, so I didn't buy it, thank God!

Author: nidhi
Date:   12-12-03 12:31

guess i join the community as well! talk about being taken for a ride. and here i am feeling all yipee ya ya over it! you're right nobel doesn't give the name of your poem to be published..thank god i haven't ordered from poetry.com or nobel publishing

Author: Amber Nyquist
Date:   12-12-03 14:05

I must say that I am crushed. I breath writing poetry. It's my life. When I received news from poetry.com also from Noble House I was in shock. I felt this is it. It's finally happening. I even called all of my friends and family. What do I tell them now? Fortunately I did not buy any of the books. What really concerns me, however, is that they have about four of my poems. My creative work. Should I be concerned? How can I get them back?

Author: Dan
Date:   12-12-03 14:27

I had about eighteen poems on poetry.com. I took someone else's advise from earlier and just went in and edited them all one by one with blahblahblahblahblah. I would suggest everyone do this! Maybe this would send a message to them. I don't know how you would go about totally deleting them.
I feel better though because now when I look up my poems all they say is blah blah over and over. Good Luck!

Author: Cheryl
Date:   12-12-03 16:28

Unfortunately, I have in fact been duped before thinking Yippee, I've found a place to publish my works by poetry.com. When I had read the other poetry on this site, they were horrible and were not a place that my style of poetry would fit, not saying of course that I'm some sort of writing marvel, but did think it deserved a place to go... somewhere that people could go and relate to my heartfull writings. Do you know of ANYPLACE I could indeed publish my works. I am in the dark on how to approach a true publishing house to submit my work. Perhaps you could read some of my works to see if firstly, they are worthy for the world to see, and lastly how to get my works if in fact they are worthy of a real publishing house.

Please from one writer to another, could you give me some direction?

I appreciate your time very much and would truly love to hear from you...I could send you some of my works and perhaps, if they are print-worthy, you could steer me in the right direction.

Sincerely,

Cheryl Woods

Author: Patrick
Date:   12-12-03 17:02

In reply to Hemi Hill - good work on Blue Tears. I sense very strong emotions behind your writing. Although this work is based on environmental concerns, reading through your poem, I cannot help but also think of the greed of Poetry.com and Noble House and the damage they inflict on impressionable young writers - almost a double meaning in there (perhaps unintentional.)

Third paragraph in particular, I think is quite good and flows well. However, there are a few lines elsewhere in the poem which could possibly be reworded a bit so that they flow more smoothly - for example, the first two lines of the second paragraph. Overall, I liked your poem.

Author: Patrick
Date:   12-12-03 17:40

For anyone interested, this is my poem - which unfortunately lies in the arcives of Poetry.com

LONELINESS

THE SUITOR'S LETTER
Lady of the lake
I have often watched you bathe
Under the moonlight
I long to taste those sweet tears
That caress your gentle cheek

THE LADY'S RESPONSE
Passion rules your words
Although you try to win me
Words won't stir my soul
I prefer the solitude
Of shedding tears on my own

The poem is known as a Tanka, a traditional Japanese form of poetry consisting of love letters. In Japan, before modern means of communication, a man would send a letter to a lady whom he admired. The lady would then reply with a letter of her own, either accepting or rejecting the man. There is a specific structure to these letters - they are each composed of five lines. The first, second and fourth lines contain five syllables, the third, fifth and sixth lines contain seven syllables.

Author: amy
Date:   12-12-03 20:07

Hey Guys come on be a skeptic!!!!!
Just a 1 minute search on the internet will clearly reveal, all this is a heap of crap. Those so call publishing company are taking people through the ringer. They are the worst criminals, using on love for there work to rob them dry. That's as worst as a raper, threating to harm your child if you don't comply. They boost up one's confidence, only to leave you with out of pocket money and feeling worst than you where from the start. So before you even consider falling for any of those PEOTRY SCAMS ask yourself ??????? what am I really get from this company beside something I already have HOPES & DREAMS!!!!!!
Lucky for me I am a skeptic!!!!!

Author: Lynette
Date:   12-12-03 20:22

Oh wow... It just seems like there should be something we can do to put these scammers out of business. I, like many others, fell for the trap.. How I did this-as I should know better, I have yet to figure out. Anyway, I did receive my "book" from poetry.com and looky-my poem is the 1st one in the book! That got me thinking...hmmm.. Then came the email from Noble House...another hmmm.. So I did a search and landed here and my fears were confirmed. Thank you all for the information. I am going to dig into this one-and let's all get the word out- Don't be SCAMMED!

Author: Sal
Date:   12-12-03 23:04

I have just found all these messages about Noble House and its offer - unfortunately too late to prevent my 14 year old son from being taken in by the swine!

Tom, my son, was so proud of the 'fact' that someone was going to publish his poem. We did ask him to do some research and check out how bona fide Noble House is - but he obviously didn't and have submitted credit card details to order the book.

So now my husband is worried about the security of the credit card, Tom is disappointed about the whole affair. We did think there was something fishy about the offer - should have followed our instinct.

Thanks for revealing the scam.

Sal

Author: Marina Yaloyan
Date:   12-13-03 00:22

Hey!
I actually got a letter from the too. and I was in the same situation, because they just asked money from me in order to buy the book, but otherwise, the poem is supposed to be included anyway. I am going to submit my poem also, (although, if you don't know have the book, how do you know that it is included in the book?? )

Author: Spring Ryding
Date:   12-13-03 15:52

This is what I did to remove my poetry from the site, with the exception of my two Haiku. I edited each poem to say the same thing and gave them all the same titles. This reduced my entries to one which is now titled: Remove me from your database. The poem is my effort to contact Poetry.com without spending a fortune in long-distance phone calls.

Here is the poem itself:

Remove me from your database,
my bunny is most sad.
You do not have an e-mail address:
Most peculiar for a website may I say.

I now think you are phony,
since I got solicitations
from a 'noble publisher'
who got my information
from your database.

Why do we never hear
of contest winners as you pledge?
I dislike the fact
that you prey on children's hopes.

Why did I never
receive results
of the poetry quiz
which I took twice?

May this serve as notice,
That I am most displeased.
Remove me from your database.

Spring Ryding

Author: mysteries4life
Date:   12-16-03 13:42

That's funny, when I tried to write them via email with questions I had, it came back to me with no address too. Also I thought the price was a little too big for a book.

28.95 pounds or something in the UK and around $45-49.00 for the US. Then if you were not completely satisfied you would get your money back through the "right dispatch"?

Hold on I'm still scratching my head. But at least we have an address.....

Author: Leah
Date:   12-16-03 16:12

I also got a letter from them and I was wondering if you would please, please, PLEASE e-mail me and let me know if you get the book. Thanks a ton!!!
~Leah~

Author: Arno
Date:   12-17-03 10:51

My removal from poetry.com has been successful...
My poetry is gone from the site and I don't get any of the e-mails anymore. Nor from Noble House Publishers.

Although...
I DO get some occasional mail for my alias Pietje Puk, who wrote two poems (Poor Victims and Whooopsie!) that were both selected because of their unique talent and artistic vision. And I must honestly admit: that's exactly what they have *ahem* :o)

But really... It IS possible to get removed completely from the site.
The idea I read somewhere in the thread to put the same text in all of the submitted poems and then change it to a stupid thing is a good one, but it still keeps you on the mailing list and in the database with your information.


www.poetryin-e-motion.com
(Journal of Stupidities, Poetry scam(s))

Author: Teemar
Date:   12-17-03 12:29

Is there anyone interested in giving poetry.com a taste of their own medicine? I have had a passion for writing since I was in kindergarden. If I thought my poetry sucked all together, I would feel pretty bad but I think I do have a gift. I have never published any of my work before or never thought about pursuing a career in writing. One day I came across a poetry contest with poetry.com and I entered. I didn't win but they wanted to publish my poem and then later wanted to put it on a CD as a part of another collection. I agreed to it. But recently, I received an email from the UK just like another gentlemen I read about. I was a little sceptikal this time. Since I don't know much about publishing and getting your work recognized, I figured that maybe the reason why they never offered any money or anything in return was because it was a normal practice among the undiscovered to publish your work in a collection to gain some exposure. I emailed Mr. Hillary back today to get a little more information and my email was sent back. So I went back to the original and got the full name of the company and searched for their web site. I found it strange that they weren't first on the list or it seemed as if they weren't legit. I am so glad to have found this site however because now I know what's going on. The good thing about this experience though is that it gave me the drive to pursue something that I could actually attain, something worthwhile. Even if it was under false pretenses. I don't know what the procedure is in other countries but if you are in the states and you have experienced the same deception, please report it to the Better Business Bureau as I plan to do. They need to find these guys and put them out of commision.

Author: Melissa
Date:   12-17-03 16:44

To all the people who think that someone from Noble Publishers actually came to this site to defend the company:

NOT!

Noble House Publishers is the front for a very successful scam. By nature, people who defraud others do not care about the feelings of the people they cheat. They do not waste their time trying to explain themselves or silence those who have been cheated. They realize that there are still people out there who know absolutely nothing about this scam and will fall for it. I wonder how many hits poetry.com gets every day. Thousands probably. Thousands of innocent, ignorant, aspiring poets who will gladly part with $50 to see their work in print.

Just look at the postings here. Most of the people who have posted here have already submitted a poem or bought a book from Poetry.com or Noble House. They found this site AFTER THE FACT. Noble House--if it existed--would have no need to send someone here to say, "Stop bad-mouthing our company" and in such terrible English as the person who composed the fake letter used at that. They're going to make their money no matter how much we complain.

I'm really surprised that the people who have already been fooled once by Poetry.com/Noble House, allowed themselves to be fooled again by the fake "Hilton letters". The appalling spelling, punctuation, and grammar in the postings should have been a major hint. It's shocking actually, and somewhat shameful, that people were taken in by those "letters from Mr. Hilton."

Unless it's a check from Noble House or Poetry.com--which will NEVER happen--it's a pretty good idea just to ignore them or people posing as their representatives.

Author: Dan
Date:   12-17-03 19:40

Hello,
Just an update to my situation; I took someone's advice about editing my poems on poetry.com one by one by writing the words blah, blah, blah over and over again in place of my original poem. It worked when I did this and it stayed that way for a few days but then I found that poetry.com restored all my poems to their original condition. Seems they have all our work in a database that we cannot reach by editing. If you had edited your poems in this way, you may want to check on them. I have since edited them again with a warning to poetry.com to take my work out of their database. Anyone have a simular situation? I will report on what happens.

Dan

Author: Dal
Date:   12-18-03 05:27

I too have recieve an email from Noble house, wat annoyed me was in from the UK and yes i did sign up to poetry.com, i feel quite cheated as i was doing it out of a love for poetry and not some competition i have had 2 of my poems sent into poetry.com, and have recieved letters thus why i thought it was legit, i then sent my form off to submit my newest poem into noble house, only to search for my poem on a website that didnt exist, well i found it but it has no information about any artists work, so where are our submissions going? check out www.noblehousepublishers.co.uk, ull see wat i mean
anyway im off now to create a website thatll give evre1 the chance to redeem themselves and put there poems up and be apreciated, ill let u all know when its up and running, and u can decide if u want to submit it, there will be no publishing book of course, but atleast ull be appreciated.
email me if u have any questions
dalmatian_ali@hotmail.com

Dal

Author: Dal
Date:   12-18-03 05:39

I have a problem, i need to access my poetry.com accounts, yes unfortunately i have 2 accounts there both in the name of Anthony Ali or Anthony Scott Ali, which is my name, unfortunately i cannot remember how i signed up to them, email accounts that is, so i cannot delete any of my work, unfortunately the ppl at these companys can shuv © on a piece of work, but it is really copyrighted?
good thing i have recently looked into copyright, and luckily i can tell u all that © belongs to YOU the artist, UNLESS there is documented evidence that u have signed it over to sum1 else
which as we all know none of us have written a letter to poetry.com giving them possesion of your work.
now for those of u who dont know when u create a piece of artwork, poem or owt, the copyright is instant, so ppl u have copyright on your work.
the copyright last for the time of ur life span plus another 70 years after, so they cannot reproduce ur work without permission, only thing they can do is the books, if there are any, they cant shuv it on keychains, cups, mousemats, cos its not theres, if u want to know more about copyright go to www.dacs.org atleast i think thats right
anyway if any1 can let me know how to acces my poems, please contact me

thanks

Dal

Author: Chandra Krejci
Date:   12-18-03 08:30

hey, i am so mad. I decided to do research on Nobel House Publishers after I submitted my poem. I started to find things on how it was a scam and at first I didn't belive it, but then I found this website and I finally got it through my head that it was true. I am so PISSED about this. I even got my poem published by poetry.com even and I don't know how to get it off. Please help me. I was so excited when I found out cuz I am only 14. Please help me!

Author: Lynnemarie
Date:   12-18-03 09:29

I felt the same way, like WOW, they want me in England. But then I began to think and something said do a search on the web and I found this website and got my answer. I beginning to think poetry.com is just selling peoms to anyone. I know they exsist and have been enter into several of their contests with just 1 poem. But do they or have they really given me an award or honorable meantion? Makes you wonder. As for me, I been speaking with 1st books and Xrbris, has anybody had any experience with them? Please let me know if you have. Happy Holidays

Author: Lynnemarie
Date:   12-18-03 09:30

I felt the same way, like WOW, they want me in England. But then I began to think and something said do a search on the web and I found this website and got my answer. I beginning to think poetry.com is just selling peoms to anyone. I know they exsist and have been enter into several of their contests with just 1 poem. But do they or have they really given me an award or honorable meantion? Makes you wonder. As for me, I been speaking with 1st books and Xrbris, has anybody had any experience with them? Please let me know if you have. Happy Holidays

Author: Sara
Date:   12-18-03 15:17

Thank God I looked for their credentials before I sent a check! Arno wrote:
>
> Hiya all,
>
> I have confirmation of what you all probably already knew or
> at least suspected.
> I was on the phone with ILP and they told me that they had
> started some kind of co-operation with Noble House Publishers
> supposedly to give poets the chance to "publish outside the
> USA and in a different form".
>
> Check on my website www.poetryin-e-motion.com for all the
> details. Journal of stupidity, Poetry scam(s), Part I-IV.
> Delete your poetry from poetry.com!
>
> Cheers!

Author: Vanessa Lebeau
Date:   12-18-03 16:02

OHH MY GOS THIS IS SOO COOL! I wanted to take off all of my poetry from poetry .net and i rewrote my three poems, now titled blah 1 blah 2 blah 3 and wrote blah all over them, then ine one i wrote a small sentence saying it was scam and you know??? THEY DELETED ME COMPLETLY!!!!!! LOL I\'m going to play around now!!!

~Vanessa

Author: Patrick
Date:   12-18-03 17:26

In response to Vanessa: COOOOOOL!!!!
Success! You have shown us the way! Others will follow now that we know how! No expensive phonecalls needed anymore.

Author: Arno
Date:   12-19-03 07:54

Unfortunately it's not that simple.
You might be erased from the list, because you have no 'decent' poem anymore, but your account exists still.

Try to log in and you will find that you can still log in to your account, but that there's no poems anymore there.

What happened is that your 'poems' (as everyone's) were scanned by their bot on faul language or unlimited repeated phrasing and was kicked out. But that goes only for the poem, not for your account...



If you really want to be deleted from their database, you will have to call them and TELL them that they have to delete you.

Author: Vanessa Lebeau
Date:   12-19-03 07:58

I tried Arno, believe me, I have read all of your posts on the subject, but they deleted me completly... I wrote this to someone who told me about the foul language:
This is Vanessa, I absolutly agree with you. Though I was not stupid enough to directly write you are scam, I had put a little 6 line poem under the blah's saying I felt sad I was betrayed. I would never do something like that.

Though I think that you are right, I shall try again to log on, but it seems that my account does not exist, could it be that they really deleted it?

Vanessa

Author: Teemar
Date:   12-19-03 12:11

I don't know if any of you caught my last message. Probally not as there are so many on this site. Like most of you, I submitted a poem to Poetry.com for a contest and didn't win. But they supposedly loved my poetry so much that they wanted to publish it in a collection and do a recording of the same collection on CD. Recently, I received an email from Mr. Hillary of Noble House in the UK so I decided to do some checking up. Anyway, a woman replied to my last message and I have suggested that we file complaints with the Better Business Bureau if you are in the United States. Go to Better Business Bureau.com and click on E-Commerce. Then click on the consumers tab near the top of the page and type in Noble House. I have done just that and I forgot to type in the company I went online to check out which is Noble House. lol. But I did type in Poetry.com and it lists when the company was established, customer service contacts, phone numbers and email addresses. I think the two companies are connected so if you have issues with Noble House, we probally need to talk to the Poetry.com people. And you can also file a complaint which by law, they have to respond to within a certain amount of time. So if they have dodged you, they won't do it to the BBB. You can do this with any company that you suspect is shady. I even filed one against a collections agency. The companies will cooperate because they never want these complaints on their records. People do check these records and they definitely loose business if they don't act right. So now I am gonna go back to the site and see what I can find on Noble House. If they give false contact info, they are really in trouble. I also went to Poetry.com and typed in my name and my poetry does come up and it says copyright, the correct year and my name at the bottom so I don't know what's up really. Just don't send any more poems in until you get answers that satisfy you and don't send them any money. Go to the bookstore and buy it there.

Author: Nadezhda
Date:   12-19-03 17:20

I placed this poem bellow on my page in poetry.com
Hope they'll react somehow.

To the Poetry.com

I'm sending the address to you.
And would like to find out
If it's true.
I expected anything but not this.
Shame on you if the truth it is.

http://www.writers.net/forum/
read/6/6092/3887Vf?PHPSESSID=702
ac568ce06184adf
3edccb1c3f0db6#6092

I secretly hope inside
That you'll answer
All those people on the site.

Author: Arno
Date:   12-20-03 07:35

Teemar,

Have you tried to order poetry.com's anthologies through a bookstore?
If you have, please do tell me which bookstore it was that you found it, because I have tried and no one knows it, not even with the given ISBN numbers at hand.

I've ordered one of the anthologies (yes, I did, duh!). I went to three of the biggest bookstores in the country, tried both on title and on ISBN-number, but they couldn't find it. I tried on Amazon.com, without success. I tried on Barnes and Noble.com, without success.

So please, if you know where to find it, let me know.

Author: Arno
Date:   12-20-03 07:37

Vanessa,

I guess if you can't log on to the account anymore, it's really gone.

But I've been in the same situation. I had a really stupid poem, full of crap and not-done words. They erased it, but the account remained. I could still log on, but I couldn't find the poem anymore under that name.

Author: Vanessa Lebeau
Date:   12-20-03 10:24

Arno

I know, Like I said, I have went to your site, read every single thing you wrote down on the scam. I mean, I septn so much time on your messages that my mother had to pry me off the computer. I guess I'm just lucky they deleted me.

Author: rebeca ferreira
Date:   12-23-03 10:04

Yes, I was also scamed. I send my money for a publication to poetry.com and my poem was never published. Noble House claimed that they recently read my published poem. I wrote them a letter asking the name of the book where they read my poem. Still expencting a reply.

Author: Spring Ryding
Date:   12-23-03 10:38

Hello everyone:

I just thought I'd give you folks an update. Today, I checked for my "Remove me from your database" poem, and discovered that it was no longer there. Remembering what Arno said about membership information being still in the database even if the poems are gone, I tried to log in and could not. It appears that they finally read the poem - it was up for two weeks or so - and did what I requested.

Hip-hip hooray!

Spring Ryding

Author: Leslie Stubbs
Date:   12-23-03 15:36

I don't exactly know for certain if poetry.com is a scam but I do wonder about Noble House. I tried looking them up online and I couldn't find much of anything. When they sent me an email telling me that they were publishing me in the UK I was very happy but i had never heard of them before. I haven't really heard of any publishing company before I got a hold of poetry.com cuz i wanted to take some stupid quiz from emode.com. Well i went to their website and there is practically nothing there. I have 3 poems on poetry.com, and they say that they are going to publish me in 2 books and read my poems onto CD's, but I refused to send them money, I thought it would be safer to buy the book in a bookstore, and if they actaully do release the books, because from the sounds of it not many can be found, then I can choose to buy it or not, or just look at it. I was also curious as to how Noble House read my "published" poem since they're not in any books. Just a thought, but yet I still sent them something wihtout paying again. Oh well, we'll see what happens I suppose

Author: Arno
Date:   12-24-03 15:03

Don't hold your breath to it, Rebecca...


(www.poetryin-e-motion.com, Journal of Stupidities, Poetry scam(s) )

Author: Maria
Date:   12-24-03 19:17

I got an mail a few days ago from a certain Howard E. He told I was in the poetry.com contest as a semi-finalist. He also told me he was interested in publishing my poetry in a book called "Eternal Portraits." But he said the real title may be different...so I mailed him back and told him that I and many others knew all about the scam, and some other well-written words....how can they do this?? Anybody know anything more about this, please contact me!

Author: Dan
Date:   12-25-03 08:12

Maria
I had received two emails and regular mail from Howard at Poetry.com about being in two books. I, like many others was also told that I was a "semi-finalists". I also got a cheesy little certificate in the mail saying I had won the Editor's choice award (a prize not listed in the contests). Then I was told I was going to be on the CD collection.
Unfortunately, before I realized the big scam I ordered the Eternal Portraits book. After months of being told the release date had changed I finally got the book. Sure enough, the name had change to "The Colors of Life". And just like some had said before. My Poem was the first one, carefully glued to the rest of the book. They just put your poem into the books that you order. They are not bound books that everyone will get. Your poems will only be in the books you receive. I have asked for a refund but doubt I will get it.
One more thing. I tried replying back to Howard’s email, it was returned to me undeliverable.
Stay away from the scam. Find another way to display your work! Good luck to you and Merry Christmas!

Author: Arno
Date:   12-26-03 14:45

Everyone submitting to poetry.com gets that letter. Everyone is semi finalist and Mr Howard E @ poetry.com wants to publish everyone in a series called Eternal Portraits but the title might change.

And you can send all the mails you want, you will never get a reply (if the mail doesn't bounce back to you in the first place).

I couldn't agree more with Dan, when he says Stay Away From The Scam.


(www.poetryin-e-motion.com, Journal of Stupidities, Poetry scam(s) )

Author: Marie Paradise
Date:   12-26-03 15:17

Hello, I have been taken, just as much as you have, however I have used my writings to direct,love, beauty, peace, and inspritation into the hearts and souls of readers.My writings have been my ministry, poetry to wounded souls,and peace to the disabled , as myself, a crippled voyager on this eartly walk. Yet may we all learn from this experience, the fact that we are more that we have tried to be. We now are set free from the tyranny of thinking without being printed and accepted, we can not be.We now must see, a better way to free our gifts. One lifts himself from deception, in his own correction of things which seem unfair. If we each care to find our way, the day shall come when we shall become,more than we might have thought we could be. Maybe we might join up to become that love which must be freed. Awakening more beauty to be seen,from the normal human being.I am ready if you are, our writings shall make us a star. Forgiving others who lead us to believe, that we really could conceive abllity to be,a poet set free.To the point of reality where we can be. You are, who you are, and a star in whatever you have to say, God made you that way. And together we may just become, someone, full of God's love......

Author: Mihad ali
Date:   12-29-03 20:29

i also had a few poems of mine published with www.poetry.com and then i received a letter with a magazine saying that a lot of famous people will be there like bill Clinton, and the kid poet who was on oprah etc, and if i would like too book a room at the hotel provided in washington d.c, for a fun 3 day seminar about poetry. etc.

Author: fries
Date:   12-30-03 14:42

how do you know its a scam ? i mean ive read the other replies and i do belive you, but how do you know?i probally sound dumb but im only a kid and ive been qulified twice? how can i tell if its a scam?

Author: fries
Date:   12-30-03 14:42

how do you know its a scam ? i mean ive read the other replies and i do belive you, but how do you know?i probally sound dumb but im only a kid and ive been qulified twice? how can i tell if its a scam?

Author: Arno
Date:   12-31-03 04:06

Read from www.poetryin-e-motion.com, Journal of Stupidities, Poetry scam(s) XII.
There's an image there, showing the artist proof.
Is it exactly the same as what you got, but with your poem and your name on it?

A bit further is an image of a 'Personal invitation to a Distinguished few'. Did you get that too?
We are ALL Distinguished fews.


Read http://poetrynotco.tripod.com.
There's two images there half way the page, that show the papers that you got. The only difference is that it says your name there.


Do you need more proof?

Author: Lisa E. Perry
Date:   01-02-04 20:26

I also received an e.mail for publication in the U.K.
It looked quite suspicious,
not at all delicious
in reply I had this to say.
You must think I'm some kind of dummy
to think that you could run me
straight into my lines,
walk you into your prime
of the greed that caused you to pursue me.
Well, I'm here to tell you NO WAY,
you attacked the wrong person today
Your stories a scam look who's holdin' the ham
TIS' ME, YOU'VE GOT THE JELLY!
APST =All Poets Stand Together

Author: lindi
Date:   01-05-04 08:39

i also got the letter from these guys. I feel so stupid that i fell for poetry.com's scam. i almost went to their so called biggest poetry convention of all time. which is verrrrrrrrrry expensive as you all know. can someone tell me how to remove my poems from poetry.com.

thanks

Author: Helen
Date:   01-08-04 16:08

I work as a legal assistant for a law firm as well as being another victim of this very unfortunate situation. As I do work for a law firm, I am able to obtain legal advice and direction as to how to proceed. My contacting all of you to ask you to join me in this is the first step in this process.

Therefore, anyone that is interested in exploring the possibility of a class action lawsuit against ILP/poetry.com/Noble House Publishers is invited to send me an e-mail stating such. Please put "Class Action Lawsuit" in the subject line and include in your e-mail the city and state in which you live. I will e-mail you back with further instructions as to how to proceed.

I look forward to hearing from you in the very near future.

Author: Helen
Date:   01-08-04 16:14

I work as a legal assistant for a law firm as well as being another victim of this very unfortunate situation. As I do work for a law firm, I am able to obtain legal advice and direction as to how to proceed. My contacting all of you to ask you to join me in this is the first step in this process.

Therefore, anyone interested in exploring the possibility of a class action lawsuit against ILP/poetry.com/Noble House Publishers, please send me an e-mail stating such. Please put "Class Action Lawsuit" in the subject line and include in your e-mail the city and state in which you live. I will then e-mail you back with further instructions as to how to proceed.

I look forward to hearing from you in the very near future.

Author: Jen
Date:   01-09-04 05:48

I have read many disapointing tales of how Noble House is spam.
You all seem to be upset that you are not being paid I see no letters from THE other side (so to speak)Of course they are going to try and sell the books or they would not be publishing them.They Market because thats what marketers do.
Im submitting my poem
Maybe it will go in a book Perhaps to be a treasured memory or just bring a smile to another it does not matter
at least this way it has a chance of doing that.

Author: Arno
Date:   01-09-04 07:59

Don't get your hopes up.
It won't make it into any of their books unless you spend money.

Author: Maria
Date:   01-09-04 12:14

Yep, I got duked too and received letters and emails like all of the rest of you. Of course, I'm feeling pretty stupid, been doing this for 4 years and never sent any money for books or seminars. The costs are ridiculous and that alone was my "red flag". You should NEVER have to pay someone else for your art, and I've always had that thought in the back of my mind that this wasn't on the up and up, but again, they appeal to our vanity, to our desire for approval and appreciation. Let's be honest, it feels great, until the bomb drops.
I'm happy to have read all of your messages as I've gained valuable knowledge.
My plan of action after reading every single post here, is to go in and edit each poem down to one by changing the titles from what they are to "REMOVE ME FROM YOUR DATABASE", the body of each poem shall say "blah blah blah". Since there are a few of us who've already done this, why don't we all do it? A "united front" might be a course of action.
Off I go to leave poetry.com a little message.
P.S.-I noticed there are still a few who don't know how to edit. Put in your name, click on one of your poems and at the bottom is the option to edit, then do as I stated above. I'll check in a week or two to see if my account is still there.
mari'a

Author: Arno
Date:   01-10-04 06:17

I removed my stuff from poetry.com, but as I wrote my things in my Journal of Stupidities (www.poetryin-e-motion.com), I made a couple of poems as alias Pietje Puk. Which ofcourse were then selected to be published.

I noticed that when time passed, people who had read my Journal, had started putting in stupid poems under aliases derived from my Pietje Puk.
Aside the fact that I was honoured in a way (there was for example a Mrs P Puk, a Mrs P Wannabe Puk, a Lhoichje Kiohte Puk, and so on, it pretty much got me into a laughing fit, because there really were some brilliant pieces of stupid work there.
(My last entry is called "Gawaa... Aghwawawa!" and it goes as follows:

Rasaa kagavalaa awawawawaaa
Brrrrgrrrrwaaaaa awawaaa
Grababababa awaaa grababaaa
Knsieieie mrraaa wababaa
Swggggieieieieie
Trrrblieieieieie
Konnokonnokonno wafwafwaf
Derrewerrewerrewed

This was a poem
by the talking horse Mr Ed

I'm still waiting for confirmation that it's chosen to be published because of its unique vision and talent).

But anyway...
What I was thinking:
How about totally polluting the poetry.com website with aliases and totally stupid poems?
It'd make them look completely ridiculous and it'll pretty much underline their worthlessness.

Is that an idea?

Author: danielle
Date:   01-10-04 17:45

I submitted a poem to poetry.com and recieved an e-mail from dear "Mr. Hillary." I never did send an order in for either book because of things I have read online. I also sent a poem in to another website and recieved a letter from them yesterday. It is from the American Society of Poets (Baltimore, MD). It's no surprise that I'm not sure whether or not to trust this organization. Do you have any info on them? Are they legit?

Author: Garret
Date:   01-13-04 17:19

I am 13 years old and I wrote a makeshift poem to enter in hope that no one else would enter this competition and since I am a kid and didnt mean for this poem to move so far on I didnt purchase any books that where sold with each progression. Now this may be a scam or it may not, I was emailed saying that I won:

Ladies and gentlemen, and fellow poets . . . It's now time to declare the winner of the largest cash prize ever awarded to an amateur poet . . . Our Poet of the Year for 2004 . . . and Grand Prize winner of $20,000 is . . .

Edan Segal!

We're familiar with your work, Edan, and you know . . .
it could happen just that way!

I doubt this email was sent to me only, it a few paragraphs saying that another contest is reinstated, but some trophy will be awared thats worth $200.00 and it said I wont the $20,000.00 cash prize. If no one else received this email then I will be extremely happy but if not then I will be extremely mad, my mom will tell me this is a scam without even reading the email because its her nature to say that, but I am counting on you all to truely inform me... (*crosses fingers*)

Author: Arno
Date:   01-14-04 01:20

Believe your mom on this you, Garret.
Sorry to say, but we all got the letter.
We are all to win the 20.000, we are all to win the 200 dollar-award and we all are distinguished few to be cordially invited (if you haven't got that letter yet, you will soon).

Don't waste your money on it!

(www.poetryin-e-motion.com, Journal of Stupidities, Poetry scam(s))

Author: Gary Caton
Date:   01-14-04 08:15

Wow - just in the nick of time. I had just mailed my order to Poetry.com for the book with my work in it, as well as the CD, plus the cost of additional personal information! You just saved me close to $150.00! Thank you! I thought it was a bit fishy that I had to pay for a copy of the book, but was so excited about feeling special and that my work was going to be published, I took the bait and had just mailed in authorization to bill the book and CD to my credit card. My credit card company said this was a security risk in general and suggested I cancel that account immediately, so I did. How can they get away with this for so long? I saw it mentioned they have been doing this for years. I feel sooooo foolish, not to mention dissappointed. I really thought this was recognition of my work. I guess our egos allow for such scams to take place, wanting to feel special. I was bragging about my accomplishment to friends and family, and my Brother looked up Nobel house and found this information. I feel lucky I was able to stop the chatges to my credit card! Thanks again. Gary Caton

Author: sandi
Date:   01-14-04 10:49

I received one of these letters and was busy with other
things at the time. I noticed the letter didn't have a date
when this had to be in so I sent back their e-mail with
question, see below! Publishes need a due by date in order
to do their setup. That made it easy....scam!!!!


Sandra--
You can submit anytime.
Nigel

-----Original Message-----
From: staylor10 [mailto:staylor10@snet.net]
Sent: Friday, January 09, 2004 11:49 AM
To: Noble House Publishers
Subject: RE: May we publish your poetry in the U.K.?



-----Original Message-----
From: Noble House Publishers [mailto:nhillary@noblehousepublishers.co.uk]
Sent: Monday, December 08, 2003 2:03 PM
To: staylor10@snet.net
Subject: May we publish your poetry in the U.K.?



Is there a deadline on answering this???????
If so....what is the date?
Sandra

Author: Christy
Date:   01-15-04 00:16

Hi,
whats up with this noble house thing. I got a letter too, saying they wanted to publish me in the UK...yadda yadda yadda. I sent them a poem but it was about morphine..ha! I too have a bunch of poems on poetry.com. But after all the crap I am readying about nobel house, I should probably delete them. -Christy

Author: Ada
Date:   01-16-04 06:17

Hi,

I'm very happy that I escaped the 1st scam done by poetry.com thanx to my friend who notified me about it.

Unfortunately, im fooled by Noble House blah blah blah thing.....it was too late before I knew that it was a scam good thing that i didn't send any money back with it. still the thought that my poem was robbed from me, haunts me still. and mind you the poem that i posted in poetry.com which i sent to Noble House so so so... just disappeared out of thin air...what do you think?

Author: Arno
Date:   01-16-04 06:59

Actually... I noticed that they've been cleaning up at Poetry.com. Two of my Pietje Puks were removed. They probably stole them because they were so good, but it's no use, because of both I have the author's proof that they sent me, so if I ever find them somewhere else with a different name, I'll SUE them! *LOL*

But I'll put them back there again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again... and again...

*LOL*

Author: Tonto
Date:   01-18-04 11:56

hi everyone. you just have to check out the movies at www.1stbooks.com promoting their services. hilariuos! in classic moronic american sellavision stylee, a bunch of 2nd rate actors are reading cue cards next to the camera (you can see their eyes searching for them in the close ups)trying to make you believe they are just ordinary guys who got their work "published". i laughed so much i almost fell off my chair... and the voiceover is just amazingly tacky. great fun.

Author: Yem
Date:   01-19-04 04:19

Hi! Yep ....I received the Noble House email as well. And I knew the only way they could have got this was from poetry.com. And the money aspect kind of put me off ..thank God I was never tempted to share my credit card number with these scammers! All those emails on my 'exceptional work' was good for my ego, but I'm glad it was my ego that took the punch instead of my purse! Good luck to all of you poets ....we'll make it some day!

Author: king Alexander
Date:   01-23-04 23:25

First I received an e mail from Noble house last year.I submitted my poem thinking I got a short to cross over to Europe but I didnt hear anything from them I thought there was a problem with the network or something.That same year I paid $180 to poetry.com to send me the silver trophy which I've never seen and I lost my money.This year Noble house sent me another e mail and I submitted another poem to them and it happened the same way as before.I thought there is problem with my computer but when I find out they have taken the money I realezed it is a scam.They steal from us,they are thieves.

Author: Patris
Date:   01-27-04 15:41

I also received an email from noble house publishers, first i suspected about the legimity of the publication, cuz honestly, my poem was not that good, just today, i was going to send the money and I found this page!!
but let me tell u, it's not as bad as it seems, cuz actually it serves as a great piece of curriculum...know what i mean!?

haha great day for all, and hope we dont get scammed anymoree!!
and our poetry finally gets FREE published!

Author: Maria
Date:   01-27-04 16:20

Well I took all my poetry off poetry.com and left one titled "Remove me from your database". It's contents said: "blah blah blah". I no longer exist in their database. YAY!

Author: Rachel
Date:   02-01-04 12:28

I got the letter in the mail yesterday too. Its sad that people will take advantage of other peoples dreams. I thought i had actually accomplished something. Google is a life saver.

Author: Ty
Date:   02-01-04 16:32

I'm glad you found it out in time.I didn't I have sent my money and have not yet received it.I have just found this site and I'm very mad and hope that something is done about it.
Thanks you


P.S. I really like what you put in there about not falling in to it.

Author: Ty
Date:   02-01-04 17:04

They make people get their hopes and dreams up and then in a blink of an eye there it go down the drain.I hope the devil grabs them. And runs their brain insain.Noble House is a scam and when they go to the ground.They will not beable to talk to our Father up above.He knows we have love in our heart.He know how much people love to Wright .I hope Noble House Falls to night.But my lord up above will see that people like that will get what they
deserve.They should do the right thing and send our money back. I just wished that I had found this site before I fell into that trap.I know my lord up above will show me the right place to get my poems published and all of our dreams back.Just pray the lord up above will put justise on that deceiveing site.That he will convict them so hard that it would crush there heart and make them do the right.Don't let your hope and dreams go down the drain for that nasty site.We must pray for them day and night.

Author: Jonathan
Date:   02-02-04 20:26

Whatever else might be going on with Noble House, I know 2 things:
1)They are a real and reputable publishing company that many people have heard out OUTSIDE of literary circles
2)I have had one of my poems not only published by them, but I paid for AND RECEIVED the entire anthology including my poem.
Therefore, I do not believe that this is a scam.

Author: Arno
Date:   02-03-04 07:29

Indeed, Noble House London is a reputable publishing company. But the Noble House Publishing we are refering to here is abusing the reputation of this reputable publishing company to its own benefits.

If you had one of your poems published by the reputable Noble House London, you would've received your anthology (I wonder if the reputable Noble House London would actually call it an Anthology) for free.

If you had one of your poems published by Noble House Publishing, you would find your poem on the very first page, on a sheet of paper slightly smaller than the rest of the book.

Now if you do not believe that this is a scam, try to find other people who have received their Anthology and ask if they can find YOUR poem in THEIR anthology.

And then post back here and see if you changed your mind...

Author: Brittiny
Date:   02-04-04 15:50

I've gotten a few of them but never followed through. Finally Mr. Hillary sent me a letter and of I was happy about it like so many others but thin I looked up noble house and thanks to you guys I'm here and so is my work!

Author: Rachele
Date:   02-05-04 16:43

I also have recieved a letter ,just recently and i think that is they really are as big as they say they are they should at least have a quality website. But as others as well ,i have a question. All my poetry is copywrited through poetry.com, so does that me the copywrite is a scam as well , i have entered alot of my work , not only alot , but the ones i have submitted are what i feel are my best and i just wanted to make sure . thank you
rachele

Author: fayola
Date:   02-07-04 14:39

ok so i read everything everyone wrote. sadly enough my friend and i were fooled by poetry.com and noble house publishers. now we're trying to get our poems off poetry.com. but i have 2 questions, since our work is on their website do we still have copyrights to them? and also is the longridge writers group legit?

Author: terry ray harris
Date:   02-07-04 17:58

hi
I have eight or nine poems on poetry .com . I thought when the first couple of poems were accepted, that I had talent.I sent poems to many other sites as well.Every single peace that I sent in was accepted. I realized that they took any and all poems. I'm not concerned with making money on my poetry at this time. I'm only interested in getting people to read my poems.I now realize that I will not be printed at this time.but I refuse to give up a dream
As I write my poems and submit them, I enter them into my book for future publication. Since I am not planning to nor had I ever planned to buy the books in which my poems were to be writen,I stand to loose very little at thier hands. I am an artist and I will not be discouraged by this setback

Author: Sam
Date:   02-08-04 09:00

I was stupid enough to believe that it wasn't a scam and I sent in a lot of my poetry...fun huh?

-Sam

p.s. It's a scam everyone...just go to their home page and you'll see what I mean.

www.noblehousepublishers.co.uk

Author: Morgan "Coldsoul" Mullins
Date:   02-09-04 15:46

I can't believe it... I don't *WANT* to believe it, but after researching all day today, I can find no evidence on the 'net whatsoever that Noble House Publishing is real.

I have submitted more than ten poems to poetry.com, in full faith that, regardless of whether they were ever printed, they would be on the internet for everyone to see. Imagine my surprise when they actually selected one of my poems to be placed in an anthology, and an audio CD! Four times, no less! I never bought a book or a disc, thinking them too expensive...

Of course I was overjoyed when I was contacted by a publisher present in Europe. It had been over a year since I posted my first work on poetry.com, and other friends had spoken of satisfaction in the site's work. I trusted that Noble House and Nigel Hillary would treat me no worse, and since the poems were all already under copyright on both poetry.com and fictionpress.com, a sure lawsuit if anyone tried to steal them, a felt confident in sending the company a previously published poem.

Nearly a year later, I have received another Noble House notice. I am sorry to say that my authorization of the proofing copy went into the mail this morning, before I got on the 'net. I began to think about my mother's warning, to make sure I knew what I was doing and to not buy into a scam. Unfortunately, I didn't think about it until *AFTER* I sent in my second poem.

Why do they want our work? It already being under established copyright elsewhere--since it seems that they don't contact anyone who hasn't been published under poetry.com already--what can they do with it? It can't make them any money, since the writing community would rise up en masse and bring them down. What could possibly be the point of such a scam? And, is poetry.com still trustworthy? How can we ever be sure again?

I hope that the messages of everyone in this forum are spread across the internet, so that no one else is taken in like some of us were. If anyone has any hard evidence pertaining to the scam or its intentions, I urge you to report it as internet fraud. Maybe your work has been stolen, or whatever, but maybe you can keep it from happening to the next, less experienced poet.

Gods keep the writers, and our work be sacrosanct! ^_^;

Author: JImmy
Date:   02-09-04 21:31

Try http://www.eliteskills.com/

Learn more about writing scams
http://www.eliteskills.com/writing_scams/

Author: laura
Date:   02-13-04 07:47

like a lot of you, i got the letters about 'eternal portraits', 'best poems of 2003' and now 'colours of the heart', its just so s**t that people can do this to us, i put a lot of effort into my poems, its my heart, my soul, my life and so to share this with other people is like telling everyone what im thinking, how my mind works. im 17 and so when i got the letters i thought 'kool', but now finding out its all just a bloody scam it feels like my heart has been wrenched out, im so p***ed off! just thanking you all that i found these comments before i actually sent off for anything!!!

cheers, me dears....LAURAx

Author: Andrea
Date:   02-13-04 09:58

cant believe it,how annoying !!!!!!!!!!!!!

Author: nixon thomas
Date:   02-15-04 02:56

i'm one of those credulous verse men who got carried away and paid a sound some just to order the book those filthy ones who run the scam industry said would carry my poem-it never arrived: evil will come to evil end anyway; perdition awaits the scoundrels in this world and the one to come-a deterrant site to warn people like me is most welcome.
Nixon Thomas

Author: Sheila D. Williams
Date:   02-16-04 20:20

I got the letter and submitted a poem. I also intended to buy the book. Somehow, I keep putting the credit card number down wrong (but I know it by heart). The third time the letter came back to me for payment, I put it in the trash.

I was excited about the International Poet's Society too. I went to the convention in Florida in 2001. Besides the entertainment, and the people you meet (other poets) it's not worth doing twice. It's expensive to be a part of even if the convention is in your city. They don't cut you any slack.

There's probably a way to get together and do it ourselves whereby all the profits would be ours--make and buy our own books, put the money in a mutual fund, draw the dividends annually then split it. And reinvest during the year with our own events.

Author: rach
Date:   02-18-04 11:18

Blooooody hell... crazy @!#$ here people.. ive been using poetry.com for about 2 years now and got a letter from nobel saying they wanted to publish my work... i just like the idea of having the letter in my portfolio..

i believe we should get these bitches...

:>

im from australia and aussies dont take this bs :>

haha.. anyway... ill be checking to see if anything else is being done about these ********.

Author: rach
Date:   02-18-04 11:22

This is the first poem i wrote when i was 12 haha


We sailed over the open sea
To see what we could find
We found a mighty killer whale
Which was quite divine.

Me capt'n shouted "WHALE AHOY"
I cant believe our luck
We're gonna be stink'n wealthy
Its better than a prized duck!

Then the whale lodged itself
Upon our sailing ship
As we all jumped to our doom
The boat began to rip.

It ripped in half and fell apart
I couldn't believe my eyes
That ye old ship "Trinity"
Could dissapear and die.

Then i drowned to my death
Into the depths below
Found myself in Davey Jones locker,
With my Capt'n and CO.

Rachel

I am the bomb :>

Author: Harry
Date:   02-18-04 15:17

YES! I have been scam!

Back in JULY 2003 I ordered a wooden plaque with an engraved poem.
I have yet to receive it. I lost about sixty buck in the deal. What a rip.

Here is the dialog (I xed out my email address so I won\'t get spammed).

Harry--
Your plaque is at the engravers as we speak. Pleas allow three to four more
weeks to complete and ship. Thank you.
Nigel

-----Original Message-----
From: Harry Archer [mailto:xxxxxx@msn.com]
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2003 9:59 PM
To: Noble House Publishers
Subject: RE: In regards to the publication of your poem


I got no response from my late email.
If I get no response in two business days, I will complain to the BBB.
And that will only be the beginning.

Harry
+++++++++++++++++++++++


-----Original Message-----
From: Harry Archer [mailto:xxxxxx@msn.com]
Sent: Friday, 10 October 2003 6:51 PM
To: Noble House Publishers
Subject: RE: In regards to the publication of your poem


Where is the poem I ordered written in wood??
This operation has taken WAY too long.
What is the deal?

Harry
+++++++++++++++++++++++


-----Original Message-----
From: Noble House Publishers [mailto:nhillary@noblehousepublishers.co.uk]
Sent: Thursday, 01 May 2003 12:56 PM
To: xxxxxxx@msn.com
Subject: In regards to the publication of your poem





N o b l e H o u s e
London - Paris - New York

Dear Harry,

Thank you for your recent poetic submission to our forthcoming publication
Theatre of the Mind. I am posting this email to relay to you the timeframe
for the publication of your artistic endeavour.

In approximately six to seven weeks you will be receiving a proofing copy of
your poem for your final review prior to publication (and, if you provided
it, a proofing copy of your artist\'s profile as well). You will be able to
see exactly how your poem (and profile) will be presented in this elegant
edition. You will also be free to make any changes or corrections, if
needed, at that time.

This proofing material will be posted to you through the U.S. mail, and you
need only return the proofing copy to our New York offices in order to
approve your poem (and profile) for final publication. A respond envelope
will be provided for your convenience.

Actual publication will take place in the late Summer, after artist
approvals have been received. If you purchased a copy or copies, your books
will be shipped to you via air freight immediately upon publication.

In the meantime, if you have any questions. Please direct them to me at
either our New York office:

Noble House New York
Empire State Building
Suite 3304-19Q
New York, NY 10118

or our London office:

Noble House London
Poets House
2 Harrington Road
Leytonstone
London E11 4QW
England.

You may also email me at nhillary@noblehousepublishers.co.uk
nhillary@noblehousepublishers.co.uk .

Yours truly,
http://www.noblehousepublishers.co.uk/totm/images/NigelHillary.gif
Nigel Hillary

If you no longer wish to receive material from us, please click
> here, or go to http://www.noblehousepublishers.co.uk/totm/optout.asp.

___________________________________________________

So I email them again to complain, and what do I get:

Your message

To: Noble House Publishers
Subject: FW: Publish another poem in the U.K.
Sent: Thu, 4 Dec 2003 16:47:17 -0500

did not reach the following recipient(s):

Noble House Publishers on Thu, 4 Dec 2003 16:45:58 -0500
The recipient name is not recognized
The MTS-ID of the original message is: c=us;a= ;p=watermark
press;l=EXCHANGE0312042145X6WJNV0J
MSEXCH:IMS:Watermark Press:Circa Press:EXCHANGE 0 (000C05A6) Unknown
Recipient


I AM SICK OF THEM!!
AVOID THEM!!!

Author: Rita Chitwood
Date:   02-19-04 22:34

I got into the same scam with poetry.com this year they came up with a new idea. Since I could not make it to the
gathering I could send 169.00 plus 18.00 shipping and handling and a profestional would read my poem at the
festiville and I would receive the cup award as well as a
medal and a 100.00 gift certificate off the next gathering
I've decided just having people read my poems and reacting
to them in a touched way is award enough for me

Rita

Author: Dave A.
Date:   02-20-04 00:33

Dang! I already got one book, and I think my folks got a couple more! Well, what do you folks know about Creative Communications? They're work through creative writing classes in schools? I submitted a poem through my teacher, and they sent bck a similar message to me like poetry.com did, but I don't know if they're a scam or not. Oh well. I think my poetry is better than that book "deserves" anyway.I've just submitted to a few other periodicals, and we'll see how that turns out. But hey, beter than just whining about this, spread the word to send all you poetry to other real publishers! Divert it all from poetry.com, and see if we can force them to either go honest, or shut them down!

Author: Rachel
Date:   02-20-04 04:41

I was just another one of about a million people who recived the letter that my poem was going to be published. I was overwelmed and of course i thought that this could be a big break. I continued reading the letter and every paragraph they would mention that i dont have to pay any money but the book cost $28. I told a couple of people about the letter and showed it around. I went on to google to see if there was any information and look what i found this site. Thank GOD this site was here because now i dont have to waste my time or money.

Author: Richard deC
Date:   02-23-04 18:40

I too thought it was too good to be true when I received my first letter from poetry.com Out of curiousity, I posted another poem with random works that never made sense, and guess what? I got the editors choice award! hahahaha oh, did i mention 3 other people from down my street got the same award? There should be a way to sue the pants off these crooks! My only advice is... REMOVE YOUR POEMS FROM POETRY.COM!!!!!

Author: Camilla
Date:   02-23-04 19:46

DAMN!! I really thought I had it. I was hoping like anything it wasn't a scam but didn't like the idea of forking over $$$ to get my poem in the book. What I find a bit of a problem is that the International Poet's Society is supposedly holding this big symposium at Walt Disney World Resort. If I paid a certain LARGE amount of $$ I could have my poem read out and receive this big bowl etc. The international recognition was enough, but for $US169? Has anyone else received any information on this? I think the UK and US companies are just about one and the same. And how do I make sure my poem isn't used by someone else with a connection to these companies? Stupid copywrite paranoia allright!

Author: Camilla
Date:   02-23-04 20:01

VERY IMPORTANT!!

I have read a lot of these emails about the Noble House scam and so many people said 'I have to find a way to get my poems off poetry.com". Has ANYONE figured out how to do this yet?? Can they use my poem?

Please reply to me asap.

Thanyou very much

Camilla

Author: Michelle
Date:   02-25-04 18:12

Hi,
Having seen your comments about Noble House, I am suspicious about the email I have recieved from poetry.com inviting me to attend an International Society of Poets' Spring Convention in Walt Disney Resort, Orlando.
I think they have some connection with Noble House, as I receieved a seperate approach from this publisher requesting my permission to include my poem in a new poetry addition they are planning to publish in the UK.
I have had no direct contact with Noble House so they must have obtained my personal information from poetry.com.
Is this legitimate or part of an even more elaborate scam?

Author: Lorraine M Dawson
Date:   02-26-04 14:43

Dear carring poets:
I submitted a poem called a morning prayer with mommy to the Noble house publisher. I have been billed on my credit card and now I read what a scam this operation is.
I droped out of poetry.com with a simple phone call because I thought this would be a nicer gift for my daughter and my granddaughter. I need a way to reach these people to cancel the order. My credit card company has no mercy. The bill is 124 dollars for two books and a small story about me and my family.......Help
Respectfully Lorriane M, Dawson

Author: Arno
Date:   02-26-04 15:41

If your credit card was billed the last three months, you can cancel your order and get your money refunded.
It works like that with every credit card company.
No need for mercy, just strict rules.
Call them and de/command!

Author: Irene S Lee
Date:   03-01-04 05:45

Hi there ,

I now feel a real " twit " to say the least , I too had a poem put on the poetry.com website , and then also a letter from Noble House Publishers in London , did think it weird at the time , but as has been said your ego gets the better of you .
I did reply and happily gave my credit card no to purchase a copy of Colours of the Heart , then low and behold an invite to Disneyland as I was a semi-finalist in some or other competition , again " ego " boost , but I wrote back to them saying only if someone was prepared to sponsor me could I go as I live in South Africa and just could not afford the airfare and hotel etc .
Reply , " sorry you can,t be with us " but your poem will be read , blah ,blah , blah , and for the cost of however many US $ we will send you some award or other . Again I was taken , my credit card being charged for the second time .
Yesterday I received another letter from Noble House asking me to proof read my poem for the book , and enclosed a form to be completed for payment of such . As another writer said when I tried to reply to the address , " it doesn,t exist " hence I found this one on searching the internet for Noble House Publishers .
I think in my heart I knew it was a scam , and said so in my email to poetry.com . My intention now is to write a letter to the address in London , telling them axactly how I feel and daring them not to send me a copy of the book as I have already paid for it & enclose proof of payment , copy the letter to my attorneys , and take it from there .
Wish me luck , and if anyone does know of a " genuine " publishing house , who really be interested , please let me know , I do love writing and would like to publish .

Author: no
Date:   03-03-04 10:22

how do i delete my stuff from poetry.com

Author: Courtney Marks
Date:   03-04-04 17:22

I got the same email and yes I did have the common sense to realize they were making money on my work and offering me nothing in return. I did not order a book as that is a rediculous thing to ask a contributer to do. Stay away from the assholes that want to use your talents to fill their pockets. The sound of being an Internationally Published writer is no big deal so don't fall for this lame excuse of a book. I already have other publishers lined up and you can find better venues for your work.
I'm not bad mouthing the company, just their policies towards the unrewarded writers that they take advantage of. I did let them use my work but I am not stupid enough to pay for a book when the 200 poets that are in the book cannot even get it for free. Watchout for this BS because it comes to those who are desperate for a chance to be noticed or understood.

Believe in yourself and you will get what you deserve. A good writer or poet can find publishers easily, go to them. Don't fall for the line, "Hey you are a great talent! Can we use you to make money and give you nothing in return?"

Author: Dave
Date:   03-05-04 21:17

If you wish to get rid of the poetry.com page - my friend asked me for help - that is one of the ways:
At the end of the page with the poem there is a sign something like EDITORS. You can delete your original poem and put evrything you wish like BLA.. BLA.. BLA.. UNDER THAT TITLE. I gave this idea to some guys like you. It works.

Author: Jocelyn
Date:   03-06-04 19:59

I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE SHARING THIS WITH ME. MR. NIGEL HILARY IS A SCAM???? I AM SO DISAPPOINTED. IS THERE ANY REMEDY FOR US?

ONCE AGAIN, I HAVE BEEN FOOLED!!!

JOCELYN

Author: Helen
Date:   03-11-04 07:55

NOTICE TO ALL INTERESTED IN EXPLORING
A POSSIBLE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST THE
INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY OF POETRY/POETRY.COM/
NOBLE HOUSE PUBLISHERS

I work as a legal assistant for a law firm as well as being another innocent victim of this unfortunate situation. As I do work for a law firm, I am able to obtain legal advice and direction as to how to proceed. My contacting you is to ask you to join me in this first step of the process.

Therefore, if you are interested in exploring the possibility of a class action lawsuit against the International Library of Poetry (ILP)/Poetry.com/Noble House Publishers, please send me an e-mail stating such along with the state in which you reside. Please put "Class Action Lawsuit" in the subject line. I will then e-mail you back promptly with further instructions as to how to proceed.

I look forward to hearing from you in the very near future.

- Helen

Author: Helen
Date:   03-11-04 08:04

NOTICE TO ALL INTERESTED IN
EXPLORING A POSSIBLE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT
AGAINST THE INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY OF
POETRY/POETRY.COM/NOBLE HOUSE PUBLISHERS

I work as a legal assistant for a law firm as well as being another innocent victim of this unfortunate situation. As I do work for a law firm, I am able to obtain legal advice and direction as to how to proceed. My contacting you is to ask you to join me in the first step of this process.

Therefore, if you are interested in exploring the possibility of a class action lawsuit against the International Library of Poetry (ILP)/Poetry.com/Noble House Publishers, please send me an e-mail stating such and include the state in which you reside. Also, please put "Class Action Lawsuit" in the subject line. I will then e-mail you back promptly with further instructions as to how to proceed.

I look forward to hearing from you in the very near future.

- Helen

Author: Resiak
Date:   03-15-04 10:27

I cant delete my stuff it asks for my zipcode then takes me to front page, and i am not paying for a long distance call.

Author: Arno
Date:   03-16-04 04:05

Do you have cookies enabled?


Otherwise try a different computer. I have problems login on myself. But it works from another computer for some reason.

Author: Lesley
Date:   03-18-04 07:06

Hi there.....
I was fortunate enough not to part with any money, but I feel stupid thinking I actually had talent.
I re-wrote my poem that I sent in to poetry.com and I attach it for your viewing pleasure.

P.S. Feel free to critique it... You couldn't possibly make me feel any more of a fool....

I look sadly at my poem
on its beautiful golden page,
for after checking out a website
all I feel is rage.
I thought I had achieved something,
but it seems to me you lie,
now realising I had been conned by you,
I think I want to cry.
It seems to me you dupe us all,
we poets with great dreams
after doing a little research
into your little schemes
I hope that in the future
no one else gets taken in
and as for all my other work...
it's now in the trash bin.

Author: Cindy
Date:   03-24-04 09:38

Oh my goodness!!! I cannot believe this! I also came across this message while I was trying to look what Noble House Publishers is all about. They have been sending me emails and letters confirming that I have been published, all I need to do is buy the book. The thrid time I finally gave in and sent out all my details and credit card info. But I have not received anything yet. I can't believe I have been such an idiot! My God! I have been scammed!!!!

Author: Resiak
Date:   03-25-04 06:39

I have been trying to delete these things from school (lots of computers all different operating systems) still no dice

Author: Resiak
Date:   03-25-04 06:45

so cookies probably are disabled.

Author: Resiak
Date:   03-25-04 06:45

so cookies probably are disabled.

Author: Resiak
Date:   03-25-04 06:45

so cookies probably are disabled.

Author: Resiak
Date:   03-25-04 06:46

sorry about the triple message...or am i the only one who sees them?

Author: Resiak
Date:   03-25-04 10:14

I want my stuff taken down!

Author: Resiak
Date:   03-25-04 10:28

I cant even add new crap

Author: Resiak
Date:   03-25-04 10:31

cookie setting on medium

Author: Carl
Date:   03-26-04 13:04

How do i delete if it wont accept my zipcode?

Author: Resiak
Date:   03-29-04 10:21

When create an account on poetry.com it tracks your IP adress and puts a program on your computer (like Spyware) and saves you IP adress, what other information do they have? I dont know. But I do know that I signed up to poetry.com from my home computer and that is the only computer I can login from,

Author: Arno
Date:   03-30-04 13:17

Yeah, that's called a *cookie*

Author: Resiak
Date:   03-31-04 06:37

no @!#$

Author: Resiak
Date:   03-31-04 06:37

no @!#$

Author: Resiak
Date:   03-31-04 06:39

That wasnt directed twoards you, it was directed to anyone who doesnt know whats going on. You started this board i would hope you know what your talking about. But any way for everyone else this isnt necesarily a good thing.

Author: Sindy Peterson
Date:   04-12-04 11:23

Helen,
I am very interested in what your letter dated 3/11/04. I, too am a victim of the poetry.com scandal. Your letter mentioned the class action lawsuit & any info
you have that would help me get my poem from their data base. Do you have any idea if these poems were even copy
written in our names? Please contact me with any info that you would care to share with me. I did not, however send them their $49.95 for my edition, nor the $25 that
would have been neede to publish the adjacent page with a
story about yourselef or your poem. Whatever?
Here is my appology for making my short story long!
Thank you very much,
Sindy Peterson

P.S. I hope you had a very special Easter!

Author: Mark Fallon
Date:   04-12-04 18:33

Well, like a great many other people I am reading this thread too late. I paid for 'The Best Poems and Poets of 2003' back in September, so no chance of cancelling with the credit card company.
But does anyone know if I have any legal grounds, seeing as I have actually paid for something they haven't provided?

I definitely learned my lesson and will be pursuing the popular 'blah' style of poetry on the poetry.com website.

Mark

Author: Barbara Jung/Marketing Manager
Date:   04-16-04 11:15

Dear Sir/Madame:
I was very distressed to read your statement concerning Noble House publishers. I understand your concern and your motivation to warn others of (as you put it) "a scam." May I inform you that my company is also Noble House/A Division of American Literary Press, Inc. We are located in Baltimore Maryland. We have a physical street address and a working 800#. And we ARE NOT "A SCAM". I cannot stress to you enough how your website and your statements about "Noble House" have caused us irrepairable damage with regards to our reputation in the publishing industry. Perhaps you should have investigated whom you were referring to and made your statements clear to whom they were directed. That way it would be clear to those who peruse your website that you were referring to a particular Noble House. (not my company) This is a serious matter that needs to be rectified immediately.
Barbara Jung/Marketing Manager

Author: Arno
Date:   04-18-04 05:39

Dear Ms Jung, marketing manager of American Literary Press, Inc.

I'm sorry to hear that you feel that way. Though I wonder if anyone in this thread feels addressed to, since everyone was clearly speaking of Noble House Publishers instead of the Noble House/A Division of American Literary Press, Inc. If we would've been refering to that, we would've named it just that.

And regarding the irrepairable damage you are mentioning: the fact that American Literary Press is mentioned in the same breath as International Library of Poetry, poetry.com, Noble House Publishers and many other vanity presses proves that the irrepairable damage has been caused solely by your own marketing strategy.

I suggest that you open new browser window, and do a Google search with the keywords "scam" and "American Literary Press". Then you will find, Ms Jung, marketing manager of American Literary Press, Inc., that you have a lot of messages to post like the one you posted above.

Author: Arno
Date:   04-18-04 05:48

Note to everyone:

I never mentioned that the Noble House Publishers in this thread was the one related to American Literary Press.
Heck, I didn't even know that they had such a division.

As everyone can read, also Ms Jung, marketing manager of American Literary Press, Inc. and Ms Donna Wessel, publication manager of American Literary Press, Inc. (who were kind enough to send me private emails regarding this matter containing -if I read correctly between the lines- legal threats, I said that Noble House Publishers mentioned in this thread is a sister/daughter/cooperating company of Poetry.com/ILP.

I'm in no position to delete any posts here, nor would I delete anything I said, because what I said didn't relate to the people in question who are so eager to have me delete my statements.

Author: Arno
Date:   04-18-04 05:51

Oh, and one more thing, specially directed to Ms Jung and Ms Wessel from American Literary Press, Inc.:

I can't help it if people read only part if this thread and not the whole thing. If they read the whole thing, than they wouldn't have misconcluded.

Author: Arno
Date:   04-19-04 09:51

Two e-mails, delivered to my personal inbox, both from Ms Barbara Jung, marketing manager at American Literary Pres, Inc.:


"It's a shame that you don't feel that you were wrong here. Just for your information, we are also known as Noble House. It is our hard cover division. I have nothing more to say. I believe "what goes around, comes around"."



And:

"We did not suggest for your to delete your statements regarding Noble House and the scam they operated regarding Theatre of the Mind. We are well aware of their misrepresentation and fraud. We have rec'd many calls and emails from those who thought that we were the same company. But just for a moment, think about how many people who commented on your website; think about how many people who are looking for a publisher and they see the negative information and naturally assume it is the same company, and would confuse OUR company with that of a scam. Fair is fair. I would have made a statement that excluded one from the other. I believe that one should admit to a mistake, whether it was intentional or not. There is nothing more to say here. Thank you for your time."



Personal addition:

Fair is indeed fair.
Note that the Noble House Publishers we are talking about here (mis)uses the reputation of several well-reputed publishers with the same name.
However, stay alert, because undoubtedly there are also Noble House Publishers who (mis)use the Noble House Publishers that is (mis)using the Noble House Publishers in order to clean their own (dirty??) name.

No false implications, no suggestions. Those who fit the shoe...
Please BEWARE!

Author: Surey
Date:   04-20-04 23:46

Hey!

I just wanted to clear somehting up to those worried about whether or not their poems will appear in the books. The poems will be there! I purchased the book the first time I was published. However, I have purchased another since. The thing is, I know that it is all about the money, but my seeing name in that first anthology was one of the best experiences of my life. I submitted a couple more poems after that, but knowing they were only after my money, I did not purchase anything else from them.

I have a question: the author's really DO hold the copyrights, right? Because I might be about to publish a small compilation of my poetry and wish to include some of the poems I submitted to poetry.com. Will I have any problems regarding the copyright? I shouldn't if it is really mine, right?

Author: Arno
Date:   04-21-04 15:30

Your poem appeared in the first anthology that you bought, right?
Did you CHECK whether or not they appeared in the anthologies that they said the poems would be in, but which you didn't buy?

Because that's been the whole issue. If you don't purchase, you won't get published.

Author: jennifer booth
Date:   04-27-04 02:31

ok, how do I go about deleting my poems off poetry.com's site?? and what about any poems that I sent as an "original unpublished work"?? can i get those back too?? I hope I'm not just that naive about this--I'm just finding out--those people told me that I was going to be published in the UK, and even had a friend of mine getting ready to order like 4 books.Well, *shrugs* anyway, thank you for your time.

Author: bg
Date:   05-05-04 10:02

I did receive a copy of Theatre of the Mind but not Colours of the Heart - do you know if there will be such a publication ever? I ordered two copies because I thought my poem in honor of a fallen soldier would be published and I would give a copy to the soldier's family. Ugh. Thanks for your research!! bg

Author: Arno
Date:   05-06-04 01:55

You were probably honored with part two or part three in the series. Colours of the Heart was the first.

Would you do me a favor as to write down the title of your book and the names (and poems) of the pre-printed artists and send them to me?
I'm curious if they use the same book as a standard, and just change the title.

I'd appreciate it.

Author: Amanda Fay Felt
Date:   05-29-04 02:18

Hello everyone, I just joined WritersNet and stumbled upon this interesting discussion topic. I submitted 2 poems, one to Poetry.com for "Eternal Portraits" and another to Noble House for "Colours of the Heart" about 6 months ago, which they both supposedly wanted to publish. However, I did not include my biographical information or purchase either one of the books when I sent back the editing proofs. Can anyone tell me if either one of my poems will appear in either book under these circumstances, or do they only print the poems that they receive book orders for? If anyone knows please pass it on to me, I'd really appreciate it!
Coincidentally, I recieved an E-mail just today from Poetry.com telling me that I have been "selected" for publication in something called the "International Who's Who in Poetry" and that I should send them a poem and my biographical information. But after reading many of these enteries, I don't think that's a step I want to take.

-Amanda.

Author: Meshell Bois
Date:   08-18-04 18:30

Hi everyone I agree poetry.com is a scam! This all started when I send for the information and never recieved it in time for my trip---and still it has not even come now that the trip is over. The book I was suppose to be in I have not even seen either. The many I have talked to say that there poem was put in the front page--so that means everyones poem is in the front page that you are suppose to recieve. I will tell everyone I come in contact with in Florida to help stop the embarrasment that I in turned felt. I do not want others to feel the shame as they return home from that trip of tears.
Thank You,
Michelle Lee

Author: Donna Wessel
Date:   08-19-04 08:12

For the past 18 months we have received many, many emails and telephone inquiries about the book, Theatre of the Mind, and about Noble House Publishers in the UK. We are American Literary Press, located in Baltimore, MD, and one of our imprints is Noble House, so we have been understandably confused with that other Noble House.

We are a legitimate publisher with an excellent reputation in the industry and with our authors. We are not associated in any way with the other Noble House, with Mr. Hillary, with poetry.com, or with ILP.

If you would like additional information about our company, please contact us by phone at (800) 873-2003 or by email at amerlit@americanliterarypress.com.

Thank you,
Donna Wessel
Publications Manager
American Literary Press

Author: LS Hoffman
Date:   10-07-04 17:38

Hey there everyone

Like you, I was duped. Damn those poeple, and damn those like them. But i have discovered a way to get some revenge... interested?

well, there is a way that you can "delete" you poetry from poetry.com... go to the actual screen with your poem on it. at the bottom of the screen, there are some options(none of which is "delete"). go to "edit my poem". type in your zip code and it will take you to a editing screen. now, it wont let you delete your poem, either. but luckily, us writers are subtle, thinking creatures. So take your beautiful work, save it somewhere, and proceed to write... whatever the hell you want! Im particualrly proud of my little personal revenge:

When
When will everyone realize?
when will people realize that this site is a scam?
when will the poets beat the scam at its own game?
when will you evil motherf**kers stop scamming innocent poets?
when?

So, do your bit against the muck of the earth, the pawnscum that you wipe off your shoe... "rewrite" your poetry. the beauty of it is that if enough people do it - that is, change their existing poetry - we can make them paranoid - maybe bring down the evil system. maybe, just maybe, we can stop them. or at least irritate the sh*t out of them. who's with me?

-Liat Hoffman

Author: John smith
Date:   11-30-04 17:03

I've traced their spam emails and quite a few other things. It is time we put them out of business.

content preview: >From: Noble House Publishers
>To: Censored
>Subject: May we publish your poetry
worldwide? >Date: Mon, 29 Nov 2004 16:04:49 GMT >MIME-Version: 1.0
>Received: from asrequested.circapress.com ([38.164.39.15]) by
mc7-f38.hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(5.0.2195.6824); Mon, 29 Nov
2004 08:07:11 -0800 >Received: from 10.6.7.15 (unknown [10.6.7.5])by
asrequested.circapress.com (Postfix) with SMTP id 006EDABFE4for
; Mon, 29 Nov 2004 10:59:36 -0500 (EST)
>X-Message-Info: 6sSXyD95QpUnc/zPiJtEPJVTSPnZZ7CL >X-MSMail-Priority:
Normal >X-mailer: AspMail 4.0 4.11 (SMT40214AF) >Return-Path:
nhillary@noblehousepublishers.com >X-OriginalArrivalTime: 29 Nov 2004
16:07:11.0957 (UTC) FILETIME=[7C3EA850:01C4D62D] > [...]

Content analysis details: (5.6 points, 5.0 required)

pts rule name description
---- ---------------------- --------------------------------------------------
0.9 FROM_ENDS_IN_NUMS From: ends in numbers
1.3 NO_OBLIGATION BODY: There is no obligation
0.2 EXCUSE_14 BODY: Tells you how to stop further spam
0.5 HTML_20_30 BODY: Message is 20% to 30% HTML
0.1 HTML_LINK_CLICK_HERE BODY: HTML link text says "click here"
0.1 HTML_FONT_BIG BODY: HTML has a big font
0.0 HTML_MESSAGE BODY: HTML included in message
0.7 MIME_HTML_NO_CHARSET RAW: Message text in HTML without charset
1.1 MAILTO_TO_SPAM_ADDR URI: Includes a link to a likely spammer email
0.8 MSGID_FROM_MTA_HEADER Message-Id was added by a relay
0.2 MIME_BOUND_NEXTPART Spam tool pattern in MIME boundary
0.0 CLICK_BELOW Asks you to click below

Master of their domain no longer shall they be.

Author: John Jasoos
Date:   11-30-04 18:59

Hello everybody, this is exciting. Guess what? My poem is going to be published in a new book called Labour of Love! I received an email today from Noble House, so it should be true. I checked their website, it's made up of 4 pages only. On the contact page, there is no telephone number. There are three addresses, one in Leytonstone, London. I went to see whether there was a publishing house. This is a residential address, therefore not the publishing House. Tomorrow I will go there again and wait outside and ask the first person coming out of the house about the publishing(?) house.

Oh, hang on, I will have to pay to be published? Oh yes I am a young poet and my poetry deserves recognition. So I should pay this small amount of £25. The British think that my poetry is good.I am now an internationally poet.

Enjoy guys

Author: Stephanie Gambrel
Date:   11-30-04 23:41

I have joined this group, sadly, and was also duped. I was very ticked to hear that poetry.com is also a hoax. Thankfully, I haven't made any purchases from them. I often wondered about poetry.com, because I submitted poems that even I knew sucked, but still they chose to publish. I also submitted poems that I was told were good, and heard nothing of. Then, they invited me to two or three conferences, but I had to pay a whole lot of money to go. If they wanted me there, why wouldn't they pay for it themselves?? Did anyone pay for it? I'm curious as to if there actually was some sort of convention that they faked, or if they made an excuse to cancel them. Hopefully no one paid the money for it. It really sucks to find out that it's all a scam. But when you think about it, its not all that bad if you're not paying money. Our poems are published on the internet. Someone could actually discover one of our poems and want to go further. In the end, poetry.com could help us! Probably not, but I'd like to think that. The only thing that really worries me is that they'll take credit for our work and have it published somewhere ligit. But I think if that happens, there's enough of us here to bring them down.

Author: petra van der Ploeg
Date:   12-01-04 17:36

I too was TOO naieve into thinking it was real. I have ordered 2 books in which 2 of my poems would be published.
That was from www.poetry.com.
Today I got an email from noble house London - Paris - New York who said my poetry deserved international recognition.
Wow... I thought, but it's hard to believe.
And look where my research about noble house L-P-NY brought me.
DAMN THEM.
I am telling everyone NOT to post their poetry on the website, not to buy any books and NOT to believe ANY agency until they have a contract of some sort with autographs and whatnot which states they as a writer are at no risk.
Also, I am doing whatever I can to NOT let the agency take money from my creditcard. If they do, all hell will break loose. I will not let them take my money unnoticed!!
I suggest you all do the same!
If you are not getting what you have paid for (the quality they speak of is not the quality of the books most people get, if they get any), GO AFTER IT!
And to the publishers who stated they have had bad publicity... Well, what do you expect? Do your own research before you go after a person who is trying to warn people about scam sites. ESPECIALLY if there wasn't even TALK about your particular offices.
Like your costumers who have complained about this, you too should read the messages.

Author: Camden
Date:   12-01-04 19:58

Ok, I just attempted to post here, but it looks like my internet shut me down.

BASICLY, poetry.com (and affiliates) continues to send me emails, and my poem is still on their site. However, they don't recognize my password, and they say my email doesn't exist on their server.

As I understand it, my only option is to call them to get it deleted? But my guess is that they need the email to delete it, so...

(Arno, slight typo on your site, the scam part IX says it continues on part IX instead of X)

Also, I was wondering if anyone else had a copy of "The Colors of Life," just so we can compare the two.

Author: Andi L
Date:   12-01-04 21:51

Hi guys and gals,

Last year I posted one of my poems on poetry.com. Soon after I recieved a letter in the mail congratulating me on my literary achievement as one of the best poems and poets of 2003 and asking for a small fee to publish my work. I, just like everybody else in this forum was stunned and flattered and I really wanted to get the book but I didn't have enough money to send away at the time. And that would have been the end of it but approx 4 months ago I posted another poem onto poetry.com and was soon after sent an email very much like the first one I had been sent. I thought that I must have talent if they want to publish my poems twice so I was understandably over the moon. And when I recieved the letter in the mail I sent my money away .
That was only last week and I am now so dissapointed in myself. I did have a weird gut feeling about the fact that I had to send money to see my poem typed up. But I didn't listen to my intuition and I am now without almost $100 Australian dollars. Bummer.
So when I recieved the email from Noble House TODAY for their new volume Labours of Love (which I thought was a pretty tacky title, but aren't they all!) I decided to check them up on the web.
Have you all been to their site? www.noblehousepublishers.co.uk It's a laugh and a half!
Anyhoo, I came across this site and all the wonderful people who have written in and told their story.
I guess we are all now wondering whether we have talent or not?
It's sad that the people that organised this scam can't put their creative energies towards something more ethically satisfying, instead of feeding of peoples emotions.

Author: Katt D
Date:   12-01-04 22:08

I too have been taken in by Peotry.com. I've had 3 works published in 3 different books (Tracing the Infinite, The International Who's who in Poetry and The Best Poems and Poets of 2004). I was fairly sure from the start that it was a scam, and positive after receiving the first 2 books that both had my poem on the first page. Talk about a tip off. Regardless of the scam and the enourmous cost involved, I have bought the third book. Even if no one else in the world other than my mom reads it, I must admit that it's a small thrill to see something I did in a book. The thrill is mostly gone now, however, and I'm not planning on submitting any more work to Poetry.com, or responding to the lovely e-mail I got from Noble House today.
You shouldn't need your e-mail to cancel your work on the site when you call them. They can do it under the name your work is submitted. I've called them and made changes and they've never asked for my e-mail address.
Hope it helps you.
Katt

Author: Amanda Reust
Date:   12-02-04 14:00

Dear All,
I have read most of the posts in this forum, and Arno, great job so far. I, too, received the letter from poetry.com commending my poem, which immedietly raised suspicion for me because I didn\'t think it was all that great. Then they want to publish me in Eternal Portraits or some silly name. Now for those of you who read the entire letter, you probably saw a line which no one in this forum has mentioned. It specifically states in the letter that Eternal Portraits will be HITTING BOOKSHELVES in fall 2004. Well...go to amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, any website you choose. None have heard of Eternal Portraits. I am glad I chose not to send back my work for \"proofing\". And for those who don\'t think it\'s a scam, just consider a few things. If you are such a great poet (which indeed you may be, but they will never know because they only censor the site for naughty words) then why aren\'t you getting paid, and worse, having to pay to see your own work in print! Maybe I just got knocked in the head with the common sense stick, but Shakespeare got paid. Think of any great artist in history. Unless their work wasn\'t discovered until they died, they got paid. U think Michelangelo did the Sistine Chapel for free. Don\'t think so. And what most of you don\'t even consider is what is really on poetry.com. Have you seen some of the stuff on there? Over half of it looks like a second grader wrote it...poor grammar, hoorible spelling, and most importantly, a poem that makes no sense. Granted, there are probably alot of very brilliant, save gullable, writers with work on poetry.com also, but I highly suggest they remove their work and go to someone willing to pay them. And for the record, no it\'s not about the money. Yes it\'s great to have someone get up and read your work to a huge seminar of people at Disney World. But you had to pay $169 for them to do it. It wasn\'t THAT good for them to do it for free was it. AND...you weren\'t there. How in hell do you know it even got read??? Do you realize how many people paid that $169? The seminar would have lasted a month if they read every poem that was paid to be read. Everyone do yourself a favor, get a real publisher, and remove everything you have from poetry.com, and never buy one of those books! I guarantee if you \"get published\" and I buy the book, MY name will be on the first page, not yours, and you won\'t even be in the book at all. Guaranteed. To prove it, write a poem in another name, and yours, get both letters, and order a book from each name. See what you get. Dissapointment. That\'s what you\'ll get. Good luck everyone.

Author: Amanda Reust
Date:   12-02-04 14:47

As a side note to anyone willing to play around, poetry.com had become aware of the growing number of people discovering their evil ways. If you go in and try to submit a poem containing the word "scam", an error message will pop up saying there is an inappropriate word in the text, but will not identify the word. I tried every other option before scam. nope. cant say scam on poetry.com anymore. nice.

Author: Hemi Hill
Date:   12-03-04 05:10

Hi Everyone.

Camden, I have a book called 'Colors of the Heart' and I will describe it to you.
Dark Blue hard cover with gold writing on front and spine. "Colours of the Heart" "Noble House". One blank page, then 'Colors of the Heart' Noble House Scam Artists Poetry division*, London -Paris - New York. Then a page of All rights reserved Compilation 2004, Then a one page foreword: "The dynamic evolution that poetry..." the reverse side of which is blank, then comes the four (4) glued in pages - 1. title page - colours of the heart. 2. My Authors note. 3. My poem 4. A poem by Joan Seward.
Now it may be like yours - Page 5 is a poem called 'Half an Hour before Sunrise' by Joy Harper; Page 6 is 'Mountain Climbing'; Page 7 'Song Therein Needed' by Bryant Le ...
Page 126 'Broken' by Jane Sandomierski; Page 141 'Diamonds' by Chantelle Davidson; Page 198 'Another Day' by Annette De La Roche; and final page, 224, is 'When the Hills and Trees Return to Sleep' by Brandon Martin.
One more blank page then the back cover.

* Scam Artists poetry division may not be explicity mentioned.

Author: Hemi Hill
Date:   12-03-04 05:33

Hi Everyone,

I mixed up one scam with another, they are so similar *grin*

The colors of life, The International library of Poetry - hardcover, gold title on front and spine, green and red leaves picture on front. Low quality recycled paper blank page, then a title page 'The Colors of life. The Enormous International Exploitation of trusting gullible fools.* Howard Ely, Editor'. Next page is a copyright page Copyright 2003 by the Internation Library of Poetry as a compilation.
A one page Foreword 'Throughout life, we store information collected from experiences...' then a blank page, then the four (4) glued in pages: 1. My poem, 2. 'Dear Daddy' by Leah McNamara, 3. 'My River' by William Patrick Benoit, 4. 'I found the Garden of Eden in Manhattan' by Brian Henri kranick. Page 5 is 'Admonition to the Fog' by Katherine Higgins; page 6 'Winter Tree Finger Painting' by Winifred L. Gonyea; page 7 'Priority As the Obsidian of truth' by Baron Joseph A. Uphoff, jr.
Page 53 'Perhaps' by Brian Heavey; page 102 Artist's Profile by Andrea L. B. Bowman - Sherwood, Oregon, USA.
Page 141 'Think Back' by Prena Rajen Desai; page 201 'Daddy' by Lauren Caudle, and the final page, 223, 'Temper the Violets' by Josette Fernandes. One doubled sided blank low quality recycled paper, then the back cover.

* The Enormous International Exploitation of trusting gullible fools may not be explicitly mentioned.

Author: Haley Stene
Date:   12-03-04 14:03

I stupidly fell pray to Poetry.com, when I was only 15. I wrote a rather good poem (for a 15 year old) and when they said they wanted to publish it, I got excited and let them, and my mom bought the book. When I saw the book, I think my heart was smashed to bits. But I still posted my poetry on the site in hopes that somebody might "discover" it or something silly like that.

Then, one day, I got mad about something and decided to write nasty things in the comments of my poems about POetry.com. And so they deleted me from the system. That would be a great way to get your poems off the site. Though, remember, all you have to do is delete the text with the edit option and put something like "la la la" in their. Either they won't notice it, or they'll delete you.

Now, the only bad thing about me having gotten deleted is that my computer crashed not too long after and I lost every single poem I ever wrote (well, except a few that I had printed out).

So... someone needs to sue Poetry.com. I don't want money, I just want to feel better about the fact that I was scammed and tricked into thinking I was "great".

Author: crystal cowper
Date:   12-03-04 19:52

its amazing what people will do,,,i mean how low can you be. I have also experienced the scam of poetry.com. I have 2 poems on the site and when i found out about their bullsh*t, I quickly put a little poem together dedicated to poetry.com themselves! check it out on the site my name is crystal cowper and i called the poem \"read this\" its just a lttle of what im sure many of us feel!

Author: Kyle Durham
Date:   12-04-04 04:30

Caught aswell, This really is a pain in the arse.

Author: Camden
Date:   12-04-04 14:38

Hemi Hill, thanks! The second book you describe is exactly like mine but with two notable exceptions:

First (as should be obvious by now), mine has my poem on the first page instead of yours.

Secondly, my book has 253 pages. Mine still has "Temper the Violets" by Josette Fernandes on page 223, but it has an additional 30 pages of poetry, ending with "Family--Something Greater" by J. L. Laufenberg on page 253.

Things just get all the more "interesting" the more one learns about these organizations.

Author: Horacio Martinez
Date:   12-04-04 17:18

I got a book TOUCH OF TOMORROW and was wondering if anyone else did?

Author: gayna wynn felts
Date:   12-04-04 18:01

Hi ya'll, I recieved my e-mail from Noble House today...alas I had made the mistake of submitting to Poetry.com in 2002. Well to make a long story short, I checked back on my poetry in Poetry.com site and the copyrite has now been updated for the same poems to 2004 and set for republishing in a brand new volume. Lets just keep churning out the same old stuff since some of us has caught on to the scam now.... Hang in there fellas and get a copy of The Wrtiters Handbook 2004...full of publishers and exactly what the are asking for.

Author: kirsten correll
Date:   12-04-04 21:39

Hi everyone,

I too have submitted a few poems too poetry.com. Like everyone I was beggining to get very suspicious. They would send me a letter telling me how great and unique my writing was, and that I was even chosen as a candidate for the editors choice award...."what a joke" but the funny thing was, I never won a single contest. I wonder if anyone wins those stupid contests. Another funny thing was that I submitted a poem in Februrary and got a letter in like june saying thankyou for your submission you are a finalist in our contest, how shady is that?

Author: kirsten correll
Date:   12-04-04 21:56

I am a writer of Poetry.com, and after reading this site I feel very scammed, and was wondering about the copyright status of my poems, can you help?

Author: Auna Brunson
Date:   12-05-04 11:11

I, too, have been victimized by noble house and would like nothing better than to be erased from their and poetry.com's files forever. It never rested easy with me how easy it would be for them to take advantage of my writings. can anyone tell me how to go about deleting my poetry from poetry.com?
thanks, Auna

Author: Barbara Coooper
Date:   12-05-04 15:07

You are brilliant! I recently recieved my letter also asking for my permission to publish worldwide. Some thing told me to check their website for "credentials" and this site caught my eye with its big bold letters: SCAM. Man, was I pissed!! I was actually about to send then a poem to publish. I already have two on Poetry.com, but thanks to you, and your brilliant brain, they will be there no more. Stay away from these people and also the 1st books people. You shouldn't have to pay them to publish your work. they should be paying you!!! Now, If you will excuse me, I have some nasty messages to write on Poetry.com, compliments of a pissed off woman!!!

Author: Barbara Coooper
Date:   12-05-04 15:31

there was a message posted on this site somewhere and or course I can\'t find it. Any way, they said you can go into poetry.com and edit your poem since it won\'t let you delete it. so while you\'re editing, erase your poem and fill it in with whatever nonsense you want. Let\'s see how long it takes the message around. Let\'s see how long it takes tham to get irritated!! I\'m now going ot write a reply to Mr. Hillary and tell him to f-off with what little taste I can muster. Good luck to you all! Cheerio! Let\'s bring this bloody-buggery slime ball down!!! Ta!!

Author: Across Boundaries
Date:   12-05-04 15:37

Camden,
thanks for the note on the typo! ;o)

Author: Lara Martin
Date:   12-06-04 03:29

I was reading all of the previous discussions about Noble house PuBLISHERS and poetry.com, I have 2 poems punlished on poetry.com but i do not know how i would delete them. Does anybody else know?

Author: jonas wikström
Date:   12-06-04 10:22

i HAVE ONE OF THOSE BOOKS AND YOU ARE WELCOME TO COMPARE. BUT HURRY UP I´M RUNNING OUT OF TOILETPAPER. jONAS
NIDINGENPERS@HOTMAIL.COM

Author: jonas wikström
Date:   12-06-04 10:28

oH i FORGOT, THE BOOK I WAS REFERING TO WAS "COLORS OF LIFE"

Author: Jason Yim
Date:   12-06-04 17:25

I am not sure what to beleive about poetry.com and noble house. Months ago, I got a letter from poetry.com saying that I was nominated as poet of the year and invited me to their convention. They said when I got there they would give me a throphy that is worth $200 and meet lots of other famous poets. It was also a contest too and the grand prize was $20,000. I couldn\\\'t go because it was miles because I really didn\\\'t have time, but still, why would anyone go thorugh the trouble of setting up a convention, Invite lots of poets including famous ones, offer rewards and prizes all for a scam?
If you have any comments, please e-mail me at jyim89@bellsouth.net

Author: Mindy Sanders
Date:   12-06-04 21:49

i just got mailed a Noble House letter, and I thought I would look up what it is about. could someone tell me?

Author: Ruba Maghraby
Date:   12-07-04 14:25

Well, I tried posting a (long) message here before, but it didn't work. Hope it works this time, but I'll keep it short.

Hello to all fellow scamees!

I just wanted to ask a few questions :


1)Is the copyright on poetry.com for real? And if it is and I 'blah' my poetry on poetry.com, would I still have the copyright to my poems?(what if I saved the pages with the poems?) Is the copyright on Noble House Publishers real, or have I lost my rights to the poem I send, should they choose to steal it?
(actually, with all the money they're making conning people by selling overpriced anthologies with any quality of poetry to its authors,it's unlikely they'd even bother selling decent poetry; it hardly seems like they even read the poems.

2)I didn't buy anything(thank God!) but IF I was published in Eternal Portraits and that Noble House Publishers book( I forget the title), does that mean I can't submit those poems as 'unpublished' works, or do those anthologies not count at all in the publishing world?

3)I wrote a bio for my first poem that was chosen for Eternal Portraits, but I haven't been billed for it. What happens if they bill me(if poem and bio are actually published) and I refuse to pay?( And I hope I'm not in any of the books at all!)


I'm furious at all the waste of my time and effort, especially time, and especially when it's as limited as it is now! And add that to the absence of any literary merit( I thought being published in those books would help me sell other pieces of writing elsewhere even if my 'unique talent' didn't win me any money, but obviously, this is not the case, and now I'm worried I lost the rights to my poems too!)


To everyone who's still not sure if poetry.com and Noble House Publishers are a scam, wake up and smell the scum!!!And check out the earlier posts on this forum.

Author: Jason Yim
Date:   12-07-04 18:24

Since so many epople are sad about the Poetry.com scam, maybe we could set up a club or an organization to prevent these people that try to steal our work. Not poetry.com, we could target other Scam publishing companies and try to put them out of bussiness. If what everything said here is true, that would mean that these people are getting rich off us. I say we should stop these people. Some of you might not care, but for those of you who DO care, e-mail me at jyim89@bellsouth.net. If I could get enough people ( and the right people), We might be able to set up a club to prevent things like this from happening.

Author: Jason Yim
Date:   12-07-04 18:26

If you guys just don't care and think that this is a stupid idea, email me and tell me so. I just thought it would be great stopping these guys from stealing out work.

Author: Jason Yim
Date:   12-07-04 19:26

Oh yea, do you guys think that famous poets.com is a scam too. I got a letter from them saying that I made it into the semi-finals and they invited me to a convention.

Author: Leslie Goods
Date:   12-07-04 19:26

I don't know if anyone else is interested but i am. Any ideas?

Author: Leslie Goods
Date:   12-07-04 19:28

it probably is a scam Jason. that sucks

Author: Jason Yim
Date:   12-07-04 19:57

To: leslie

Thank you for agreeing with me about the club. You never gave me your e-mail so I couldn't contact you directly.(sorry) If you can give me that, I will e-mail you back as soon as I can.

Author: Jason Yim
Date:   12-07-04 19:59

This is great! I already got three people agreeing with me only a few hours after I posted my thing about the club.
If we can get enough people to join, we might actually be able to begin our club to stop the scammers.

Author: Jason Yim
Date:   12-08-04 10:44

My goal is to get at least 15 poeple to join over the internet by THIS week. If I can not get 15 people, than I will have to cancel this club. If you are interested in joining, please e-mail me at jyim89@bellsouth.net. Include your name, e-mail, Aol instant messanger screen name(If you have one), and other things you think I should know about you.