Noble House Publishers/Poetry.com

Hi there fellow writers. I acutally knew after the first poem I submitted to poetry.com was submitted that it was a marketing ploy, espcecially after all the advertisements for putting it to music and the symposiums. I have elected to do neither. I do however have several poems published in both the regular anthologies and the best of anthologies for 2001, 2002 to date. I do not seek to make any money from these publishings. I will reserve that for when, and I do mean when, my complete manuscript is published. poetry.com has given me confidence to continue writing and submitting to other paying publishers and has given several membersof my family who poetry was dedicated to an invaluable treasure to hold for a lifetime. Incidentally every book I have ever been in with them has always arrived to my home in good condition and fine quality. This is also true for the Noble House Theatre of the Mind book which I also was included . It says something to me that someone in Australia has a book with my name in it. So what if I didn't make any money. That will come in God's time, not mine. [%sig%]

In response to a query you posted on the Noble House Publishers website, regarding the validity of "poetry.com", I have been published by "poetry.com" and they do not require that you purchase anything. Purchases are at your discretion. Will you win one of their contests? That's like asking if you will win the lottery -- who knows. I have no idea their criteria for choosing winners. I now have a poem headed for publication with Noble, and seriously question their ability to handle same with professionalism -- based solely on what Noble chooses to call a "Proofing Copy" -- filled with typos, add-words, missed-words, etc. Noble got my name from "poetry.com". Right now, I would stick with "poetry.com".

I won the annual prize in 2001 @ Poetry.com. I knew thier deal when I submitted my poem that year as I have been submitting a poem every six months to the site for years. That time I just got lucky, but it was $11,000 worth of lucky. I encourage all of you to submit to this site, just don't buy thier absurd books. You just never know what editors are going to respond to. If you are curious my poem was titled "Homecoming", and spent some time on ABC- but no cherries, unfortunately. Will T

Michael, You said this: "As to editing complaints and requests for scholarships. Come off it people, take a spelling and grammar course somewhere. Reading your posts here open my eyes to the horrific english skills so called wordsmiths have." Then you said this: "Do you know what David? I spelled Picasso's name wrong, that is called an error. I did not proofread my message or send it through spell check. I do not like his work. It would not matter if you spell it with one "c" or seventeen. Forgive me for not spelling it correctly AND for not bothering to look up how to spell the name of an artist I do not like; just to post in your blog. Also, I hope your "minute's silence" lasts a bit longer than that. Let's say the rest of the year. " Then you said this: "You consider yourself an editor??? Is "misspelt" anything like misspelled? Is "ungrammatical" used conventionally and more clear than saying “grammatically incorrect?” I am quite grateful you are not my editor." Can you not see a problem here? You can make errors but others can't. You can snipe in a bitter fashion but others can't. "How can you say none of the poems submitted to poetry.com would be published by a "reputable poetry publisher" have you not read any poetry in the last ten years?" Yes. I have more books of contemporary poetry on my bookshelves than most bookshops. I also co-edit a poetry magazine and have had a small book of poems published. I can say that because it's true.

Michael, I agree that "Flames" by Billy Collins is not among the best poems I have read, but it's original, sharp and witty and the fact that you consider that an 11-year-old writing it would be considered "disturbed" says a lot about American conformity and educational values and not much about poetry. I admit to making occasional spelling and grammar mistakes but "misspelt" and "ungrammatical" are not among them, according to my dictionary. But the point is that this is an internet website and not a publishing company, and the sheer number of bad spellings, grammar and punctuation errors should alert anyone to the fact that poetry.com is not about quality writing.

Blimey. Why're you two talking to this ninny? Let me have a go: "It isn't vanity that brought me to write for poetry.com. It was the sealing of my emotions and thoughts in print." And why would you want your emotions and thoughts sealed in print? Are they more important than everyone else's? "Luckily good men (and eventually good women) will always end up in that office. Just like the last 44 times." Are you accusing the White House of lax security? How did all these 'good men' get in, and shouldn't the president be informed? "I have spent upwards of $30 for hardcover books that have given me less pleasure to read than "Tracing the Infinite.”" You testify to your own idiocy.

Why on earth don't you lot just put your poetry on here - it's free and no-one will hassle you for money?

I guess people feel to 'really' published they need a proper book on their shelf that they can shove in their friends and relatives faces and say, 'Look I'm a real author'. It's a bit difficult to leave their PC on permanently, with their stuff on the screen in the hopes someone they want to impress will call by.

"It's a bit difficult to leave their PC on permanently, with their stuff on the screen in the hopes someone they want to impress will call by." Yes, but even that's a more logical way of actually getting your poems read than being published by poetry.com.

I quite agree, David.

I was published in a book in 6th grade by some company that looked for poetry in grade school kids. It was all good and went well and worked through the school, and I was published. I looked into more publishing, as my teachers and other adults were quite surprised by my work when I was only 11 and in 6th grade. I looked into Poetry.com, and they published me. At that time, it was the summer after 6th grade and I was 12. My mom thought there was something funny about the company and checked in w/ the BB. No complaints at that time, apparently. So they sent me my proofs and I sent them back but didn't buy a book. I mean, what the heck, if I'm published, I'm published. I just didn't give them any money in case it was bullshit. They sent me an editor's choice award (which I have no idea if it is real or whatnot, I don't really care). I was put in a special edition of the book and on a CD w/ 31 other poems. I was also a candidate for Writer of the Year, but I figured that was bologna and just a bunch of crap to get me to spend thousands to go to Florida (I live in New Jersey). So I didn't go, and I honestly have no idea if that was real or not either. Noble found me through Poetry.com, and when you're in 7th grade and get a letter in your mail from an international publishing company, you jump for joy. I submitted my proofs and bought a book, which I recieved, finally, after many months of waiting. I thought it was a scam for a bit, but when it finally arrived, it was fine. Since Noble, I haven't been published, mostly because school has taken over (8th grade kills me), and I haven't had an interest in writing. Not to mention my GEPAs(state tests)! are next week. Ahhhh And I can not comment on Poetry.com, but Noble seems to work. It takes forever for the book to arrive, but you do get it. They're quite lovely, and I enjoy them. If you know of any good, legit. publishers, please comment on this. Thanks so much.

Dono about Noble Housebut finally sent this to Poetry.com. Iwill not be able to attend & aint got no money to send. I'de love to do it up right, butain't got a shirt that is white. Been years since I had on a tie~don't go with TEE shirts is why. My only pants are blue jeans`A suit cost would buy lots of beans. Medicines are quite costly too, and I require quite a few. I've had heart surgery, twice, and that is not really nice. And three times the Cancer Doc cut ~ he's getting into a rut. So I cannot com,e to your Ball, I'll wait here for

I liked this

An interesting debate, with only one person really going wide of the mark. I don't think Poetry.com are doing anything vaguely unlawful or even conning people. Is it unethical to take advantage of people who are so hungry for recognition of their work ? Well, I think it probably is, but then again we have two possible knock-on effects - firstly, people who write poetry with very pretentious titles and nothing behind them probably end up satisfied that they are 'published' and we don't have to read their work and secondly, people who actually give a damn about their writing (and more importantly their readers) take it as a little confidence boost and put more effort into their writing. This - i have no doubt that Poetry.com will publish anything that is not racist or obviously vulgar. As a matter of fact it is their obligation to accept a poem that youthink is miserable if it is presented as an honest poet's work. Your critique of my work is pointless because as a poet I can simply say you do not understand the depth of my work. People do not understand Piccasso or Monet. I do. I do not like Piccasso and love Monet, yet they are considered to both be of the same school of art. C'est la vie. - is almost a perfect spoof of a pretentious poet, I had to read it quite a few times to be certain that it wasn't a tongue-in-cheek pisstake. It is precisely because Poetry.com will publish anything that they are paid to that renders it empty and worthless as a publication. Either write because you've got something to say or because you want to be good enough to be published, but don't kid yourself that paying to be published makes you good enough. Honest, real publications may not pay you, they may pay you but pay you a pitiful amount, but what they will never do is charge you. If you are in any doubt, write and ask them how many poets they published in the last year that didn't pay them for the honour.

Blimey. Henstoat in correct, succinct, funny shocker!

I've had two poems published in Poetry.com's books. I read a few of the other poems in the book with my first one - they seemed to have matched the level of my poem (at the time I was 17 and quite lower on my scale of thinking and writing back then). The second poem I allowed them to publish won the editor's choice award, and I would have gone to the the imposiums that both poems had won my place in, but I couldn't afford to fly across the States to read it alloud. I'm sorry if so many of you have had poor experiences with poetry.com, I wish you better luck elsewhere. As for NobleHouse, I have never heard of them, but they seemed ok with me, their site seems to be rather empty on subject matter, but who knows what will happen. It seems to me that a lot of the people posting in forums like this one, are more concerned about making money off their poems rather than sharing it with other people - which is the point of publication! As long as my name and my poems are circulating, that is all that matters to me. I hope the rest of you who put sites like poetry.com down can one day see that. Poetry.com is more about getting younger people started in the world of poetry, so if you don't like the mentality of the poems published in these books, then find somewhere else to go, you were never required to go to these sites in the first place. [%sig%]

Wot!? There are things better than porn and money? I will have to drink myself to death then.

Hey, I started my post with 'Blimey'. Enough with the thievery.

I take back my previous statements...

Careful David.

Hey all of you, I had a great time see my poems published by poetry.com, although I assumen they maybe not listed anywhere. Actually my poems were in the last 5 times on the first page. I sent in a poem to Noble House to the edition of "Labors of Love". No news yet. I have my own poetry book coming out ! Well, the publishing company will no take anything I have earlier in printed publications, that means some of my best poems by poetry.com that I favor actually. I have no Idea what to do with the poem I submitted to Noble House, I'd like to include it into my collection, but I am in doubt what if it's get published really ? Also, I had a poem with poetry.com they said they put onto a CD, that I didnt buy, I want to include that into my book, but I do not know anything about it, that they may have published in print or not... If anybody would be helpful on these "rights" stuff ASAP, I'd be happy to hear about. Thanks, Tamas

Yes, I too was suckered by Poetry.com AKA Noble house, all the same nonsense. I wont go into the details, I think enough has been said here already, but they are definatley not a publishing house to be taken seriously. If anyone reads this and is a Writer/Poet then try http://www.authorsden.com if you have a book published already, they will promote it for you. They do charge a fee for three different categories, ie Bronze, Silver, Gold, but are much better to deal with, keep the site clean as is humanly possible, categorize, and have moderators working 24/7 Give them a go, I am a member there and have enjoyed my membership immensley. Ch'erie [%sig%]

Fatalky - I suspect they are referring to the under-the-counter numismatists literature...

I've had three poems published by Poetry.com and naturally bought the books. I found my poems surrounded by a lot of "rubbish" but perhaps the other authors thought the same about my work. It can be very subjective! I won't go this route again although it was an entry point to the attainment of a long-standing ambition. I recently received the first Noble House publication which featured one of my poems and was impressed by the presentation. The other poems in this publication were, I thought, of generally greater literary worth than the Poetry.com ones. This could be luck since I'm sure they would publish anything! Perhaps, like Christine, I will have a go at publishing my own book one of these days. I doubt if my Poetry.com and Noble House "successes" will prove to be adequate commendation for a serious publisher to fund the work and will probably have to carry the expense myself.

Wannabe poets with a PC and a basic DTP programme may like to know that for under £50, you can purchase a Samsung laser printer: and with the change from what it would have cost you to buy a couple of poetry.com's abysmal anthologies, you can buy a stapler, some staples and several 500 sheet reams of copier paper, plus some nice card for the covers. You can then print, fold and staple some copies of your own self-published poetry pamphlet and distribute it to family and friends. It's a good first step on the road to becoming a published poet and you won't have given any of your cash to poetry.com. Merry Christmas!

Respone concerning Theatre of the Mind. My poem is first also. There is no isdn number either. My poem was glued into the first of the book. The pages are not even the same size as the pages in the rest of the book. I suspect my copy is the only copy with my poem in it. This is a print on demand possibility. There is no way to contact them. They have an 800 number but you only get a recording.

"People do not understand Piccasso or Monet." No I certainly don't understand Piccasso. Was he a friend of Picasso, the famous artist? "Your critique of my work is pointless because as a poet I can simply say you do not understand the depth of my work." A minute's silence please...

David said: It's hard to see what can be done to protect people from their own vanity and stupidity. I can't understand how anyone over the age of 12 could be taken in by one of their acceptance letters. Well sadly I fit into the category of being 11 when I got hit by a similar scam. Basically my school teacher submitted a poem I had written and I got a letter saying I'd been accepted for publication. I was so happy and excited. My dream of being a writer was finally taking shape! I rushed home from school and told my mum and dad straight away - I'm going to be published! And then I told them all the details. I still remember the weird feeling I got when instead of congratulating me there was this strange pause and they looked at one another. Then they told me it was an honour to be chosen and that it didn't mean I should go ahead with it. I was so confused so they had to explain to me that it was a scam - and that no reputable publisher would charge the author £45 for a copy of their own book, and offer no royalties. I was devastated. I felt really cheated. So my 11 year old self really feels for those of you who have just reached that same discovery. (As for the Michael person above, he is so pretentious that he and poetry.com really deserve each other!)

I also sent Noble House a check and I also have not received my book. How do I get my money back. risa

I didn't get suckered by Noble House. I did get a request for a poem from them, but was dubious enough to pass on it. My relationship with The Intenational Library of Poetry (Poetry.com) has been great. I have poems in at least twenty-five of their beautifully bound books. My name and picture is on their web site. I also used them to publish a book of my poems. I've never won any money and don't expect that I ever will. I don't know how good a poet I am and I don't know how good a poet those who wrote these many letters are. But it is more than satisfying to see something that I wrote published alongside those of many other so-called idiots. I Knew exactly what I was spending my money for when I bought at least twenty-five books of their poetry. It's my money, and I can spend it if I want too. It's my money and I can spend how I want too. It's my money and I don't much care what anyone thinks. It's a great outlet for an 80 year old grandmother, even though I get criticized by some.

I know they are all scams, but I don't mind. At least I can say that my poems are published in a book. I mean, as long as you know it's all a farce it doesn't hurt. I've had some 8 poems published through International Library Of Poetry, Poets Sociaty, and Noble House. I'm also on the International Poetry Hale Of Fame. For me it's like an ego builder. I get to brag, and I have the books to pass down from generation to generation. A real publishing company would do the proof reading for me, or at least correct the proof on the areas I indacted. Remember, you're only a fool if the dup you, but if you know what you're getting in to, and keep doing it, then just go with the flow. Other people get a kick out of saying, "I know a poet who is featured in a book". And who knows, someday someone might take all those poems of yours, and turn you into the next William Shakespeare, or Edgar A. Poe. That is after you've kicked the bucket, and cann't claim any money for it. [%sig%]

I was wondering if i could get a writting scholarship. i am currently at Pearl River Community College in Pearl River County Mississipi.

I had a look at poetry.com’s website a couple of years or so ago – before I ‘heard’ it was a ‘scam’ – and I just never liked the ‘feel’ of it – unlike ABCtales. Hence that’s one of the reasons why I’ve never posted any poetry to poetry.com I do feel sort of sorry for some people who are duped by things like that – but then again, if a person’s stuff really was ‘good enough’, why would the person with the ‘good stuff’ be paying someone to print it? It would work the other way around, if anything. 'The moral is: Use yer loaf – before it goes mouldy!' ; )

Well done the people who've been honest and brave enough to admit they've been conned. If, on the other hand, you're prepared to pay these people to see your poems "in print" - well, you might have a nice (highly overpriced) volume of rubbish with your poem in prime position. However, it will NOT be there "for the public to enjoy" as no bookshop or library will ever stock this stuff and, despite poetry.com's boast of having over 5 million members (frightening thought!), nobody with an ounce of sense or taste will pay $40 for anything other than the vanity of seeing their own poem at the front. I've just read about thirty of their prize competition entries and none of them were good; a few were reasonably literate but devoid of any real poetic gift and the majority were also misspelt and ungrammatical. NONE of them would be accepted by a reputable poetry publisher - who would be under no obligation whatsoever to print whatever they're sent, and would be very selective about even good stuff. "Theatre Of The Mind" and "Tracing The Infinite" - ha, ha, I rather like those - someone deserves a prize for coming up with such pretentious titles! You can always post your poetry on here of course - it's free and you can get your friends and family to log in and read it. You won't get empty flattery or bogus awards, but you won't get scammed either.

hi dear friends. they've also published some of my poems too.I wasn't aware of what was going on till i discovered this site.i am really grateful for that.ofcourse i am too smart to buy those books and the fact that they included the advertisments about the book and the awards and that symposium made me suspicious.anyway.perhaps i'll try with some other publishers. (my name is more like a nickname-for safety reasons). the email is valid though.

Don't know about Noble House but stay away from Poetry.com - it's 100% sham. You can send them anything you like, and they'll send you back a letter saying how good it is, and that it's going to be put in a book. They make all their money from selling the book to the poets who they put in it. You could find yourself in unsavoury company.

Hi Hen, Thanks, that's what I thought. Noble House is out of London, Paris, and New York. I naively sent a poem to poetry.com months ago. I was sucked in because they advertised as a contest. Oh well, live and learn. Have a great day. Christine

I think that you might fare better with these people, Christine. They have a few competitions with very reasonable prizes and they will print your poem whether you buy the book or not. I found them OK a few years ago and I've heard nothing since to change my opinion. Can't hurt to look into it :)

I would really like to know if any of my poems have been printed in any of the following poetry books (Loveliness Unfurled: Letters from the soul, theatre of the mind, colours of the heart, or the sound of poetry CD)? W. MacKendrick or wendy MacKendrick

Do you by chance have the telephone number of Noble House Publishers in New York, New York. I understand their address is in the Empire State Building. Thanks. [%sig%]

My daughter received her copy of the Theatre of The Mind and, you guessed it, her poem is first in the book! I am not sharing this information with her but have no future plans of purchasing any further publications from Poetry.com or Noble House.

I fell into the same trap as the rest of you. My experiance with poetry.com and Noble House is that their books never get sent out when they tell you they will. It's always two months or more afterwards. My problem with Noble House is that one of the copies I received did not have my authors note (which I paid for) in it like my other copy does. I went on further investigation and found two poems that were not in my copy of the book with the author's note!

I did get a letter from Noble house they got my name from Poetry.com but I never did buy any books so I am really curious if they do publish outside marketing not just the poet themselves. What about their CD.

i have been published twice in the books of poetry.com and for the first one they send me this certificate saying that i had received the editors choice award. since it did not happen the second time i thought it was something true. nevertheless i sent a poem and a draft to purchase a poetry book from noble house publishers yet i did not receive my copy yet. is there any one who can help me to know what has happened to my 82 dollars?

But Jason, Poetry.com isn't a fake publishing company. It offers a genuine service to delusional idiots. It's hard to see what can be done to protect people from their own vanity and stupidity. I can't understand how anyone over the age of 12 could be taken in by one of their acceptance letters. But my real worry isn't poetry.com, which only leads people to part with relatively small amounts of money. My worry is that, if lots of people are falling for seemingly obvious scams like poetry.com then what other more serious scams are they going to fall for? Who are they going to elect as President, for example?

You never know with the Swedes.

Society should be pro-active; it owes its existence to it. Put the fakes out of business, once and for all, and rid decent society of their pernicious influence. A noble duty, am sure! eh? Then we can do it, let's go...a campaign worth the sweat! You post a poem on the poetry.com site but refuse to accede to their request to "publish" you, eh? Alexx? what about some folks that know you whom you could be inadvertently funneling to the devil's lair? Common guys, away with unhelpful euphemisms. Whatever happened to being our brothers/sisters' keepers? We may not be able to persuade all the folks who celebrate their misfortune at the hands of poetry.com, but we can at least reduce them to a very low margin, just enough for the Baltimore guys to worry about some mounting bills. Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye wrote: > I once found myself in the web of poetry.com, also known as > International Society of Poets (ISP) or International Library > of Poetry (ILP). I was to discover that there were a lot not > very straighforward about their operations. It should be clear > that they care more about huge profits than the advancement of > poetry or literature. Noble House, undoubtedly is an arm of > Poetry.com, because, they pass over the contact information of > their victims to Noble House to enable them contact them. > As a journalist, I did a story on the organisation and > interviewed their Educational Director, Prof Len Roberts. I > also talked to a number of intellectuals that have featured in > their events, as well as those opposed to their style of > operation. Their greatest weapon is their ability to deceive > with the sole aim of getting at your money. Follow this link to > read my > article:http://www.kwenu.com/publications/ejinkeonye/419_poetry.htm > > > Best > Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye > Nigeria

They aren't fakes, though. They say they'll put your poem in a book which you can buy for $40, they do. They write you hilarious letters about your poetry being great, you choose whether or not to believe it and if you don't smell a rat, you're somewhere between being breathtakingly naive and a complete numbskull. This kind of publishing is a legitimate business model based on exploiting people's vanity and stupidity. If you take out poetry.com then surely a whole raft of haircare and make-up manufacturers have to follow. And what about the people who make those magical slimming pills... ? That's before you even get started on new age therapists and feng shui artists.

The thing about those books is, I don't know anyone who has one, or has even SEEN one, so I guess the only people who buy them are those that are actually IN them. It kinda defeats the object really, especially if the object is to be read by people without a vested interest in them.