I found this hilarious post at Writing.org. Hilarious only because I can’t believe that people are still trying to get away with these hare-brained schemes.

Durant Imboden writes that people who enter writing contests–in this case, competitions for poets–sometimes get letters back saying hopeful things…with strings attached.

“Congrats, you’re a semi-finalist. Oh, and by the way, if you win and get published in our groovy anthology of all the winners, you have to buy the book your poetry’s going in. AND pay an extra fee to have your bio information included along with your award-winning prose.”

Are people still trying to pull this nonsense off? And are people still falling for it? Apparently, the answer is a resounding YES. At least according to Moira Allen, who says sometimes it can be tough to distinguish between the frauds and the read deal. The folks at Wind Publications have a whole page dedicated to resources on scam writing contests. Linda Alice Dewey has a lot of advice on this subject. She says to avoid free contests. Surprising, isn’t it? There’s a lot to learn when navigating the minefields of writing contests and competitions.