Sites Every Writer Should Have Bookmarked

Writing scams abound on the internet.  Anyone with an e-mail address can claim to be a publisher, and too many writers are too eager to get published.  In reality, there is no reason to fall for most of the scams out there.  A few clicks of the mouse can save you a lot of heartache...and money.

 GOOGLE (or your favorite search engine):

Search engines are your friend.  Before entering any contest or submitting to a publisher, type the publisher's name in the search engine and see what comes up.  Chances are, you will find one or two disgruntled people.  This is normal and should be expected, as there are always those that want to complain.  But if you find dozens...or HUNDREDS of complaints, and even full websites dedicated to logging said complaints, that should raise a lot of red flags telling you to run away.

 Preditors & Editors should be your first stop to investigate any publisher or agent.  They have been cataloging complaints for years. 

Writer’s Weekly actively pursues complaints against publishers and posts the reports.  A wealth of information on the business practices of a lot of publishers.

This page links to dozens of articles regarding how to identify literary contest scams, including articles on PublishAmerica, poetry.com, and the National Library of Poetry

 Freelancewriting.com not only keep a running log of warnings, but it also has current listings of contests, open calls, and freelance work.

Writer's Beware---added because Tamara reminded me of it, and I should kick myself for forgetting to include it!