Gateway 2 Souls - The National Library Of Poetry Warning! - Spirituality - http://maxpages.com/gateway2souls/NLP_Contest

WARNING/DISCLAIMER: I am Excercising my 5th Ammendment rights! All Of the following is my expressed opinion and may or may not be taken at face Value. I have support for these "ideas", and may you be notified that the following are not accusations against the company, rather that they are expressed opinion of the author, Valerie Desilets, who has been published by the company in question, The National Library Of Poetry. Thank you for your understanding and your cooperation.

UPDATE! 10/15/02

I am beginning to recieve much documentation from those who have been scammed. I am now looking for ways to alert people further as i have watched many poets become victim. It is now my recommendation to continue to send me notifications, testimonies as well as any letters or documents sent to you by The National Library of Poetry. Further it is important to notify 20/20 as they have investigated this company once before and are familiar with them. If enough people email them then perhaps 20/20 will reopen an investigation and report on their findings. Do your part over and over again. Eventually with enough emails from viewers we will perhaps see it dones again. 20/20 with reach a broad spectrum of people and hopefully will protect other poets from falling victim as you have. My research continues and I have not forgotten all of you.!!

To email 20/20 go to http://abcnews.go.com/sections/2020/index.html and on the lower right of the page there is an option to email. use this opportunity to do your part. Thank you to all who have already doen this. thank you again to all who have helped me in this process, and our victims thank you as well.

UPDATE! 7/6/01

Did we WIN!!! Finally our work may have paid off!! Of course this doesn't mean stop working, the battle is only partially over! They are still up to their old ways!
I am thrilled to announce the NLP is no longer displaying poems for public viewing... it looks like their merchandise sales are offline too. Within a search done on 5/29/01 Monday, Memorial Day.. I searched for my name again and got a different message stating the following message:

"'The Loss Of A Friend'
Valerie Desilets

Please note that this poem has been archived. If you are the author, you may release this poem for viewing by anyone who visits this site, simply by providing your email below and clicking on "Submit". After release, your poem will be published on the Internet by poetry.com as your original work and under your copyright. The community of poets who use this forum for self-expression will be able to view and share your poem, always as your original work and under your copyright in the various ways described on this website." -Poetry.com ( The National Library of Poetry )

The NO More NLP Campaign

I am presenting you with a cause and displaying information that has been gathered about a site that may or may not be familiar to you..The National Library Of Poetry. As A poet I have been appauled by their "fraudulent" mannerisms. I perhaps should explain, many are unaware that they are prey to them. They are predators that seem to seek ammature and published poets alike...but they are very good and seem to slide within the loopholes of the law.

I guess it is ok to tell everyone that they are a semifinalist in contests, and then post poets poems on the internet to advertise merchandise that can be sold with the poems on them with no compensation for the writer, other than a letter stating, "you are a semifinalist". Personally I had no idea about what was really happening and was nieve when I first responded to one of their contests and then with encouragement continued to send four more. All had made it to semi finalist positions within their contest, all were chosen for an "exclusive offer" where I could purchase an anthology for approx. $60.00, if I wanted to see my poem in print, all were chosen to be a part of an audio tape, which I had to buy too. I myself was even personally invited to a ceremony, where I could "see my name in lights". Thats how good my poetry was....not. It became evident...I had to do my research..It seems others have to. I am writing only in concern and to warn people. However, to clear any slander charges, you must know these are the facts...I have proof and am collecting it as we speak. Also know that anything I have said is a personal opinion and my personal reactions to their way of conducting business. My claims are going to everyone I see with a poetry page, and a link to the National Library Of Poetry. They also will reach as far as companies who support them.

List Of Supporting Links

Below are links supporting my warnings to you. These pages include articles with further testimonies and warnings to you as a poet. Links are also listed with lawyers, organizations and individuals that are collecting materials just like I am. If you would like to help in this effort, please let me know. I will send you information on what you can do. I do this because my heart is always with the authors...I have seen many discouraged because of The national Library Of Poetry and am doing everything I can to stop them.

The National Library Of Poetry Warning
http://windpub.org/literary.scams/

Silver Poetry Cafe
http://members.aol.com/silverpoetrycafe/poetryscams.htm

Writing World
http://www.writing-world.com/links/warnings.html

Literature Awards
http://www.literature-awards.com/bookawards/poetry_contests.htm

The Poet's Lounge
http://www.thepoetslounge.com/infoline.htm

Science fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Inc.
http://www.sfwa.org/Beware/general.html

Absolute Write
http://www.absolutewrite.com/specialty_writing/poetry_scams.htm

Creative Writes 14
http://www.kporterfield.com/writes/Creative_Writes_14.html

The League of Canadian Poets
http://www.poets.ca/pshstore/sidebar/sidewarninglinks.htm

Contests and Vanity Anthologies
http://www.sfwa.org/Beware/contests.html

More links will be added as updates and research continue.
Thank you for your support.

If you have links to sites like these with warnings about the NLP please email me the link. It will be added asap.

How To Help

If you would like to support me in my attempts to warn people about the NLP, you may do the following.

1. It is recommended you visit the links above. You will obtain more information about the National Library Of Poetry Contests and those with a cause like mine. There will be links there where you can take action. We are all working together in this and have at least seen some progress in our efforts. This should be your first step.

2. Second, visit The National Library Of Poetry and see them yourself. This is a good idea too, but do not get exited about sending a poem until you have been informed of your full rights as well as theirs, in fact if you are sending them a poem, try a bogus one that you know is absolutely a horrid piece of writing. Then when you recieve the letter saying you were published, you will understand this first hand and have documentation to send to us.

3. If you have sent a poem already and have recieved any of the follwing type of letters please copy them and send them to the address listed below via postal mail or send via electronic mail. My recommendation is postal mail. I am collecting them for further research and a collective proof.
a. "you are a semi finalist!" -letter to tell you you are a semifinalist in their contest
b. "See your name in lights" -invitation to an award ceremony
c. "Hear you poem on an audio tape" -invitation to buy an audio tape with your poem on it.
d. "Exclusive offer at editor prices." -offer to buy an anthology for approx. $60.00

These are only some samples of what you may have recieved. There may be other letters as well. I would like to have copies of them all to compare. Make sure that if you are sending electronic mail that you write within the text a brief testimonial which I may use here as well as an explanation that what is attached is the documentation. Make sure that you save the docs as .txt or a .doc. If these options are not available covert the text within your document to MsWord or MsWorks. If you can please mail your documentation copies to our postal address:

Editor: Valerie Desilets
Gateway 2 Souls
826 Baldhill Road
Wells, ME 04090

If you send by postal mail, which might be easier, it will take approx 3-5 days to get to me. If you want me to send you any research information not available to be sent over electronic mail you will have to include a Self Adressed Stamped Envelope...I will then send you anything I have found on The National Library of Poetry.

4. For all of you who are not published by them, but still wish to help us warn others please send people a link to this website with a referral to the contest warning. http://www.maxpages.com/gateway2souls

5. You may also continue research on your own and send me any links you have found so I may post them here. You may even want to check back to see what links you may not have discovered yet. You may send any new links to soulsanction@aol.com

6. If you see companies with links to the NLP or supporting the NLP, you may want to discretely send them a link which indicates a warning about the NLP. Explaining to them that supporting them may possibly give their company a bad reputation as well.

7. If you see any poets with links to the NLP you may want to do the same...get them involoved and warn them... do not be upset if they do not understand. Unfortunately many poets are discouraged when they hear of the NLP.. for any poem is accepted, and they are led to believe their poetry is good... just because nearly if not all poems are excepted does not necessarily mean that it is the poets who are sending bad poetry, but some bad poetry has been sent on purpose and was still accepted.. Many poets are exited to hear their poetry is good, so when they hear everyone is accepted and it had nothing to do with the quality of their poem, some become hostile, and even tramatized.

8. If you have any other ideas please email me at soulsanction@aol.com and I will post them as well.

9. I am now accepting testimonials so I amy post them. If you have been published by, or have noticed, or even recieved letter from the National Library of Poetry I would like to Post your testimonial here! Once the testimonials are compiled they will be posted on this page. To Email Me about a testimonial please put (TESTIMONIAL NLP) in the subject line, and place your testimonial verbatum as you wish it displayed in quotes.. please also leave me you email address within the quotes so if people have any questions they may contact you. Thank you for your support!

TESTIMONIALS

The following is the beginning of a line of testimonials i have recieved. Please be patient as I gather more. Please if you have a testimonial, let me know I have permission or not to post. Thank you. -soulsanction

"My daughter has been, in my opinion, a victim of a scam by Poetry.com. I was suspicious from the beginning, but I felt that $40 for a book with her poem in it wasn't so bad, as she would be able to keep it for years. Next came the plaque, for another $40.......which was made with incredibly poor quality.Then, the "CD Anthology"...... for $70. I was going to draw the line there, but she was so excited about having her poem read and recorded to disc. The quality of the disc set was an even bigger disappointment......poor sound quality, a buzzing noise heard throughout the CD set, and overall cheap quality. I estimate there is maybe $3 in materials plus another 75 cents to ship it to her. But still.....she was happy and proud of herself, so that's all that mattered.
But today, she got another letter from them saying her poem was going to be read at a convention in Hollywood,CA, by "professional poetry reader Alan Rose".....and because she couldn't be present, she was to pay $169 to cover "the costs of the time and effort required to present your poem before the convention attendees both aloud and in writing.
So that's when I had to draw the line! I researched this "organization," and your webpage was extremely helpful and informative.I felt horrible telling my daughter that she has been the victim of a scam, as she put her heart into her poetry. I felt all along it wa a bit of a scam, but had no idea that it would become so expensive. But I appreciate you taking the time to make the webpage informing other victims or potential victims....it confirmed what I already thought.
If you still have interest in this company's practices, you have my permission to use my words and/or the attached file - which is a copy of the letter sent to my daughter from them - in any way you see fit. I want to advise you though that I did alter my daughter's name and address, as I didn't want to distribute it over the internet. However, I would be more than glad to send an unaltered copy at a later date.

Thank you....
Craig"

Thank you for your support.
Love always
Valerie Desilets

p.s. I am fighting in the largest cause I have ever fought in and it is the only one I have felt this close to. It is a personal war you could say. I will not stop and you have my support. No company is larger than those who have the heart of a poet.. Do all you can as I will. Poetry is too beautiful to be tangled in the web of wealth and the poet is too holy to be desecrated.

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Gateway 2 Souls
826 Baldhill Road
Wells	ME	04090
USA
valeriedesilets@hotmail.com

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Page Updated Sun Feb 11, 2007 1:19pm EST