1. How can I tell if a poetry contest or publishing offer is a scam?
2. How do I compete in contests?
3. Does the Academy give out scholarships or grants?
4. How can I find out about book awards offered by the Academy?
5. What is meant by a "standard edition"?
6. May I submit entries to the Academy's book awards online?

Other Writing Resources

More help pages

1. How can I tell if a contest or publishing offer is a scam? Consider these four warning signs:

• The sponsor or publisher asks for money. If a contest requires a reading fee, consider (a) whether the sponsor is a for-profit or non-profit organization, and (b) whether you feel its other activities besides the contest are worth supporting. It does cost money to run a contest, so don't label all contests with fees as scams. Your entry fee may be used towards helping to keep a publicly supported arts organization healthy. A commercial sponsor of a contest, however, should only earn a profit by selling the winning book.
• There is no payment in either cash or publication copies. Many legitimate publications can't afford to pay their contributors, but at the very least they should give you a free copy of the finished product. If your work is worth publishing, it's worth paying for.
• The publisher lists only a P. O. box address. If no phone number or street address is listed, they might be are purposely obscuring their whereabouts. Why--or what--are they trying to hide from you?
• The offer is a form letter that looks hand-generated. Using handwriting-style typefaces and fake Post-it notes is a popular tactic with direct-mail solicitation from a charity or book-club, but you shouldn't find it on an acceptance letter from a publisher.

2. How do I compete in contests?

• Find out which competitions you are eligible for and when the deadlines are through resources such as Poets & Writers magazine, Grants & Awards Available to American Writers, and the annual guidebook Poet's Market.
• Request guidelines from the sponsor by sending a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) and a brief note naming the contest.
• Read the guidelines very carefeully and follow them to the letter.
• Always keep a copy of your work. Do not expect to recceived your work back unless the guidelines explicitly say work will be returned and you include an SASE of an appropriate size.

3. Does the Academy give out scholarships or grants?

We do not offer scholarships of any kind. The only grant we offer is the American Poets Fund, which provides confidential emergency assistance to individuals. Academy Chancellors, Fellows, and award winners may nominate poets for the American Poets Fund by writing to the Executive Director of the Academy. Funding is limited, and direct applications for assistance are not accepted.

4. How can I find out about book awards offered by the Academy?

Detailed guidelines and entry forms for almost all of our awards are available right here on this website. If you have read the guidelines carefully and still have a question, feel free to e-mail: awards@poets.org.

5. What is meant by a "standard edition"?

A book that is published in a standard edition contains forty or more pages of text and is printed in a run of five hundred or more copies. Anything smaller, either in length or in print-run, is ineligible for the Academy's book awards. Poets who have published books only in nonstandard editions may be eligible to enter the contest for the Walt Whitman Award.

6. May I submit entries to the Academy's book awards online?

We accept online submissions only for the Walt Whitman award. All of our other awards are for published books or book-length manuscripts.