Extremely proud of my daughter.

jess1974

My son 'won' this too, but so did every other member of his class, in fact the only kids who did'nt get the letter were the ones of sick that day, needless to say we did'nt buy it.....

mtc95

We got caught by this from both my daughters too and we ended up buying the books at the rip-off price. We were a bit annoyed with the school for getting parents into this though. Even if they don't get anything out of it, they must be aware by now of how it works.

tattycath

My DDs wrote a piece each for that. One got published and one didn't. We did buy the book and it's now in her memory box-she's still proud of it and she's all grown up now.

3v3

adea wrote: »

....
Knowing all this, I am still as proud of my daughter as I was in the first place

And rightly so!! :T

meritaten

3v3 wrote: »

And rightly so!! :T

totally agree here! why not buy one copy to give to DD and do a nice printout on the computer to give to family and friends?
Well done to your DD!

PS. there are not many people who can claim to be a published author! will look good on her CV - worth the price of the book!

Lotus-eater

meritaten wrote: »

totally agree here! why not buy one copy to give to DD and do a nice printout on the computer to give to family and friends?
Well done to your DD!

PS. there are not many people who can claim to be a published author! will look good on her CV - worth the price of the book!

Apart from everybody in her class of course.

!!!!!!, it's a well known scam.

We had the same thing last year with DD aged 9. She was beside herself and very unhappy when we were the only ones to not buy the book.

Everyone in her class "won", let me repeat that, EVERYONE IN HER CLASS "WON".
I complained to the head and it has since been removed from the school. No more entries from that school.
He said alot of stuff about it making pupils feel good about themselves, but it is in entirety rubbish and if you buy the book, you are participating in the scam. Not only participating, but encouraging.

Tish_P

There are self-publishing sites like lulu.com that allow you to print professional-looking books fairly cheaply. Why not encourage your daughter (maybe with a few friends?) to write a whole book of poems and short stories and get a copy made of that?

That would encourage her, give you more of her own writing to look back on, and be a better keepsake, without lining the pockets of these manipulative scamsters.

aliasojo

Lotus-eater wrote: »

He said alot of stuff about it making pupils feel good about themselves, but it is in entirety rubbish and if you buy the book, you are participating in the scam. Not only participating, but encouraging.

I agree this is less about the kids and much much more about lining the pockets of the genius that came up with the idea. I wish I'd thought of it first, it's a brilliant money maker.

However when I bought the version with son's work in it I felt I was paying for £15 worth of 'encouragement' more than anything else.

I wanted to try to harness the feeling he got when he saw his work in print in the hope it might make him aim higher. It backfired mind, he gave up on the academic side of things and got a job in the oil related industry where poetry is most definitely not required. :rotfl:

pulliptears

Lotus-eater wrote: »

Apart from everybody in her class of course.

!!!!!!, it's a well known scam.

We had the same thing last year with DD aged 9. She was beside herself and very unhappy when we were the only ones to not buy the book.

Everyone in her class "won", let me repeat that, EVERYONE IN HER CLASS "WON".
I complained to the head and it has since been removed from the school. No more entries from that school.
He said alot of stuff about it making pupils feel good about themselves, but it is in entirety rubbish and if you buy the book, you are participating in the scam. Not only participating, but encouraging.

I agree. I'd go so far as to say putting it on her cv would do more harm than good as well. Can you see the interview where she is asked about it and has to reply about a book of Poetry when she was a child. If the interviewer has come across this before (very likely) what will they think? Maybe that they are so desperate to put something in the cv they chose a vanity published book from their childhood?
Seems a risk to me.

Tish_P

I think this situation is best dealt with as a lesson for your daughter on how there are unscrupulous people out there who prey on the hopes of others for profit. If she likes to write, there are far better ways to help her develop her talents and show her how proud you are:

Take the cash you would have spent on the book and buy her notebooks and stationery.
Find desk space for her somewhere quiet.
Set aside time for her to have sole use of the computer.
Help her set up a blog.
Make sure she's always got something to read.
Read what she writes and give her constructive feedback.
Frame things she writes.
Ask her to compose rhymes when you write birthday cards.
Get her to write stories, cartoons, cookbooks or whatever as presents for relatives.
Praise her writing to others when she can hear you.

All of these are more personal and helpful, and most of them cost less, than forking out for the scammers' compilation of work from their latest 500 victims.