What is seemingly a great opportunity for teachers and students to get involved in a competition based writing experience turns out to be a bit of a scam. What the 'Australasian Publishing Group Pty Ltd'. Here's the story. Teachers have encouraged students to write short stories, these are then submitted to Write4Fun for inclusion in a writing competition. Before the prize is announced students receive a letter from the business saying that their work has been lucky enough to be chosen for inclusion in a book. The catch is you have to pre-purchase an insanely overpriced book to secure your spot in the publication. The letter is worded in such a way that the child (and the parents) believe that their work is something special. What then happen is that all the students with submitted work receives the letter. I was concerned at first that they wanted to use my child's work without payment and we were required to purchase the book to make sure she had a place in it. I read the letter carefully then cam to some addition realizations. One was that this Write4Fun business had a website that was a .net - Australian businesses are eligible for .com.au etc. and most will register a local domain like that as it shows some integrity. Another problem I had was that there was only a PO box for an address, then you notice that all the pomp advertising to the student of the book only contains mock set-up image of what the book may look like. The clincher is the $70+ price tag and the addition charges to add a dedication or photo.
Concerning is that our teachers have included this story writing project as a part of the curriculum and have required primary school students to write their personal details including home address, phone number, email address and full name on a form and have submitted this information to the Write4Fun scammers without parental consent. This company has then sent a letter directly to the children circumventing any contact with the school or the parents. Teachers have done this without checking the credentials of this business at all. Do a Google Search and on the first page you will find that this business has been going about this for almost a decade and statements have been released advising teachers to stay away from Write4Fun, but not in Australia.
Here are some places to visit:
http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32001
http://www.edgazette.govt.nz/notices.php/?id=600190
http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/prod/parlment/hansart.nsf/V3Key/LA20010920039
http://ninetypercentperspiration.blogspot.com/2007/03/warning.html
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Write4Fun - scam?
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21 comments:
hurrumph.
I entered into this. And my teacher was really pleased about it when i got a letter back. lol. I just thought of this when i went on to a similar site about scams.
*glares at write4fun*
thanks!
Lol. I had to enter that two years agoo... Hmm. It's true they do that to everyone :P.
Mehh. I couldn't be stuffed.
I'm gonna enter the competition again :o. To see if I can actually win something...
xx.
ARRRRRRRRRGH What is wrong with some people! The work they include costs 12 bucks and it takes a YEAR to get it!
Associated companies include Australasian Publishing Group Pty Ltd (change of address 28/01/09),Global Axcess Travel,CLB Marketing (Australasia) Pty Ltd, Holiday & Travel Expo,Santel Marketing,Write4Fun International Pty Ltd (registered as a company with ASIC 15/08/08).The Australasian Publishing Group Pty Ltd was deregistered Feb '05.
Companies associated with director Iain Mervyn Sprod have a history of name and address changes : bailiffs in Queensland last year were unable to serve papers on him despite companies of his occupying premises they visited at 109 Upton Street, Bundall.
NSW Dept of Fair Trading has indicated his directorships approximate 30.See Wikipedia definition of "sprod":slippery as.
Write4Fun's latest foray, into the pockets of Australia's doting parents, emailed to schools b4 midnight 30/06/09.
Politicians across Oz are aware of what's occurring.Why aren't our bodies of education alerting schools to alert parents ?
My son got into the finals of a write4fun competition and won a prize. We were happy to buy a copy of the book. Stop whining, no one forces you to buy the book if you don't want to.
Initial comments from "Bored so complaining" are true. You need to find something a little more important to complain about than this.
Congratulations, Truffle's Mum. How sweet ! Out of interest, how much was the book and how many contributors ?
ASIC website shows Australasian Publishing Group Pty Ltd, ABN 50 003 884 302, still registered,Locality of Registered Office Kellyville NSW 2155. Any mail received there was being resent to Queensland (guess where).
In search engine, try : Write4Fun + Iain Mervyn Sprod.
agreed, everytime i entered this competition, they sent me letters asking ME to pay for MY work. they need to show sum acknowledgement gees. i mean, its reasonable if there was a 10 dollar entry fee but to pay to be published? not even novel publishers do that. write4fun is completely unproffesional and i'm pretty sure i wont be submitting my artwork ever again.
I got sucked in as well. Emails and phone calls to them got no response. I went back through my credit provider, who also investigated with no response, and therefore was credited with the money back.
No sooner had that happened , then "suprise,suprise" and email from the apoligising for the dealy, not signed but from a person with word credentials of 'Lisa" from a company called Santel, who are also in the web.
May be on the up and up but after no response to my initial checks etc, STILL A CON.
Raise it with your schooll council. to stop it being repeated.
Go to ASIC website > Register of Banned & Disqualified Persons. Enter Sprod and Iain Mervyn's name appears , at last.
Try this in a search engine : Axis Telecom + George Tawaf. George founded the firm which took over from Club LaBourse Oceania Pty Ltd [CLBO]. Iain Mervyn Sprod was director of some of the firms, e.g CLB Marketing Australasia Pty Ltd,which were selling memberships in CLBO
Post Apr 19, 2009 incorrect : it was The Australasian Publishing Company Pty Ltd, ACN 000 033 054, which was deregistered in 2005.Australasian Publishing Group Pty Ltd, ABN 50 003 884 302,shown on ASIC website as still registered with office at Kellyville.Santel Marketing Pty Ltd deregistered 15/08/09.
Santel International Pty Ltd, registered 17/04/08 (sic), has testimonial on its website from CLB QLD Pty Ltd: "We have been using Santel ... for seven years ...".
Put Iain Sprod in a search engine. See entries under SPACE to see who is its Treasurer. You also might be interested in Iain's Facebook page.
Buck Reed http://www.buckreedmlm.com/buckreedmlm.html MLM coach Buck Reed
I work at Write4fun and I'm happy to answer any queries you guys have about the competitions, books, prizes, etc. The company had a change of management at the end of 2008 and is working hard at improving the competitions, publications and company image. Any suggestions you might have would be great. Keep in mind it is purely from the sale of the books that the competition is able to be administered and books produced so giving away free copies to everyone is not an option I'm sorry for that!
In answer to a few things that seems to have come up here already, not everyone who enters a competition is published. Between 8,000 and 12,000 entries are received every competition and it would be impossible to fit all of those into a book. The average number of pieces in a book is 900. There is a sophisticated judging process that the entries undergo to determine which pieces will be considered for publication.
A few people have also mentioned that what we do is 'mean' or 'ripping people off'. I struggle with this one because Write4fun offer a service, no different to the companies that come to your school and take the school photos. You are in the photo if you choose to turn up to school that day and you only have to purchase the photo if you want a copy.
The nature of competitions is that there are people who win and those who don't. That standard of entries is often high so don't be discouraged if you don't win. If you do win, then you should feel very proud.
Write4fun is also on facebook now www.facebook.com.au/Write4fun - there are competitions run on here for writing, photography and songwriting which are introduced frequently and give an online platform to show off your works.
The shame of all of this is that there really aren't enough writing opportunities to encourage students and when I see that someone reading these comments has actively not entered a competition then that's really sad. Yes, we sell books but they compare in quality to any hardcover book on the market today and filled with work from students all over Australia. Plus, you don't have to buy the book if you don't want a copy. Write4fun donates copies to the National and all the state libraries as well as a number of local and school libraries.
As Australians, it seems that we are always so quick to believe the 'negative' stuff and to tear people/companies down, be great to get some support out there as well while we work toward building a company that is a great writing source for students worldwide!
Visit the new look website at http://www.write4fun.net and decide for yourself :-)
This company is up to this old scan again through Primary Schools in the Perth Metropolitan area. We received the 'you've been shortlisted' letter today. hmmm
Yes, same SCAM here in Bunbury WA this year. Today my daughter received her 'Achievement Award' for passing the '1st round' of the competition, it was also accompanied by the typical scamming letter.
Unfortunately, my wife and I have had the unenviable task of explaining to her that we will not be purchasing the book, or anything else from this company. After a few tears and s good explanation on what scammers are, she's all good now.
Fortunately, all entered stories and poems were sent via the school's address and the only personal information given was their names, age and gender.
I shall be returning all of the scamming pamphlets to the school and will also give them a light dressing down over the issue, in order that they are not so easily led next time round.
My daughter did this in 2022. I am a former academic and familiar with vanity press publications so whilst I was enthusiastic as encouragement for her, I was interested to see how many entries were selected for publication.
With a quick count, and assuming the publisher did give the correct information about the number of entries, around 20% of the entries made it to publication.
Yes the company is a business, not a charity, and yes it does make money off running this competition, but (with the further assumption that the majority of people who received offers to be published accepted those offers) it appears to be a genuine competition with a selection process, rather than a vanity press where every single entry is published. I hope this information helps other parents trying to decide
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