Clare Mackintosh, author, on the Young Writers competition: "It's a loosely veiled scam, and I am furious about it."

Clare Mackintosh, number one Sunday Times bestselling author, had this to say about the Young Writers competition on Twitter in 2019:

Dear schools, if a 'creative writing competition' offers publication to all entries meeting the criteria, and strong-arms parents into signing away world rights and sending £15.99 for a copy of the anthology, it is not a competition, it is vanity publishing.

My daughter is over the moon. She thinks she's really special. She thinks she's a published author 'just like you, Mummy!' If I don't buy this book I will break her heart, and that is precisely how this company makes money. 

Read the comments thread here: https://twitter.com/claremackint0sh/status/1091363481926987776 

MoneySavingExpert on the Young Writers competition: "We feel conned and misled."

A thread on MoneySavingExpert in 2010 included this comment from a concerned parent:

This is a pretty common scheme, or scam in my view. It's basically vanity publishing but rather nastily is targeted at children and cashes in on the thrill of seeing your work in print. 

What's depressing is that if you Google this company, there are newspaper articles with pictures of smiling small children who are obviously thrilled that they have 'won' a national poetry competition and are being published. 

I think it's a very cynical ploy and really schools shouldn't be touching these companies with a barge pole, never mind actually helping them.

Read the comments here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2304875

DooYoo on the Young Writers competition: "Make sure you are aware that it is a vanity publishing scam and not a genuine competition"

DooYoo, a review web site, hosted a discussion about the Young Writers competition in 2009, with one contributor saying:

When my daughter went back to school to share her news with her classmates she discovered that they were all winners too. Either her school is so brilliant that it produces a huge amount of talented writers or the school has fallen for some kind of vanity publishing scam. Yup, you've guessed it, the school had been duped by this company too. 

Read more here (archive link): https://web.archive.org/web/20140223182522/http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/services-misc/young-writers/1320735/

Netmums community on the Young Writers competition: "We got conned by it two years ago when my oldest was in Year 1"

Netmums coffehouse, a chat forum for mums, discussed the Young Writers competition, with one contributor claiming:

We were gutted when the book turned up and every single poem was identical, with just one word different on each line. We felt completely ripped off and duped.

Read more here: https://www.netmums.com/coffeehouse/being-mum-794/children-4-11-years-60/854593-am-i-being-silly-re-young-writers-competiiton-opinions-pls.html

Mumsnet on the Young Writers competition: "This needs to go to local authorities trading standards"

A Mumsnet thread contributor was upset about the data collection and privacy implications of schools using Young Writers in 2015: 

BIG question on our part, our young son is adopted and has special measures in place to protect his identity. How did this publishing company get his name, age AND home address? If from the school they had better have a damn good explanation!

Read more here: https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/education/1732830-Young-Writers-scam-alternative-prizes

Babycentre on the Young Writers competition: "Once they have your email address, they won't leave you alone."

This thread, on Babycentre, shows some reactions of parents to the Young Writers competition:

We had this letter and were over the moon...until we discovered that every child in her class had also won! It's a scam to get you to buy the book, although your child's writing will be in it. 

Read more: https://community.babycentre.co.uk/post/a27168039/young_writers_the_company

Runners' World on the Young Writers competition: "I actually find the whole thing pretty distasteful"

This thread, on Runners' World, shows some parents reactions to their little ones' having "won" the competition:

It is a scam, insofar as parents are made to feel that their beloved son/daughter has acheived literary greatness.  Which parent isn't going to by five copies to hand out to family members because they are so proud that their child has been 'specially selected' for publication - right?

Read more: https://forums.runnersworld.co.uk/discussion/254947/young-writers-question-to-parents

Mumsnet on Young Writers: "a well-known scam"

Here are a selection of comments left on Mumsnet, the website by parents for parents: 

The teacher in charge also knew it was not a legit competition but didn't want to hear of it as it would make her look bad.

The scam has been going on for years. I wasn't impressed that the school gave my child's name, age and address to a third party without my permission.

I was really cross with myself for not realising it was a scam. I won't be entering any more.

Read the entire thread at: https://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/education/2983011-Young-writers-competition-money-scam-con 

Strictly Writing on Young Writers: "Vanity publishing for kids"

The Strictly Writing blog had this to say about Young Writers in 2011: 

What is distasteful in this case, however, is that the profit is the result of manipulating the emotions of small children and their parents.

Read more here: http://strictlywriting.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/vanity-publishing-for-kids.html

Winning Writers on Young Writers: "Avoid"

Winning Writers, a blog for writers interested in competitions, wrote this about Young Writers: 

These contests exercise a modest degree of selectivity, accepting 25-80% of entries. While this is better than publishing virtually all entries, we prefer more rigorous contests that reserve praise and publicity for truly outstanding work. We're concerned that excessive praise for average work may confuse writers about the meaning of excellence and weaken their drive to improve.

Read more here: https://winningwriters.com/the-best-free-literary-contests/contests-to-avoid

Complaints About on Young Writers: "The Waltons who are associated with Young Writers are far from the impoverished characters of the TV series"

The Complaints About web site reported on Young Writers in 2011: 

Young Writers is an organisation that operates supposedly with the blessing of local schools, however it may be that the schools are not aware of the past history of the directors of the company.

Read more here: http://complaints-about.com/youngwriters-bonacia-forwardpress.php

Little Stuff on Young Writers: "Their sole income stream is the parents/grandparents/family/friends of the children who have ‘won’ a place in the book"

Little Stuff, a personal blog from a parent, wrote about Young Writers in 2012 

This company, Bonacia, is gaining a raft of fabulous content for its books – and then letting the parents of those authors, the captive audience which is emotionally tied to that content, purchase copies. I’ve searched Amazon – not one of Bonacia’s Young Writer poetry anthologies (and they’ve been going for 18 years, and the books are published regionally, so that’s a LOT of anthologies) is available to buy.

Read more from the blog here: http://www.littlestuff.co.uk/2012/09/rant-alert-my-child-won-a-young-writers-competiton-and-is-going-to-be-published/

Bitter Wallet on Young Writers: "Emotional blackmail? Young Writers competition where you’ve got a good chance of winning, and forking out £16"

Bitter Wallet covered the Young Writers competition in September 2011: 

LOADS of kids appear to have won, and the ‘winning’ entries were all compiled into a book, which as we hinted at, cost £14.99 plus £2.50 postage (it’s now £15.99 in 2011) Leaving the parents of the ‘winning’ kids in a bit of an emotional bind. 

Read more at: http://www.bitterwallet.com/emotional-blackmail-young-writers-competition-where-youve-got-a-good-chance-of-winning-and-forking-out-16/49456

Olive Press on Young Writers: "Dreams of thousands of aspiring young authors have been crushed by a suspect publishing scheme"

Olive Press in Spain investigated Forward Press (former operator of Young Writers) in June 2011: 

The projects, run by disgraced UK poet Ian Walton, promise children the chance to see their ‘winning’ entries in print.

But, after taking thousands of euros from Spanish parents to see their kids’ work, the company shut down its offices in La Cala and Malaga.

Read more here: http://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2011/01/31/forward-into-europe/ and here: http://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2011/01/13/crushed-dreams/

This Is Money on Young Writers: "The 'People's Publisher' went bust and let down thousands of children..."

The Daily Mail sub-site This Is Money wrote about Young Writers in March 2011: 

Forward Press Ltd crushed the dreams of thousands of aspiring authors across Britain and Spain, most of them children.

It took their parents' money on the promise of printing their words and artwork but then went bust. More than 95% of the company's revenues came from its Young Writers literary competitions, which were held in 31,500 British secondary and primary schools and nurseries.

Read more here: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-1712176/Return-of-the-Peoples-Publisher.html

Mumsnet on Young Writers: "It's just a cash cow. Steer clear."

This Mumsnet thread is from March 2011: 

It's all done through the school but parents had no knowledge of entries being put in until we received letters saying our child had been selected. Parents are angry because a) the school gave out our names and addresses to the company without permission....and b) we are now pressurised into buying this massively over-priced book

Read more: http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/education/1163112-Really-cross-with-school-Young-Writers/AllOnOnePage

The Guardian on Young Writers: "The childrens' writing competition that looks like a money-making exercise"

This article is from The Guardian, in March 2009: 

Any proud parent would be delighted to see their child's story chosen for publication - unless, as Jill Papworth discovered, the motivation seems to be more about making money than genuine achievement...

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/money/2009/mar/21/young-writers-competition