Lulu Poetry Separate from Former Scam Site

By Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 4/16/2009 9:40:00 AM

When self-publishing site Lulu announced earlier this week that it had launched a Poetry site at www.Poetry.com, some confusion ensued. That’s because before Lulu bought the domain Poetry.com, it was owned by Watermark Media, which had operated a “contest” on the site that was largely regarded by the online poetry community as a scam.

“We were aware that there would be questions from people,” said Lulu’s PR director, Gail Jordan. “We bought the domain, but we didn’t buy the business. We purchased the domain from the secured lender that foreclosed on the asset, which was previously owned by Watermark Media.” Jordan said people have been contacting Lulu with questions about its association with Poetry.com’s former incarnation and that the company is “trying to be very transparent and be very up-front” about the difference.