Garden & Greenhouse Magazine phony solicitation

**"* P* <r*@richpomerantz.com>**

I just received a solicitation I suspect some others here may have also received, and I am wondering how legit this guy is, if he is at all. Someone named Dr. Christopher J. Kline, who identifies himself as a "freelance garden writer and senior staff writer and contributing editor" of Gardens and Greenhouse Magazine, is inviting me to submit a 500-1000 word essay on my favorite gardening tips for a book he is compiling - just from contributions of "gardening wisdom" from "experts like you". 

Aside from the fact that he is not a GWA member, the magazine is new to me (there is a website), and I never knew anyone considered me an expert on gardening (I certainly never set myself up as that - on garden photography, sure, but not on gardening) the most suspicious part is the zinger at the end of the email:  " My publisher has asked that each author include the following statement with their submission. "I (Name) understand that this article maybe edited and published by Dr. Christopher J. Kline, and I am providing it free of copyright."

Googling this guy gets a number of hits that indicate he is a garden writer, though the only credits I find are for this same magazine, he is a master gardener in Arizona, and is also an owner of a company called Greenhouse and Garden Supply, which I would bet dollars to donuts is connected with the magazine. So my bet is that his "publisher" is also him. Not very forthright of him to phrase it like that.

One interesting link was a review this guy (Kline) wrote on Amazon for a book on how to become a millionaire using the internet....need I say more?

One more item from the "Gardens and Greenhouse"  Magazine website - they sell reprints of their articles. Nothing wrong or uncommon there, except that if the writers are not being paid to begin with, they are certainly not going to be sharing in the revenue stream from the reprints, to which they would be entitled to.

So he wants me to write for free, let him use some photos for free, and then he gets to re-use the content as a sales tool to help market his primary business. The sad part is that he will probably get plenty of "experts" to feed him and his family at no cost to him.

Someone please correct me if I am misreading this. What responses are you guys (if you got this) sending him?

Rich Pomerantz
rich@richpomerantz.com
www.richpomerantz.com
(860)355-3356
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