<p>It falls into:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Unusually large number and size of cash awards (e.g., $58,000/year)</p></li>
<li><p>Contest sponsor tries hard to sell you products that incorporate your work, like anthologies (example)</p></li>
<li><p>Contest is free to enter, but 'winners' have to pay a high price for own copy of book</p></li>
<li><p>Contest turns up on "Scam Warning" pages when you search for it with Google</p></li>
<li><p>Hard to contact sponsor with questions - responses are slow or evasive</p></li>
<li><p>Low standards - not choosy about who gets published</p></li>
<li><p>Name is close to that of a prestigious contest but for a small difference</p></li>
<li><p>Hard to find the work of past winners to judge their quality for yourself</p></li>
<li><p>Small prize relative to reading fee (e.g., $5 fee for a $50 top prize)</p></li>
<li><p>Only short poems (30 lines or less) are accepted - the better to pack them into an antholog</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Conclusion: total scam.</p>