Beware of the Song Sharks

In the days of the Infancy of my musical journey. I wote poems and short stories, but found an outlet for my creative itch in many old magazines i once read such as Right On, Jet, Ebony and many tabloid magazines  that were available at the time with companies soliciting the public for poems many with nice perks and promises of fame and possible royalties.  The  main purpose of t hese  advertisements were designed to reach as wide a demographic as possible, using the allure of music stardom to appeal to everyday individuals who consumed these popular publications.  I responded to one of these companies who for a fee would create a melody for your poem and send you about 5 lead sheets of the completed composition.  They would also transcribe your melody from a cassette recording into sheet music as well.  However these were vanity music companies, primarily a scam promising you the reader the possibility of royalties and songwriting contracts.  The...