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#1 | |||
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Your Genial Uncle
Absolute Sage
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 14,157
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WL Poets Agency / The Poets Literary Agency
Latest scam agency in the Literary Agency Group scam.
Other scam agencies in this scam group are The New York Literary Agency The Christian Literary Agency The Children's Literary Agency Stylus Literary Agency The Screenplay Agency They were all originally ST Literary Agency. Before that, they were Sydra Techniques. This is a group out of Boca Raton, Florida (the mailing address in New York City -- 275 Madison Avenue, 4th Floor -- is part of the scam -- that's a mail drop). They're owned by Robert M. Fletcher, an adjudged scammer (securities fraud in the state of Washington.) They have never in their lives sold a literary property to a commercial publisher. This agency is an utter fraud. What will Poet's Literary Agency do for you? They'll betray, bluff, burn, cheat, chisel, con, deceive, delude, diddle, double-cross, dupe, entice, exploit, finesse, flimflam, gyp, have, hoodwink, impose on, jockey, juggle, lure, manipulate, mislead, play, rook, rope in, scam, screw, seduce, shave, snow, stick, string along, suck in, take, take in, and trick you. What they won't do is sell your work to a commercial publisher. They've been in buisness for seven years and they haven't managed yet. I'm going to look at one little thing from their website at http://www.poetsliteraryagency.com/index.html Quote:
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I'll leave you with this bit: Quote:
"Kubla Khan," by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Bobby's just proved out of his own mouth that he's not very familiar with poetry. Fletcher doesn't have the contacts, he doesn't know the people, he doesn't have the background or training, and he's located in Boca Raton, Florida. Stay away.
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Put the 800 pound gorilla on a diet. Don't link to or buy from Amazon. Last edited by James D. Macdonald; 01-30-2009 at 07:20 PM. |
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#2 |
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Mostly Harmless
AW Supermod
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Coastal Desert
Posts: 6,454
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To echo others: Oh. My. Gawd.
It figures, though. Half the newbie questions I see are "what agents handle poetry?". Gaah. Pbbbt. May camel spiders infest their bedrolls.
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ICAO ![]() --------- Achievers strive for excellence. Perfectionists drive themselves to extinction. -- A Grapple A Day I've never known any trouble that an hour's reading didn't assuage. -- Charles DeSecondat 2008: |
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#3 |
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Guest
Posts: n/a
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Darn
I got myself involved with poets Literary New York. I'm a poet and wrote my book. I can't start to describe how happy I was when I got my accept from them. Atlast someone, know what I mean? Then my mother warned me about scams, and I googled and found this site. Feeling quite down. Would gladly kick the living .... outta that guy.
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#4 |
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Preditors & Editors
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Virginia
Posts: 4,553
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Dennis, write to the New York State Attorney General with your complaints about that agency. Be sure to point out that they're part of the ST group presenting themselves falsely as being in New York.
If you know anyone else who contacted any of the ST group, urge them to also write the NY AG.
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When it comes to PA, the royalty check and the reality check arrive in the same envelope. Remember to be kind to writers who step in PA. They really don't know how bad it smells. The difference between PA and WLA? None. Both have the stench of dead and dying books emanating from their doorways.
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#5 | |
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Hagiographically Advantaged
Absolute Sage
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 956
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#6 |
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Gone
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 3,586
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Since the trolls and shills have been moving from one thread on Bobby Fletcher's companies to another, I may as well post this now:
For anyone coming in late, the Poets Literary Agency is one of a group of agencies run by Robert (Bobby) Fletcher, who was convicted of fraud*. They are: Stylus Literary Agency (formerly Sydra Techniques, formerly ST Literary Agency) http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=929 http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=529 New York Literary Agency http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=729 The Children’s Literary Agency http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8312 http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8286 The Christian Literary Agency http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13514 The Poets Literary Agency http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19104 The Screenplay Agency http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20359 The front/mask/umbrella group is The Literary Agency Group, Inc. http://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13517 *http://www.dfi.wa.gov/sd/orders/SDO-063-01.pdf http://www.dfi.wa.gov/sd/orders/SDO-021-01.pdf
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Winner of Uncle Jim's Whoo Hoo Super Writer Award and Nomad's Most Use of Vowels in a Screen Name Award as well as Maryn's Only Person on AW Whose Name Anagrams to "I, Octane," "Act I (One)" and "Nice tao" Award in addition to batgirl's Culpeper Award for Botanically Erudite Screen Name plus awatkins' AW's Most Creative Srounger [sic] of Rep Points Award not to mention azbikergirl's Arizona Most Awarded Writer Award and also Dawno's Most Interesting Signature Line Award Last edited by Aconite; 03-01-2006 at 05:17 PM. Reason: precision |
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#7 |
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One of the most important people in the world
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: near to Dogwood Missouri
Posts: 3,548
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What about Articles Distribution Services?
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check out my flickr photos : http://www.flickr.com/photos/kdnxdr/ ![]() My blog: http://steadydrip.blogspot.com/ |
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#8 | |
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Writting broad
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Vancouver Island
Posts: 1,532
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Quote:
-Barbara
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will crit for rep points "Your commas are pretty good." TNH 2010 Rejection Pledge 1/12 okay, I have a blog |
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#9 |
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Mostly Harmless
AW Supermod
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Coastal Desert
Posts: 6,454
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FYI: This agency has been named one of Writer Beware's 20 Worst Agents/Agencies.
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ICAO ![]() --------- Achievers strive for excellence. Perfectionists drive themselves to extinction. -- A Grapple A Day I've never known any trouble that an hour's reading didn't assuage. -- Charles DeSecondat 2008: |
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#10 |
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New kid, be gentle!
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 16
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Dear Message Board Citizens;
Please take a few minutes to read an important message for writers. The company has asked me to tell you, in my own words, what I do and to let you know just one aspect of what they do to help writers sell their work. I work with Sherry Fine, our director of acquisitions, and I am using her login for speed and efficiency with this post. One cavet, I am in phone sales, so if there are grammar or spelling errors in the post, please realize that you are the writer, and that's your job to write 100% correctly, not mine. See attached Message Board Citizens Rebuttal. Cordially, Rey Best |
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#11 |
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5 W's & an H
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Southern Calif.
Posts: 2,190
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Sherry, Sherry, Sherry...
You're getting awfully lazy. All you need is to cut and paste your 'rebuttal' from the other threads.
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I feel God in this Chili's.
-Pam Beesley |
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#12 |
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He's Back!
AW Supermod
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: someplace around here, anyone seen my keys?
Posts: 11,276
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Isn't it a bad idea to open attachments and won't most people avoid that? Must not really want that "rebuttal" read. Why the heck couldn't whoever just cut and paste into the reply box??
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#13 |
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What happened to my LIFE?!
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Orangeville, Ontario
Posts: 2,773
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Of course, I had to open it. I am the opposite of most people in that I get more naive as I age instead of less. The attachment stresses how upstanding the agency is and that they are trusted by publishers because they know Poets Literary will insist on the mss being critiqued and edited continuously. The attachment also announces that the agency is going into the publishing business and will publish "in partnership" with the authors. I wonder how much they're going to charge for that?
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Janet Originality is nothing by judicious imitation. The most original writers borrowed one from another. Author: Voltaire |
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#14 |
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Cautiously optimistic
AW Mod
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Heretogether
Posts: 39,184
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Sherry Fine and Rey Best?
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Love Sucks: 2 fulls, 1 in limboTiaFoM: 1 full, 1 partialExclamation point-free since 11/19/09 Total weight loss (mid-June to 1/25): 45.0 lbs Weekly weight loss (1/18-1/25): 0.0 lbs My blog: http://sagelikethespice.wordpress.com/ |
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#15 |
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Sockpuppet Hunter
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Adelaide
Posts: 195
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Who is "Ray Kyle" then?? That name appears as the "Author" of the document, which is usually the profile name for the user.
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Be Wery Wery Qwiet, I'm Hunting Sockpuppets You must be as smart as this stick -> |
to use the internet | |
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#16 |
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Super Browser
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: The backwoods of Alabama
Posts: 7,250
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Dear Message Board Citizens:My job is to constantly expand the company's relationship of buyers. As you know buyers in large companies change jobs and titles on a regular basis. I've found that about 25%, that's ¼ of the names that you can find in Writers Market, or various public sources are INCORRECT.So, my job is to live on the phone and email. I am paid to call buyers for our authors and for our database of contacts.Basically what I do is take a manuscript and a potential list of 30 buyers, and get on the phone and qualify the list. I call, I make sure that we have the right buyer's name, I check spelling and address, and most importantly, I confirm what they are 'Looking For Now'. When I find a qualified buyer with a need, I immediately communicate that to the Agents, and they aggressively go into our roster of authors to find matches for the buyer.Our materials are very well received by our buyers. Our buyers have learned that we posess one of the most qualified groups of authors in the industry. They know that all of our authors have been formally critiqued and edited. Our buyers know that they can trust what we send them. Our buyers know that we have filtered out the hobbyists from the authors that will do what it takes to succeed.Yes, we tell our authors that they have to reach industry standards.Doesn't every agency do that in one way or another? I can tell you from personal experience how frustrating it is to hear from a buyer that the work we are trying to sell isn't as good a the competing works they are looking at. So, if anything, our agency is becoming MORE demanding that our authors take their work as far as they can from a quality perspective.So, I hope that I have helped you see one aspect of an Agents job. The company spends a lot of money paying me to do nothing but find buyers and qualify them. And when I read this ongoing thread with all these bad words, written by people that have only sour grapes to say, I just wanted to let you know that "it isn’t so". Also, I can assure you that this company isn't a scam. I've known the principals for years and they do the best they can for their authors. They also pay their bills on a regular basis and they are beginning to acquire other companies in the industry.Here's a question… if a literary agency buys a publishing company so that they can publish or partner books they believe in, is that a conflict of interest?========================================I can tell you right now that the company is participating in a new business model. We're promoting a joint venture where we have put up $2500 in partnership with the author and the publisher to get the book out the door.That's unique! And that's how much we believe in what we are doing. The ad is in the PMA newsletter and has been for 4 months.A copy of the ad can be seen using this link.http://www.theliteraryagencygroup.com/pma-literaryagencyad.pdfThis really is important for you to think about. We think that we are the ONLY LITERARY AGENCY that has stepped up to put our own money behind certain authors that we represent. If you can find any other agency that has done this please let me know. This, to me, is brilliant, out of the box thinking that shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that our company is behind our authors.=======================================Furthermore, all this talk about who owns what is rubbish. This is business, and it's a lot like a Darwinian evolution. You either grow or prosper, or you go out of business and you die.If we can sell your work, we do. If we can't, then we will tell you why we think it isn't selling. Usually this means more work, and really, that's what most of the whining on these boards is about.So, in conclusion, the company is real, they've paid me a regular salary for years, and we're putting our heart and soul (and our money) behind our authors.Well, that's all the time I have for this post. Best to you and your writing career. I don't have the time to monitor this post so unfortunately; all the carping that will occur will be ignored. I have a real job to get back to.Cordially,Rey Best
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#17 |
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Super Browser
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: The backwoods of Alabama
Posts: 7,250
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Yeah, the author puts up the other $2,500 and that's all that gets ventured, and for a pod title at that.
Let me get this straight--she cold calls publishers asking who's ready for a book of poems, or is this the whole stable of agencies that are included? And yes, Sherry ole gal, there is a conflict of interest if YOU ARE hooking up with publishers that are kicking back to your agency. Tri
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ORDER GATE WALKER ON AMAZON NOW! http://www.freewebs.com/uncle1/ TWITTER: http://twitter.com/home ![]() ![]() ![]() Check out the first Chapters of seven novels on Booksie: http://www.booksie.com/Chris_Stevenson |
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#18 |
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Seen 'em come, seen 'em go
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Land o' Goshen, and packed with nougaty goodness
Posts: 2,321
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As our friends from south of the border say, "bullchit".
And that's to Bouncin' Bobby Fletcher, convicted conman, and his alter egos/sockpuppets Sherry Fine, Rey Best, Fernando Swell, Roy Okey-doke, and for all I know, Lt. Just-Ducky from M*A*S*H. Every mother's son of them is full of more banana oil, goose grease, and just plain crap than these old eyes have ever seen...save for PA's bushwah. In the words of John Cleese: "Run awayyyy!" John (who loathes tricksters) PS: the above-referenced simpletons have yet to sell a book to a commercial house; yep, "revolutionaries" all |
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#19 | |
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Your Genial Uncle
Absolute Sage
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 14,157
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Care to mention anything you've sold? Ever? To anyone? Line-by-line on the rest of your twaddle soon.
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Put the 800 pound gorilla on a diet. Don't link to or buy from Amazon. |
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#20 |
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Super Browser
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: The backwoods of Alabama
Posts: 7,250
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Fine, I promice you this, you dawg. We have over 7,000 members in this group and maybe twice or three times that number who visit and learn from these boards. I can assure of this--everyone of them will spread the news about your slipshod crappola shister game, and those inturn will spread the news.
Until, ultimately, you fold, or end up in prison for fraud. Preferably both. OUTRAGEOUS! Tri
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#21 |
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Hagiographically Advantaged
Absolute Sage
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 956
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Hiya, Bobby. Love the "Sherry Fine" getup.
I'll stand by what I said before in this thread: real agents don't handle poetry, because there's no significant market for it. This means it's literally impossible for the Poets Literary Agency to be legitimate. Even if they were making real sales -- which would make them the only Robert Fletcher scam agency that's ever sold anything -- ten or fifteen percent of the proceeds still wouldn't be enough to keep a hamster in sunflower seeds, much less pay off Sherry Fine's phone bill. The only way the Poets Literary Agency can make money is off their own clients.
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Winner of the Best Drycleaner on the Block Award. |
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#22 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Your Genial Uncle
Absolute Sage
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 14,157
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Line By Line, Part 1:
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Just to be clear, what you're supposed to be rebutting is that The Poets Literary Agency (like the rest of The Literary Agency Group) is a scam, a fake agency that has never sold anything in its life. Quote:
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You signed your post here "Rey Best," but the document's properties show it was written by "Ray Kyle." Are you sure they're your own words? Quote:
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=============================== Line By Line, Part 2: Quote:
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That ad was dated 20 February. You wrote your little "rebuttal" on the 17th of April, and posted it the same day. So you've been working with "Sherry" (where did you say she's located?) for a month and a half at most, and on that basis you're so certain this nest of scammers aren't scammers? Dude, they're scamming you, too.Research Assistant For Agent Needed - Generate Publisher Lists Quote:
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You want to know who the most qualified group of authors in the publishing industry is? Go to a bookstore and look around. Quote:
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Do you know what editors call slush that's been edited before submission? They call it "slush." Quote:
The other agencies don't accept everyone then send them on a round of paid edits and paid critiques where the money all comes back to Robert "Conman" Fletcher's pockets. Quote:
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So, what have you, or anyone, sold? Where's that money coming from? It's coming from the authors, right? It sure isn't coming from the publishers. Quote:
What "sour grapes"? You sound just like Georgina Orr/ Robert Fletcher / Sherry Fine. If you're going to make it in the literary world you have to pay attention to what words mean. Quote:
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The "best they can" doesn't seem to be very good. Quote:
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There isn't any whining on these boards except from you and Robert and Sherry and Georgina: Those mean ol' author advocates say you shouldn't pay us! Wah! They say we've never sold anything! Wah! They say we're a bunch of scammers! Wah! Wah! Wahhhhhh! Quote:
For all your heart and soul and money, why haven't you managed to sell anything? Quote:
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I'm not worried; you'll be back, or some other name will be back. You and "Sherry" and "Georgina" (and Peter and Paul) just can't stay away. Will the next round be more sockpuppets? Or some other fictitious name claiming to be an employee of Robert's? Do you know why I think you'll be back? Because the truth is hurting Robert Fletcher's business too badly to let him stay away. That's why he sends these limp defenders. Do you want to know who won't ignore the "carping"? The potential victims of The Literary Agency Group. They're getting the word and passing it on to their friends. So whether or not some amateur troll returns to read this (and you are reading it, I know you by now), the real people who need to get the word are definitely reading this post, and all the others. They're weighing truth against lies, and you, my friend, come up short. Quote:
Have you considered getting an honest job? Quote:
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Put the 800 pound gorilla on a diet. Don't link to or buy from Amazon. Last edited by James D. Macdonald; 08-17-2009 at 06:01 PM. Reason: Fixed formatting on the quotes. |
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#23 |
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Super Browser
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: The backwoods of Alabama
Posts: 7,250
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Cousin Chris bows to Uncle Jim. That was fab, James. You've left them with no legs to stand on. Which is unfortunate for us cause them lil bastids are centipedes.
Imagine, that poster/employee of the agency gets a $500.00 bonus for making a special sale, plus 17.50 per hour to jibber jabber on the phone. I wonder if any writer has received an advance payment of $500.00. Oh, I forgot...no sales. So that claim of five big ones is moot--a desperate attempt to convince us of how doggedly you go after sales. You should be going after editors at conferences, forums, expos, and writing conventions. Ever hear of the internet? I dunno, I've found publisher's info to be pretty up-to-date on the internet, and you can certainly email them to find out if something's changed. We're just one of the many writer's groups taking you down. Since the "20 Worst" list went out, all hell is breaking asunder and you're loosing your grip on author's purses/wallets. By golly, we ought to have a second list that is comprised of runners up in the "20 Worst" catagory. THANK YOU VICTORIA, ANN, JAMES, DAVE, ED, SOOTS AND ALL YOU CENTURIONS WIELDING THE SWORD. OUR TIME IS AT HAND. Tri
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ORDER GATE WALKER ON AMAZON NOW! http://www.freewebs.com/uncle1/ TWITTER: http://twitter.com/home ![]() ![]() ![]() Check out the first Chapters of seven novels on Booksie: http://www.booksie.com/Chris_Stevenson |
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#24 |
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Preditors & Editors
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Virginia
Posts: 4,553
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Conflict of interest? You better believe it.
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#25 | |
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Corzine is gone - yippee!
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: The frozen wastes of New Jersey
Posts: 724
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Brilliant, just brilliant! After a lousy commute into work, this made my day. ![]() ~Nancy
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I've updated the look and feel of my blog, but I'm still the same ol' nutty chick - check it out at: Writerly Stuff I now Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ncbeck Publish America would be a cardboard box you sit in while you say "vroom vroom!" and pretend it's a car. It took me fifteen years to discover that I had no talent for writing, but I couldn't give it up because by that time I was too famous. ~Robert Benchley |
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