Melanie Mills

You are absolutely RIGHT

You know, I will admit that as soon as this whole death scam/money scam, etc with Melanie came out, for about ten seconds I thought to myself: OMG, did she only want to represent me because I could pay an upfront fee? What if my story really WASN'T that good?

IF ANY OF YOU OUT THERE THOUGHT THAT, DO WHAT I DID AND STOP IT RIGHT NOW.

Bill you are right. Yes, I am having a hard time finding another agent, but isn't it hard to find an agent ANYWAY? I am hitting the research, and I am only querying agents whom I have researched thoroughly. I think my story is great too, and I WILL see it in print out there someday.
This whole experience sure has made us all the wiser, to be sure. (and as I said in previous posts--all the more DETERMINED!)

In Defense of Melanie Mills...

Wow, this all has been EXTREMELY eye opening, I have to say. I too, was represented by Melanie. But my experience with her was quite different. I honestly think she really TRIED with my manuscript. She sent tracking sheets and sent me scanned rejection letters.

I got a call from her last year, and she told me that Random House was interested in my YA Fiction manuscript, but that it needed some editing before I submitted the entire thing. After I was finished jumping up and down, I (at Melanie's advice) got someone else to edit it. In fact, in an email she sent me, she told me she was "very expensive" and told me it would be better to find someone else to edit. I even asked her if she could recommend an editor and she replied that she didn't do that.

Sadly, a month and a thousand dollars later, I got a rejection letter from Random House. But I will say, the rejection was extremely detailed (with examples) and they did say they liked my novel's concept.

I guess what I am trying to say is, I truly think Melanie was an AGENT for me. I think she really tried. I think there are more of me out there, who would like to jump on the "bash Melanie" bandwagon (and say "she cheated me, she cheated me!") but aren't, because they honestly feel she really tried for them. I am one of those people. If she really is a scam who faked her death, that is too bad. I too, am having an extremely hard time finding an agent interested in a YA fiction manuscript, and it's a pain in the neck, but I don't feel like the two years Melanie represented me were a waste of time. I really believe with me she honestly tried. Any more of you out there?

Melanie update

You may want to type in on yahoo search, Melanie Mills and read about 4th down list click on Melanie Mills agent sweet, compassionte, caring-then scan down to posting by Charles Shaw. August 9th.
www.cyblingcom/boards/bflymessage/890html/
Thats the newest information I saw.
I check current information and still work on queries, etc.
I just keep trying to get an agent or publisher.
Until they catch her we will never know how good or bad she was. She could have faked tracking sheets and publisher letters. Or she could have sent a few out now and then. Whatever she did I think we have a better chance without her. We are talking years for most of her clients and none that we can proved published. A bad agent isn't better than no agent. because you lose the time you had for finding a great agent. We learned now and I'm glad for this board it taught me alot and we supported each other through it.

Dead?

I've been watching this board for some time now, hoping someone else would say this first. I was on of Melanie Mill's 'clients' and actually she became somewhat friendly. She sent me, what she said, is a picture of her. Anybody else get one???

A question though. Why the death mascarade? why not simply shut down and walk away? I must be missing something....?

why death?

if she decided to 'die' instead of walk away, a number of people would feel bad and not try to contact her. if she just walked away, she would be hounded by mail, by phone, and by whatever other means to contact her regarding their contracts/books/etc.

if she's dead, that means no correspondence.

why death?

And no reimbursements.

- Victoria
Writer Beware
www.sfwa.org/beware/

Re: Dear Ol' Melanie Mills saga.

Hi Betjam,

That link isn't working. Would you mind checking it? I'd like to read it. And you're absolutely right about a bad agent being worse than no agent at all!

Re: You are absolutely RIGHT

absolute:

found the link, but it might change, it's a post board:


www.cybling.com/boards/bflymessages/971.html


if you have trouble with this one, go to www.cybling.com then click on messages boards then on writing on the fly then ctrl-f and search for Mills. you'll find the message by shaw

Re: millster

I'll just make this simple, this is what was posted there:

"

Melanie Mills" (aka. "Lisa Mills" and "Kat Baker") was a con-woman wanted in multiple states for Agency, Real Estate, and "Writers Conference" fraud. She faked her death, and remains at large.

The Ez Board charts much of this, and is verifiable. There are also a number of police stations in the Myrtle Beach South Carolina area looking into her, as well as the FBI.

Click to expand...

that's it

This is in response to several new additions here. My partner and I received tracking sheets from Melanie as well. so what. a good con will make it appear legit to keep the scam going. I have no doubt that she was knowledgeable about agenting. Again to make the con work she'd have to sound legit. She also sent my partner a picture which in turn has been scanned and sent to necessary law enforcement, as well as copies of ALL correspondence which includes contracts and emails. As for walking away from her business or faking her death....NEITHER is professional. I've said it earlier, if she was tired of the business we should have been contacted individually. If she's dead then her executor or supposed family should have handled the situation. Sheesh people, no family can be located, yet the woman claimed to have some and this Kat, Rat or whatever is no where to be found. What it comes down to is I don't care if she sent my ms off or not. My partner and were not in any sense of the word represented in a professional manner. AND I'm still saying, show be the body...I'd even be satisfied if the cops said they'd found the head stone..sound tacky? well so does taking advantage of hopes and dreams. Good gone bad, bad gone ugly..it just doesn't matter.


Best of luck to everyone. Keep your eye on the prize...
Bright

melanie mills

I have been reading this thread for quite some time now and I am very much dedicated to say that I think Melanie Mills is still alive and she is watching this thread. I too had a contract with her and was invited to the writers conference but I could not attend, if it was ever going to take place. I have seen a picture of melanie, which she emailed to me, and I will try to post it for all to see. She told me about her daughter, who was also writing a book. She also told me that she had a book deal in the works and now I wonder if that was true. Melanie, if you are reading this thread, shame on you.

Just checking

I went back to college to finish my Bach. degree and I work fulltime and take classes full time and I'm 54. Not easy so I've been busy. I think about all of you and feel a connection going through what we did. I was wondering if anyone heard anything. I'm not writing right now because I thought I would give myself the next 8 months to finish this once and for all. I'm sending out querys on my 2 and 1/2 books though anyone having any luck? I don't worry about rejection I just keep plugging. Some times I wander why? Then I think there must be a reason why I wrote and why I don't give up. So I keep on trying.

Good news...

Yes, I just signed with a new agent and she is WONDERFUL! The difference between her communication and Melanie's (for a start) is very refreshing. I've only been dealing with her for a month and I've already talked with her on the phone three times and exchanged a ton of emails, MORE SO than Melanie communicated with me in TWO YEARS. Life is definitely getting much better! Of course it was tough, I had to query about 37 agents and go through the whole yucky process for three months. But perseverance pays off--and I'm finally on my way!
One thing I can say--this time around I was a lot SMARTER. I have Melanie (Kat, Lisa, etc) to thank for that!:rollin

New agent

Great news for you! That is very encouraging to me, so thanks. I'll keep after it, too, and maybe the "Melanie" experience won't be wasted for either. Well done!

if we could locate a corpse

...this thread could finally end:rollin

Tell me about it...

But of course, this thread may never end. As long as that woman is at large, someone will have something to say about her. D*MMIT, she wasted our time before, and I guess she's still wasting it, isn't she? Maybe it's a thrill for her to read these posts. Maybe if we just ended the thread right here she'd shrivel up and die...

IT'S A THOUGHT!

Share Group

Here is another thought. I check out this site because I came to really like the ones who wrote on it and sharing their successes and failures. Melanie will get hers eventually. We're way past her now. It's the only place we know to meet other writer that share a commom problem getting published and let's face it the common bond we have for getting cheated. We could start another thread a writer's share thread. The next time I come on I will look for a Writer's share thread. I saw the writer who just found a new agent it gives me hope. Also, we don't feel so stupid when it wasn't just us that believed in a fraud.

200 replys

Or here's a thought we can see if we get to 200 replys.

Fianlly got another agent

Took me a few weeks but I finally realized success. I have a new agent and this one is a true for true real deal. Of course, he has been cracking the whip and putting my manuscripts into shape. I guess I have Melanie to thank for one thing, I knew what to look for and what not to fall for at the same moment.
The new scam I ran accross quiet often came int he form of the $95 refundable deposit. With a little research-and less whining-I found out the truth of things and avoided ithis particular pit fall. More of the Melanie sytle of only XX dollars I we almost--get the almost--guarantee that you will get published. There is no such thing as free lunch...but just cause you pay a fortune for a hamburger...it's still a hamburger. So quit trying to get it the easy way, it ain't happening.
If I might lend a bit of advice and share something I recieved from the marvelous lady, Victoria. "If it cost the writer, it's a scam." Simply put yet oh so profound.

Also, I highly recommend 'everyonewhosanyone.com' and 'Editor and Preditors' site as well. There are quiet a few other sites set up to keep us 1st timers out of harms way. Just remember this, those folks have seen the truth, and now, we have as well. Use your head and employe the lesson learned from our mistakes as guide lines for a more positive direction. We all should come out of this with flying colors if we think and research the ones who give us the nod.

Agents

I heartily recommend Preditors & Editors. But the "Everyonewhosanyone" site is a completely unscreened listing, and contains a large number of marginal and scam agents. I advise caution in using it. This is true of most online agent listings, including the one at Publishers Marketplace.

About refundable "deposits": this is just a ploy to make you feel better about handing over money upfront. Not only is the refund a safe promise (since the agents who promise it usually aren't very good at selling books), it's a complete reversal of standard practice. It's perfectly OK for an agent to recoup the expense of submitting a book. But he should do so after the sale. An agent who allows expenses to accrue, and reimburses himself out of your income, is reimbursed only if he succeeds on your behalf. An agent who asks for expense money upfront, with a promise to give it back if he makes a sale, is essentially being paid for failing.

- Victoria
Writer Beware
www.sfwa.org/beware/

Re: Agents

It's perfectly OK for an agent to recoup the expense of submitting a book.

Click to expand...

I would ideally take this a step further. It's perfectly *standard* for an agent to recoup the expense, but I'd still say it's not perfectly OK. To me, these expenses (postage, phone calls, copying) are part of the agent's responsibility. My agent does not charge me for any expenses (upfront or after the sale). My manager says he charges for postage, but he has yet to actually do so.

Also, watch for what these "expenses" include. Some not-so-above-board agents will charge you for ridiculous things like putting up a web page for you or sending out e-mails, and I know of one bogus screenwriting "manager" (whose name escapes me right now) who charges $20 per script he mails. It does NOT cost $20 to print and mail a script!

There are some excellent agents on Everyonewhosanyone, as well as some scammers. If you find someone there, be sure to research further, and be aware that most of those people did not want their e-mail addresses posted, so you are taking a gamble. But it's still a really amusing site! It reads like a parody...

managers

Managers are sub-par unregulated agents here in LA. They all charge these fees that state-regulated agents can't by law. That's the real difference. They troll. Acceptable in fishing but not in entertainment.

agents

Publishers Marketplace is also a good place to visit to check out agents and publishers, and place your work (books only) up for sale. It's a web site used by many publishers, agents, and writers. It's not very expensive to join and I think you can search listings for free. It's worth checking out, anyway. The URL is www.publishersmarketplace.com.

Re: Agents

>> I would ideally take this a step further. It's perfectly *standard* for an agent to recoup the expense, but I'd still say it's not perfectly OK.<<

Jenna, I agree with you in principle. When my agent and I first started out together (literally--I'd just written my first novel and she'd just started up her agency), she didn't charge any expenses back to me, and that continued for many years. Now, though, she does charge certain expenses (taken out of my income). I'm not crazy about the practice, but as you say, it's standard (your agent--like Andrew Wylie, who I think is the last agent who still charges a 10% commission to book authors--is pretty unusual) and writers need to be prepared.

Just as the charging back of expenses has become the norm, I think that at some point in the future it's going to become the norm for agents to ask for even more stuff from clients--providing all full ms. copies, for instance, or multiple copies of a nonfiction proposal. I also think it's possible that some sort of initial deposit to cover expenses may eventually become accepted practice, or else a bill-as-you-go arrangement--there are already a few established agents who ask for something like this (the difference between this sort of deposit or billing and the fees requested by questionable agents is that the established agent won't promise a refund: she actually wants to recoup her expenses, not sweeten a fee with bogus promises). I think it's deplorable, and not in the best interest of authors. And I hope I'm wrong in seeing it as a trend--but I am hearing about this sort of thing more and more with established agents, and I just have a feeling it's the way things are going to go.

Right now, though, it's still unusual enough that any money requested prior to a book sale is a warning sign.

>>Also, watch for what these "expenses" include.<<

Definitely! Expenses to be charged back should be enumerated in the contract, along with a ceiling amount (say, $50) beyond which your approval must be sought.

- Victoria
Writer Beware
www.sfwa.org/beware/

Agent expenses

Okay, charging back expenses has good and bad points to it. I see a few that agents should consider more seriously that might not have occurred to them just yet.

If they make it permissible by reason of them all doing it to charge for every expense an agent makes to sell a manuscript to a publisher, they run the risk of making it easier for two other groups to enter their turf.

One is already there, but is easily recognized because it consists of scammers using the fees, that legitimate agents charge, as their cover and concealment. It's more difficult pegging them as crooks when good guys also use the same procedures and policies. The situation will become worse if all agents charge such fees.

The other group is the part-time agent who works at a day job that will be encouraged to enter the market. When that happens, enough of them will eventually end up with sales that it will dilute the market for the full-time agents making it even harder for them to make a go as full-time agents.

This goes without restating all the other arguments that such expenses are routine office expenses and should be part of the agent's fixed costs of doing business and that by doing so the agent shows a willingness to take a risk based upon his judgment and ability.