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Desert Rose Literary Agency (Leann Murphy)

CaoPaux

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Dhewco said:
Thanks Davie and Victoria,

I was afraid of that. I can't go into my friend's rationale without betraying her confidence. Needless to say, this won't persuade her. She'll wait until the money is requested before disregarding her.

David
At which time you are allowed an "I told you so", discreetly sneezed behind your hand. ;)
 

Dhewco

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The level of stupidity displayed by DR astounds me. Her 'bosses' go to jail and/or probation and Leann says, "Hey, I want me some of that!" What is she thinking?


David
 

louisgodwin

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Time to eat a little crow...

It appears the email service I have through peoplepc is a piece of crap. Two friends have advised me they have not been receiving some of the emails that I have sent. I got a response back from Leann on an email I sent 2 days ago and she was confused at why I was so angry because it was the first she'd heard from me in awhile, and she hadn't received the "contract termination" email I had sent her a few weeks ago. She said if I wanted to term my contract I could, I just needed to send a notarized letter to that effect and she would refund my $200. She also gave me the names of the publishers to which she has queried: Bantam-Dell, Front Street, Kensington, Leisure, Limitless Dare 2 Dream, Medallion, Mira, New American Library, Regan, ROC, James Rock & Co, Sable, St. Martin, and Warner Books.
All of these publishers, except Mira, Sable & ROC have given Leann permission to submit my manuscript to them and she says she has done so.
I also got a copy of the query letter she wrote and it proves she has read at least the first half of my book, because there is stuff in the query letter which is not in my synopsis.
In lieu of this, I have erased my 2 previous DR-bashing posts. Fortunately, no one's quoted them yet. If anyone out there knows anything about any of these publishers, please let me know. I'm already aware that Bantam-Dell, Warner and St. Martin are huge. I've checked out Front Street's website, and they seem like they could be appropriate. I'm just concerned my book might be too violent for them.
 

Mac H.

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If anyone out there knows anything about any of these publishers, please let me know
C'mon - you can't expect everyone else to do your research.

If you want to know about these publishers, just google the AbsoluteWrite forums.

And the first one I try, shows that she's submitted your book to a publisher of lesbian erotica who closed their doors back in May !

And that lesbian erotica publisher was known as a big 'AVOID AT ALL COSTS' publisher!

Wow. She's certainly showing that she's been working hard for you.

Mac
(PS: I have nothing against Lesbian Erotica publishers. I'm just assuming that since Front Street (a YA/Children's publisher) is a good match for you, that possibly she may not be behaving intelligently by submitting it to them.)
(PPS: If she really did submit it, and didn't just give you a list of publishers)
(PPPS: Assuming that she is lying (a likely scenario for someone with a fraud conviction) it might be worth submitting it to Front Street yourself. They take e-submissions, so it is just a mouse-click away)
 
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victoriastrauss

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louisgodwin said:
She said if I wanted to term my contract I could, I just needed to send a notarized letter to that effect and she would refund my $200.
Notarized? Totally unnecessary. All you need to do is write the letter and send it registered.

She also gave me the names of the publishers to which she has queried: Bantam-Dell
Bantam-Dell is a division of Random House. It includes no less than thirteen different imprints, which publish everything from science fiction/fantasy to mystery to women's fiction to nonfiction. Your book is likely to be appropriate for only one or two or three of these imprints. A competent agent will target the most appropriate imprint, not address a submission to the division in hopes (presumably) that someone will allocate it properly.
Front Street
Is your book for children or young adults? If not, Front Street (which publishes only children's and YA) isn't an appropriate publisher.
Kensington, Leisure
Is your book horror? If not, Leisure (which publishes horror) isn't appropriate.
Limitless Dare 2 Dream
Apart from the fact that this publisher is out of business, it never paid advances. Competent literary agents don't approach non-advance-paying publishers
Medallion, Mira
Is your book women's fiction, romance, or romantic suspense? If not, Mira (which specializes in women's fiction) isn't appropriate.
New American Library, Regan, ROC
Roc (not ROC) publishes science fiction and fantasy. Is your book science fiction or fantasy? Also, Roc is an imprint of New American Library, which makes this a duplication.
James Rock & Co, Sable
Both Sable and James Rock & Co look to me like non-advance paying micro-publishers--again, no reason for a (competent) literary agent to approach them.

So if you've written a young adult horror romance fantasy novel, and you've decided that you don't care about advances or distribution, this would be an appropriate submission list. If your book is just one--or even none--of these genres, and if you want to be paid for your writing, not to mention reach a sizeable audience of readers, this submission list is...well, not so great.

This is classic incompetent-agent technique--send out a query letter (probably addressed to the wrong person or, just as bad, to "Dear Editor") to a haphazard list of poorly researched publishers. Again assuming the submissions went out, you probably won't even get a form response on many of them.

- Victoria
 

louisgodwin

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My book is a dramatic supernatural action/horror novel with a young adult hero. The books spans the protagonist's life from about age 11 to 25. There is a strong love story within the novel, but its not the centerpiece of the plot. I definitely wouldn't classify it as women's fiction or romance.
 

thomas

desert rose literary agency

a word of warning regarding this agency. i signed a contract 12/08/04 with this agency.the agent of record is lean murphy. part of the contract reads,"we will keep you in the loop by sending you regular e-mails or letters telling you what steps we have taken and the responses we have received." this did not happen. the only time i received an e-mail was in response to my e-mail after six months of no contact from them. i paid $300.00 for this non-service
sincerely
tom renz
[email protected]
 

thomas

desert rose literary agency

i contacted the agency, specifically agent Lean M, regarding her no contact with me during the one year i was under contract with her. she responded with this cryptic e-mail stating that there was someone posing as her and that all correspondence with clients was on hold. Given her jaded past-as reported in this chat room- i believe i have wasted my time and money with the desert rose literary and hope others will not fall prey to the same fate.
peace,
tom
 

DaveKuzminski

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I recommend you report her to Detective Elkins. His contact information should be elsewhere in this thread.
 

victoriastrauss

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thomas said:
i contacted the agency, specifically agent Lean M, regarding her no contact with me during the one year i was under contract with her. she responded with this cryptic e-mail stating that there was someone posing as her and that all correspondence with clients was on hold.
That's one to add to the litany of wacky "I can't sell your book because..." excuses.

- Victoria
 

Kasey Mackenzie

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Yeah, because she couldn't call or email her clients and give them a passcode so that they would know it was really her...Can we say what a stupid excuse? Scammers these days...can't come up with anything halfway plausible!
 

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AC Crispin said:
Keep in mind that my cat is fully as qualified to be a literary agent as Leann Murphy. She has no legit publishing or agenting background, doesn't know a soul in the NY publishing world, and her query letters are inept. She charges upfront fees and accepts any drivel sent her way. -Ann C. Crispin
Writer Beware
www.writerbeware.com

So.. your cat does all that?? Does she have room on her roster? The cat, I mean :D
 

victoriastrauss

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MartyKay said:
So.. your cat does all that?? Does she have room on her roster? The cat, I mean :D
Ann's cat is fully booked. But I know a dog named Lucy who might have space on her list.

- Victoria

P.S. In case anyone is in doubt, this is a SATIRE. A JOKE. Not real. Get it? I wish I didn't even have to point this out, but since Lucy Literary actually gets submissions, I feel I ought to mention it.
 

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So Lucy isn't taking on any clients then?

By her photo I can tell she's very honest and was impressed with her run down of her qualifications.

My two cats were wondering.....

Why did she change her mind?:e2cat::e2cat:
 
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bloemmarc

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I am a current client from Desert Rose Literary agency, and have made no progress with them in a years time.


Josie said:
So Lucy isn't taking on any clients then?

By her photo I can tell she's very honest and was impressed with her run down of her qualifications.

My two cats were wondering.....

Why did she change her mind?:e2cat::e2cat:
 

bloemmarc

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In about a years time.

bloemmarc said:
I am a current client from Desert Rose Literary agency, and have made no progress with them in a years time.
 

womensfiction

Desert Rose

I just ended a contract with this agency ($300 later). I have been tracking them ever since I figured out what they were up to... I recently e-mailed Leann asking if she was refunding fees for services never rendered and received a short reply. Basically, she said that "they" are out to get her and all other independent agents. She also mentioned that some have filed suit. Unbelievable. She had the nerve to tell me that she did provide services (on a novel that was never ready to publish -any real agent would have declined it immediately). I guess we live and learn.
 

louisgodwin

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My contract with Desert Rose expired on 06-29-06, and I have decided to contact the publishers Leann claims to have submitted my novel to. On 04-24-06, Leann advised me that Dorchester(Leisure), Medallion, St. Martin's, Regan and Warner still have my manuscript. On the night of 06-29-06, I sent an email to the editorial staff at Dorchester and another one to Kerry Estevez, Acquisitions Editor at Medallion. I was pleasantly surprised when Ms. Estevez responded the very next day. Here is what she said....

"No manuscripts were accepted from the Desert Rose Agency because they were all submitted incorrectly, therefore, we do not have your manuscript."

Hmm, so Medallion is still considering my book, according to Leann, but Medallion doesn't accept anything from Leann's agency?

I can't wait to hear what the other pubs have to say. :D
 

louisgodwin

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I received a response from Dorchester today. Editorial assistant, Linda Sawicki, said, "At this time, I cannot find any record of having received your submission. If there is any change in this status, I’ll be sure to let you know."

*sigh*

Big shocker.
 

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louisgodwin said:
"No manuscripts were accepted from the Desert Rose Agency because they were all submitted incorrectly, therefore, we do not have your manuscript."

Hmm, so Medallion is still considering my book, according to Leann, but Medallion doesn't accept anything from Leann's agency?
This is par for the course for scam or incompetent agents--their submissions are so often inappropriate, wrongly formatted, or otherwise unprofessional that editors simply ignore them.

Believe it or not, this is actually the silver lining of hooking up with a scammer or incompetent. A marginal agent may be able to get editors to give their submissions a glance, but doesn't have the clout to command real, serious attention. Since you can't usually resubmit a ms. to an imprint that has rejected it, a marginal agent squanders submissions opportunities that a good agent could exploit. Most scam or incompetent agents, on the other hand, can't even get editors to look at their submissions. This means that when you're done with them, you can start fresh, as if you'd never been agented at all.

- Victoria