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Writer Beware's 20 Worst Agents

CaoPaux

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For shady agencies/publishers which adopt names similar to legit companies to snag the unwary.

Trident Media Group is legit. Trident Media, Inc. is not. Hence the need to make sure you have the full and accurate name of the company you are researching.
 

sammyig

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Ha ha, I just got queried by Michele Glance Rooney. You got it, she saw my information on another site and sent me an e-mail- which was interestingly dated to september of 2005!
 

poonchie

Michele Glance Rooney e-mailed me, too. Her e-mail to me was dated January 13. 2005. What's up with that.

By the way...I'm new here, too...so howdy.
 

nygirl

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I think this list, while useful to avoid scammers, is a bit of a misnomer. These are not bad agents. These are scammers, posing as agents. It would be interesting (and useful) to see on this board a list of bad agents: people who are perfectly legitimate but bad. They can be just as harmful to an author as a scammer.
 

James D. Macdonald

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You're asking for lists of gormless agents and not-very-helpful agents. They come, they go, they're gormless, or not very helpful, but the worst they'll do is not sell your book. They won't vacuum out your savings account too.

Other than observing that you'll be able to tell them by their track records, what differentiates them from the scammers is that they won't openly lie to you and aren't trying to deceive you.

Among agents, even among the real ones, the perfect agent for you may be a disasterous agent for me. Personalities and styles matter when you get to that level.

Here are the two rules:

1) Never pay money up front.
2) A useful agent has sold books you've heard of.
 
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James D. Macdonald

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I still think that one of the funniest things I've ever heard was Bauer's podcast of herself and a couple of other dodgy players discussing What's Wrong with Publishing and concluding that what's wrong with publishing is that writers trade notes on who are the dodgy players.
 

nygirl

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James D. Macdonald said:
1) Never pay money up front.

Exactly. Scammers are very easy to avoid. Legitimate but bad agents (rude, unprofessional, etc.) on the other hand, are much harder to detect.
 

James D. Macdonald

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One man's rude is another man's forthright. You're up in very subjective land there. Talk with the agents. That's where you'll make your decisions.

Checking track-record will cut off the amateurs and the wannabees.
 

jonereb

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I've been contacted by two on the list.

I'm glad I did my research prior to responding. Their letters were encouraging, even flattering. Had I not known better, I may have been tempted to write a check. I'm also glad I found this site. Now I don't feel like I'm going it alone.
 

LloydBrown

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Good luck to everybody named. I know you're in the right and you guys have ample documentation, but anything can happen in a courtroom. I can't imagine what I can do, but you have my help if you need it.
 

DaveKuzminski

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Damn, why couldn't it be PA so I could open all my files on them to the court?

Okay, Babs, you want a piece? Give it your best shot.

And no, I haven't been officially notified or anything yet, so I'm going to continue my work. In fact, I intend to continue because it would be wrong for any court to permit such scurrilous actions to stop legitimate activities.
 

CaoPaux

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:popcorn:

Although I expect this event will be worthy of full catering. *confirms pizza/Chinese delivery numbers properly listed on speed dial*
 

Duncan J Macdonald

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Would something like this force Miss Snark to publicly reveal her identity?
I'm still snickering over the thought of stuffing a supoena into the floppy-slot and sending it to [email protected].

I wonder if there is any extant precedent in calling an internet persona to the witness stand -- do they place a PC with monitor on the stand and type in questions?
 

DeadlyAccurate

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Perez Hilton is the Internet persona of a man who runs a site mocking celebrities. He's being sued by several tabloids for posting their copyrighted photos on his site. I'm not sure how hidden his identity was before the lawsuit, though.
 

Kate Thornton

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I found this on my LJ friends page this morning. I know the people involved can't comment, but... I can't believe this is for real. My brain refuses to wrap itself around the sheer stupidity.

http://p-n-elrod.livejournal.com/23100.html

However, the Trial of Agent B gave me a wonderful morning laugh.

The Trial of Agent B is a hoot! Too Funny!!!! Worth the download time!
 

DaveKuzminski

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Babs! I'm disappointed. I just visited the SFWA site and found their response about the suit was dated 21 Mar 07. They've had a copy of the suit since then and I'm just learning about it second-hand! Where's my papers?

Thanks, James, but I'm going to let them do their own research. :)
 
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mdin

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Getting Miss Snark's identity is going to be a chore, I suspect. First they'll have to get Google (owners of Blogspot) to hand over her IP address and then they'll have go after her ISP to get her identity. That's more steps than the RIAA have to take to get the identity of music downloaders, and they run into problems with it all the time.
 

Gillhoughly

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Heh--the Jersey Dribble has yet again shot herself in the foot with this latest stunt.

Yesterday her "agency" was in the second listing spot on the Google page for her name.

Today it's dropped to fourth place, with long-standing warnings against her on top.

Babs--the more you fuss, the worse it backfires.

Be assured we are NOT going away.

We're here for good, we will not be silenced, and you don't have the resources to sue EVERYONE.

Do you really want to spend the REST OF YOUR LIFE DEALING WITH THIS ****?

That's a lot of wasted time.

Wouldn't it be better to just flip us off and WALK AWAY?

You'll be much, much happier because then we'll all leave you alone.

Think about it, kiddo.
 

Peggy

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Getting Miss Snark's identity is going to be a chore, I suspect. First they'll have to get Google (owners of Blogspot) to hand over her IP address and then they'll have go after her ISP to get her identity. That's more steps than the RIAA have to take to get the identity of music downloaders, and they run into problems with it all the time.
Not to mention that there was a recent ruling in New Jersey (where BB filed the case) supporting online anonymity.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,245902,00.html?sPage=fnc.technology/cybersecurity