Fenton Entertainment Group

First off, welcome to the AW boards!

I checked Preditors and Editors - Robert Fenton ("affiliated with the Fenton Entertainment Group") charges a $350 reading fee.

Stay away.

~Nancy

Yup. $350 reading fee, according to Writer Beware's most recent documentation. And no recent sales that I can discover.

- Victoria

wrighter said:

Thanks for info confirming what I already suspected. I'm currently signed with Fenton in Michigan, paying a large monthly fee for representation. After a few months of rejection letters from legit publishers, I received the "good news" that I'd been accepted by a publisher....Publish America, which as everyone knows is a print-on-demand publisher. Any advice on getting out of this contract?

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You really need to consult a lawyer. Make sure you keep a copy of all contracts and emails from him and from you. Keep also any emails from others such as PA to show as evidence should you have to take him to court.

Having said that first, my reaction would be to stop paying, tell the "agent" there will be no more payments, and that he no longer represents my work. If he threatened me with going to court, I'd dare him to do so and point out to him that I would show the court that he tried to sign me up with a scam publisher. I'd also let him know that I would counter-sue to recover what was paid to him for representation that he failed to provide. My guess is that he'd cross you off his list and concentrate on his other victims.

I take it you're talking about the Fenton contract - hopefully he doesn't require you to sign PA's, too! That one is unsigned right now, right?

I have to wonder... would he also insist on his 15 cent cut of the advance on deals like that?

wrighter said:

Any advice on getting out of this contract?

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First, check the contract to see if there's a termination clause. If so, invoke it per the requirements in the contract.

If there's no termination clause, send a registered letter (return receipt requested) to Mr. Fenton telling him that you're terminating the contract as of the date of the letter (or if you want to be more conciliatory, two weeks from the date of the letter), and instructing him to immediately cease all efforts on your behalf, including but not limited to submitting to publishers. Whether or not you get a response, this should be sufficient.

It's arguable that the contract was never valid anyway, because it was presented to you under false pretenses (i.e., that Mr. Fenton has the ability to sell your book to a legitimate publisher), but to be safe, you should take whichever of the actions above are appropriate for you.

I have documentation that Mr. Fenton charges a reading fee, but I only have anecdotal reports of monthly fees. I'd love to get documentation of this. Please e-mail me at [email protected].

- Victoria

It's PO Box 1216, Amherst MA 01004. Thanks.

- Victoria

Robert L. Fenton specializes in nonfiction, fiction, women's fiction, historical romances, action & suspense; limited poetry, children's photographic books. He can handle film & scripts. No unsolicited manuscripts - preliminary letter or telephone call first. Submit outline and sample chapters. Reading fee ($350). An additional retainer along with a percentage may be charged for representation. Please contact us for further Information

It's $350 PLUS an additional retainer WITH a percentage. The guys got some really boated credits and claims.

What a ripoff.

Tri

Update since my last post: I now have documentation of truly enormous "retainers" charged by Fenton--up to $15,000 per year (!) This guy has Cris Robins beat!

Still no sales...

- Victoria

I found 4 hits on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?u...ooks&field-keywords="Robert+L+Fenton"&x=0&y=0
:-O
So the word out on Mr.Robert L Fenton is stay away?

Check those hits.

One is for a self-published book (via Booklocker) by Robert L. Fenton. If this is the same Robert L. Fenton, it's not terrific validation of his skill as an agent.

One is a mention, from a book on director Jonathan Demme, of an associate producer named Robert L. Fenton. Same guy? No way to know.

One is a mention of "lawyer Robert L. Fenton" who built a Tiki restaurant in 1967. Same guy? It's possible, but irrelevant.

One is from the Acknowledgmentssection of a book from an academic press, thanking "Robert L. Fenton," among other friends and colleagues, for advice and criticism.

Except possibly for the first, none of these hits relate to Robert L. Fenton the literary agent. Even if they did, the fact that he charges $350 upfront plus thousands of dollars in retainer fees is really all one needs to know.

- Victoria