[Packager] NYLA Entertainment / Mark Creative Management (Eileen Cope)

I think perhaps you should just ask them if they are Nancy Yost or someone else. I don't know of anyone else using that name.

In that case I would suggest contacting the real NYLA just to let them know.

Craigslist? Seriously?

I don't think this is the New York Literary Agency. From lurking on these boards, I'm familiar with scam artist Robert Fletcher's many iterations, and this doesn't sound like his MO at all.

For one, they don't claim to be an agency. They appear to be a book packager, a la Alloy Entertainment or Paper Lantern Lit, i.e., looking for writers to ghostwrite their books on a work-for-hire basis. Also, I have been corresponding with them for a couple months, and they have not asked for money, just a short writing sample based on an original prompt, to determine whether my writing style fits with one of their projects. I also signed the same nondisclosure whitegirl noted above. They told me they liked my sample and that they will be in touch about a future project they have coming up. We'll see.

If I understand correctly, the New York Literary Agency is all about accepting your manuscript, then charging you a fee to have it critiqued. I can't imagine a lot of people jumping at that for a three-page writing sample created solely for this one purpose; plus, it's been weeks since I corresponded with them; if they wanted to demand money from me, they missed their window.

What did give me pause, however, is that (at least the last time I Googled) they seem to have absolutely no Internet footprint at all, outside of a bunch of ads in Craigslist, P&W newsletter (where I first saw it) and other boards, soliciting writing samples. They also have not been very forthcoming about who or what is behind the company. I have been corresponding with someone named Ty (no last name on his emails). I asked them to refer me to a Web site and they didn't get back to me. Then again, they are new.

In any case, since they seem in earnest, unless and until they ask for money, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

whitegirlbkcvrs said:

Claire, I think even if they are new the fact that they didn't give you a name or website at all is weird. nyla-entertainment.com is just one page and it says that Eileen Cope and Michelle Wendt are producers there. From what I can find Eileen Cope was an agent at Trident but her PW page hasn't been updated since 2009. I'm wary of this.

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I checked out the page. Eileen Cope seems to have a solid record of sales up until a couple of years ago. As for Michelle Wendt, she and/or NYLA appear to have been casting a musical at some point?
Still no indication of the mysterious Ty.

Have they given you a synopsis yet? If you do choose to move forward, I would curious to know how it goes. I may actually send a followup email to see if there have been any new developments.

Mid-November.

They sent a short prompt and asked for 3 pages based on it. When I sent that, they said the voice wasn't quite right but that that they might have another project for me coming up soon. That's where things stand at this point.

James D. Macdonald said:

Craigslist? Seriously?

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After hearing they're on Craigslist, that's enough to say OH, HELL, NO.

There shouldn't even be a thought of consideration after that. If they're on Craigslist (and you stilllll think it's okay because you've seen others do it)...um, no. A big NO. It screams "desperate" in every sense of the word.

Undercover said:

After hearing they're on Craigslist, that's enough to say OH, HELL, NO.

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99% of the time I would agree with you. Craigslist ads are bad news. It's just that packagers operate under a slightly different set of considerations than conventional publishers and/or agents. People don't go out and look for packagers the way they go out and look for agents and publishers. There isn't some central database listing them, a la Publishers Marketplace. Most writers, and certainly most readers, don't even know or understand what they are/do. Anyone who wants to work with a packager has to do some serious digging, which is why I think some of the newer ones have turned to Craigslist and other boards. Case in point, Paper Lantern Lit advertises on Craigslist regularly and yet has produced successful books placed with commercial publishers.

This is why I was willing to give NYLA the consideration I wouldn't give an agent or publisher who was running a similar ad. That said, "proceed with caution" absolutely applies, the way it would for any job posting on Craigslist, especially with a brand-new operation like this. Scammers are everywhere. But for me, Craigslist alone is not a reason to dismiss a packager out of hand.

Clairels said:

99% of the time I would agree with you. Craigslist ads are bad news. It's just that packagers operate under a slightly different set of considerations than conventional publishers and/or agents. People don't go out and look for packagers the way they go out and look for agents and publishers. There isn't some central database listing them, a la Publishers Marketplace. Most writers, and certainly most readers, don't even know or understand what they are/do. Anyone who wants to work with a packager has to do some serious digging, which is why I think some of the newer ones have turned to Craigslist and other boards. Case in point, Paper Lantern Lit advertises on Craigslist regularly and yet has produced successful books placed with commercial publishers.

This is why I was willing to give NYLA the consideration I wouldn't give an agent or publisher who was running a similar ad. That said, "proceed with caution" absolutely applies, the way it would for any job posting on Craigslist, especially with a brand-new operation like this. Scammers are everywhere. But for me, Craigslist alone is not a reason to dismiss a packager out of hand.

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I would agree with this. A packager is looking for a writer to perform a service -- more like an employee than a client or partner. A packager putting an ad out for writers is more like a job advertisement for a freelance gig than a call for submissions. I wouldn't have any problem with a packager putting out an ad. Craigslist feels a tad skeevy, but where else they'd put it, I'm not sure. Trade magazines? Publishers Weekly? But those wouldn't have nearly the audience of Craigslist, I don't think. *shrug*

veinglory said:

In that case I would suggest contacting the real NYLA just to let them know.

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So there are two NYLAs? Last night I downloaded a book by husband-wife team Ilona Andrews, who I love, and noticed the publisher stated is NYLA. The book is called Clean Sweep and set in a different world than their 'Magic' series. Is this a different NYLA?

Yeah, lack of transparency is a red flag for me too. I don't know much (okay, anything) about packagers and how they work or solicit writers, but enough people in the know have raised enough issues here for me to suspect they are either a scam (although so far I don't see how they benefit from what they are doing--no money or content has changed hands) or they don't know what they are doing. Lots of publishers start and fail based on the cool ideas of the founders without any experience or knowledge to back the enterprise up, and this might be in that category.

But keep us informed if you go farther with it. I suspect I'm about to learn some things.

What it sounds like to me is an essay mill. 3-4 pages for a "project" with a "YA voice" sort of screams term papers. Color me suspicious.