Writer Beware's 20 Worst Agents

Katrina S. Forest · Aug 13, 2011

Hi, Tim! Welcome to AW.

In general I would say...

Being honest: The people insisting that money flows towards the writer.
Misinformed: The people insisting the opposite.
Full of crap: The people insisting they can make your book an instant bigger-than-James-Patterson bestseller and then you too can be Awesome Published Author!!!
Airbrushing forum with sarcasm: Less clear, though I fail at sarcasm myself. When in doubt, you can always ask a poster what he/she meant.

Stacia Kane · Aug 13, 2011

TimSagges said:
I can never tell on here, who's being honest, who's full of crap and who's just content airbrushing the forum with sarcasm.

??

I guess if you're confused, take a look at the credentials of the people speaking; that should tell you whether or not they actually know what they're talking about.

As for "airbrushing the forum with sarcasm"...well, like Katrina said, you can always ask what they meant, if you're unsure.

victoriastrauss · Aug 13, 2011

TimSagges said:
I can never tell on here, who's being honest, who's full of crap and who's just content airbrushing the forum with sarcasm.

Check their credentials (always a good idea on the Internet, where people who don't know what they're talking about give advice with the same apparent authority as those who do know what they're talking about). Many of us here have links in our sig lines to blogs, websites, etc. that provide bios and other relevant information about us. Have we worked professionally in publishing? Do we have professionally published books, articles, or stories? Are we associated with professional writers' organizations? Do we have other verifiable expertise (such as legal training) that might suggest we're qualified to give advice? If the answer to any or all of these questions is "yes," then you can probably trust what we have to say.

- Victoria

AshRose · Aug 21, 2011

Much appreciated! I'm glad that I've been finding my agents from reputable sources. I've never heard of any of those before, but I'll be sure to keep my eyes open now!

sperrynluv · Sep 13, 2011

I'm glad to see none of those agents are on my list! Thank you for posting this.

anamk · Nov 25, 2011

this is very informative. i recently received an email from Rights agency saying they would publish me if i buy the first 100 copies!!!!!!

Gillhoughly · Nov 25, 2011

Ask them if they've ever heard of Yog's Law and that you buying copies of your own work violates it.

http://www.sff.net/people/yog/

James D. Macdonald · Nov 25, 2011

anamk said:
i recently received an email from Rights agency saying they would publish me if i buy the first 100 copies!!!!!!

Vanity press. You can do better. Delete their email.

J.S.F. · Jan 5, 2012

I know this may earn me a flame or two, but I have been published--twice--by pretty decent agencies and they didn't want a cent. Yes, they were e-book companies and no, I haven't made millions yet--my name is NOT Amanda Hocking--but at least a few people bought the book and I did get a couple of decent reviews for my first novel, so there it is. I'd love to go mainstream so I'll just keep plugging away and submitting to the reputable companies and agents out there.

Cyia · Jan 5, 2012

J.S.F. said:
I know this may earn me a flame or two, but I have been published--twice--by pretty decent agencies and they didn't want a cent. Yes, they were e-book companies and no, I haven't made millions yet--my name is NOT Amanda Hocking--but at least a few people bought the book and I did get a couple of decent reviews for my first novel, so there it is. I'd love to go mainstream so I'll just keep plugging away and submitting to the reputable companies and agents out there.

Agencies don't publish books, unless it's an "assisted self-publishing" arm of an existing agency, which is a whole other issue.

J.S.F. · Jan 10, 2012

Cyia,

Sorry, I meant to say "e-publishing companies". My bad.

DeadlyAccurate · Jan 10, 2012

This thread was started six years ago, when there were few reputable e-publishing companies around. Plenty of people on this board are published electronically, so I'm not sure why you think it would earn you flames.

CaoPaux · Jan 10, 2012

Also not sure what this has to do with the 20 Worst Agents list. :Huh:

Pinguicha · Aug 2, 2012

Are some of these agencies still in business? I've noticed that most of them don't exist anymore (which is a great thing), but I was wondering if any of these agencies still managed to survive despite this.

victoriastrauss · Aug 2, 2012

We think that Allred and Allred, Brock Gannon, Harris Literary, and Cris Robins are currently out of business--but the others are still active, as far as we know. We leave up the names of the agencies that are apparently defunct, since they often start up again (Cris Robins, for instance, has closed and re-launched her business several times).

- Victoria

DaveKuzminski · Aug 2, 2012

P&E keeps the listings even if we know they're closed for much the same reasoning.

Maryn · Aug 2, 2012

That's interesting. Ever considered replacing the ones which have closed their doors--temporarily or forever--with new horrible agents? The shuttered ones could have 'emeritus' status or something.

Maryn, noodling aloud

victoriastrauss · Aug 2, 2012

Maryn--I started to respond to your comment, but then thought, "hey, that's a blog post!" I hope to have it online tomorrow.

- Victoria

victoriastrauss · Aug 3, 2012

Here's my response to questions about Writer Beware's Thumbs Down list.

Agent Scams: Still Around But On the Wane

- Victoria

Maryn · Aug 3, 2012

Cool! I'm glad you were able to make such good use of the question.

Maryn, who missed the golden opportunity to be a scam agent

garviegirl · Aug 20, 2012

Thanks for the list - knowing me, I would have probably queried at least of them without it.

gingerwoman · Dec 24, 2012

anamk said:
this is very informative. i recently received an email from Rights agency saying they would publish me if i buy the first 100 copies!!!!!!

If any "agent" "publisher" etc... emails you or contacts you FIRST then the odds are very high that they are a scam artist.
I'm sure you know that anamk but I'm saying it for anyone who doesn't.

VioletK · Mar 29, 2013

Awesome, thanks so much for the info!

DaveKuzminski · Mar 29, 2013

A new scam is emerging wherein the agent gets the author's book published through Kindle for a price which includes 60 to 80% of the royalties effectively keeping most of the sales profit while the author is left thinking they're receiving a better deal than with Random House or some other big publisher house. Furthermore the deal is for the life of the copyright.

Steven Hutson · May 28, 2013

victoriastrauss said:
Agent Scams: Still Around But On the Wane

- Victoria

I'm intrigued by this one:

“blitz” or shotgun submissions (submissions to a dozen or more publishers simultaneously, often without careful targeting)

Why is it bad to submit to a bunch of publishers at once? What are you saving it for?

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