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Johnson Literary Agency (formerly Caren Johnson Lit. Agency)

EMaree

a demon for tea
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www.emmamaree.com
As of '15, dba Johnson Books & Media: http://www.johnsonbooksandmedia.com/

Appears to no longer be an Agency. Business focus has changed to:
  • Writing coaching (note: not to be confused with editing, this usually means more macro stuff, though testimonials call it "line editing" so... ?)
  • Indie publishing assistance (details on site in-depth)
  • Project management (no details provided anywhere about what this entails).
 

mystere

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Yeah, not cool she's drumming up business that way.

Wow! I came here wondering if anyone else had a weird/negative experience with her.

So here's my story: I contacted her for a developmental edit a few months ago. She gave me a proposal (a quote for her work).

Then my financial situation nosedived, so I said, "let me get back to you".

She contacted me 3-4 times, every few weeks, to follow up. She really wanted to take me on as a client!

So I accepted 4 weeks ago because my financial situation improved. She said she was working on other manuscripts and she'd be in touch in three weeks, or last week. I never heard from her so I emailed her to check in with her. She never replied. I emailed her a week later to see if she was okay.

She sent me this longwinded and vague email to say she would now only take me on as a client if I paid her more money. Her excuse was worded as "I am only taking on big projects now...let me know if you want me to send you a revised proposal".

In other words: I'm too busy to keep my word to you, but if I charge you more money my time will suddenly free up!

My project was a developmental edit of a 84k novel: I'd love to know her definition of 'big' in this context.

I mean, I'd have been far less pissed off if she'd sent me the proposal and we hadn't communicated after that, and was now wanting to increase her fees. But she actively and relentlessly pursued me to get my business, and is now pulling this nonsense.


I will not be using her services now or in future and encourage others to not reward this pattern of unprofessional behavior.
 
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