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Robins Agency / Writer for Hire (Cris Robins)

michael Gray

Scam Agent-Cris Robin

I'm trying to get more information on why agent Cris Robin is considered a scam artist. I just got off the phone with her. She wants to represent me -- she was one of a group of agents I solicited -- but now I am aware of many complaints against her, beginning with her practice of charging a $3,250 retainer.

I have a bad feeling about her agency.

Michael Gray
 

Lauri B

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No legitimate agent charges a retainer. They get paid when you get paid. Do not pay anyone to represent you, or publish you. It's bad business.
 

DED

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OH NO!!

I sent a query letter and 3 chapters to Cris Robins via the form on the "agency's" website. Yes, I'm a newbie hunting for an agent.I should've taken a clue from the "clients" page as they were all books that were being shopped around and not actually sold. <sigh> Well, now I know what to say if she calls.

And in the meantime, I've got to scour this list for the other agents I was thinking about submitting to.

\_/
DED
 

cris_robins

I'll not being quiet any longer.

Cris Robins here.

For years I’ve sat back, quietly, and listened to Ann Crispin and Victoria Straus and even the Preditors & Editors page say how they’ve had all these complaints about us; how we are not recommended; how we do this wrong and that wrong.

So, I’m wondering why is it then, when presented with a sterling opportunity to bring all these so-called complaints to light, when the rubber hits the road and the chance to really put a sword in our hearts and potentially prove all their claims, do they back down? When they are in a position of having nothing to lose and EVERYTHING to gain, do they do nothing? When their claims finally have a chance of being brought into the light of justice, do they stand back and let them die?

In their own words, go here to see just how well their allegations hold water or don’t as the case is. www.robins-agency.com/ann.htm.
 

rtilryarms

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James D. Macdonald said:
Hi, Cris!

Do you have a list (title, author, publisher) of books you've sold over the last three or four years?

Please allow me to link you to the multitude of wares. Give me a moment to accumulate a list.

BRB
 

poetinahat

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cris_robins said:
...
So, I’m wondering why is it then, when presented with a sterling opportunity to bring all these so-called complaints to light, when the rubber hits the road and the chance to really put a sword in our hearts and potentially prove all their claims, do they back down? When they are in a position of having nothing to lose and EVERYTHING to gain, do they do nothing? When their claims finally have a chance of being brought into the light of justice, do they stand back and let them die?

In their own words, go here to see just how well their allegations hold water or don’t as the case is. www.robins-agency.com/ann.htm.

I've got no idea about these kind folks' track record or results. I'm just here beachcombing for cliches and metaphors:

Whoa! Mother lode!
 
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Peggy

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www.robins-agency.com/ann.htm said:
However, the validity of our agency rests in that we have never had a claimed filed against us that we've lost in any court, jurisdiction, or government agency. THAT has to say something about the way we do business.
So, they've never been convicted - what more could you ask for in an agent?
 

poetinahat

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From the website cited above:

However, the validity of our agency rests in that we have never had a claimed [sic] filed against us that we've lost in any court, jurisdiction, or government agency. THAT has to say something about the way we do business.

Reminds me of the old Mafia joke: "Fourteen arrests, NO convictions!"
 

DeadlyAccurate

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August client list

OneTeam OneDream said:
  • Timothy Ayers, Fooled Me Once
  • Walter Borotto, The 10th Caller
  • Mike Casserly, The Cookie Factory
  • Joe Chambers, Fractures
  • Lyn Christian, Peek-a-boo
  • Mark Cooper, For Innocent Blood
  • Carol Coronel, We Were Nobles
  • Thomas Cresap, Initiation: Teenage Android Detective
  • Christopher Dahl, A Forced Perspective
  • Robert Edwards, The Tides of Time
  • James Fraley, Dr. Taymora
  • Doug Hanks, The Badlands
  • Russell Henkel, Think Like a Wolf
  • Dr. Connie Hiers, Four Woodies and the Dragon's Eye
  • Robyn Hogan, Full Circle
  • Katherine Jones, 30 Degrees North
  • Katherine Jones, The Other Woman
  • Brien Kroeger, Time Flashes
  • Paul Ladipo, Forest of Fear
  • Herbert Lango, Crisis at Na'Diroc
  • Ed Lashley, Reborn
  • Joseph LePage, Workplace Wellness Handbook
  • Michael Mason, Da'Sheal
  • Richard Mikolitch, The Cannibal Cookbook
  • Richard Miller, Playing in the Traffic
  • Adron Ming, Twisted Legacy
  • Thomas Money, One Shot Of Murder
  • Curtis Myrick, Malek's Quest
  • Bisi Ojediran, Survival of the Beautiful
  • Walter Pavlo, Pavlo
  • Carol Phipps, The Collector Witch
  • Corey Potier, Birth of a Hunter
  • John Prieve, Bad Medicine
  • Dan Raciak, Thieves of Lives
  • Riley/Gill Team, The Adventures of Jessie and CD-ROM
  • Dawn Ross, The Third Dragon
  • Mark Russakoff, The Adventures at Zoo La Tibia Academy
  • Jacqueline Spotts, Maven's Journey
  • Edward Sutter, Magic Shop
  • Edward Sutter, Patient 13
  • Sharon Wichlidal, Death Lives On
None of these have sold, but I'm sure these people would say what kind of agent she was.

Here is her most recent client list (03/2006) taken directly from http://www.robins-agency.com/clients.htm:

  • Michael Bronte, The 10th Caller
  • Michael Bronte, Presidential Risk
  • Mike Casserly, The Cookie Factory
  • Mark Cooper, For Innocent Blood
  • Robert Edwards, The Tides of Time
  • Robert Edwards, Purple Meadows
  • Robert Edwards, Candles in the Window
  • James Fraley, Dr. Taymora
  • Cliff Franklin, Digging for the Green
  • Paul Ferguson, Seven Scattered Threads
  • Louise Fritz, Four Woodies and the Dragon's Eye
  • Louise Fritz, Four Woodies and a Trip Back in Time
  • Louise Fritz, Four Woodies and the Lancashire Wand
  • Louise Fritz, Living with Big Dogs
  • Doug Hanks, The Badlands
  • Homer Kiefer, The Ninth River
  • Herbert Lango, Crisis at Na'Diroc
  • Ed Lashley, Reborn
  • Ed Lashley, The Century Triad
  • Joseph Lutes, American Dreams
  • Joseph Lutes, Piercing the Heart of the Hydra
  • Adron Ming, Twisted Legacy
  • Julie Newmar, The Very Last How-to Book
  • Bisi Ojediran, Survival of the Beautiful
  • Carol Phipps, The Collector Witch
  • Tracey Plumley, Sagar Genera
  • Dan Raciak, Thieves of Lives
  • Riley/Gill Team, The Adventures of Jessie and CD-ROM
  • Dawn Ross, The Third Dragon
  • Mark Russakoff, The Adventures at Zoo La Tibia Academy
  • Rose SanFilippo, Apple Orchard Dreams
  • Mary Lou Scholl, Heart of the Swamp
  • Mary Lou Scholl, Hazardous Duty
  • L.A. Scott, Renaissance
  • Jacqueline Spotts, Maven's Journey
  • Edward Sutter, Magic Shop
  • Edward Sutter, Patient 13
  • Fran Thomas, Summer in North Willow
  • John West, The Secret of the Pond
Blue listings are those that were also listed back in August. Bolded listings are those where the book's title is identical but the author's name is not.

On her news page, she lists only a single domestic sale: her own book.
http://www.robins-agency.com/news.htm

The other two sales are for Russian rights for two authors (Louise Fritz and Hawk/Homer? Kiefer) to
Pavel Baskakov at Alpharet Publishing.

ETA: Research shows that Walter Borotto and Michael Bronte are one and the same. Bronte's book, The Dealership, was published in 2002 by Mandrill Publishing. I can't find anything on this publisher, however.

Dr. Connie Hiers shows up in Google as a plastic surgeon in Arkansas.
 
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mdin

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Using Archive.org, you can look even further back. This is from July of '04:

  • Wanda Akorede, The Other Wife
  • Timothy Ayers, Fooled Me Once
  • Lee Boyland, Rings of Allah
  • Patrice Bucciarelli, Comfort Foods: What Italians Really Eat
  • April Burchfield, Double Death
  • Mike Casserly, The Cookie Factory
  • Pat Chowning, Still No Answer
  • Debbie Cohen, Reach Your Stars
  • Mark Cooper, For Innocent Blood
  • Carol Coronel, We Were Nobles
  • David Couchman, The Third Entity
  • Richard Coxson, Wolf Stalk
  • Thomas Cresap, Initiation: Teenage Android Detective
  • Christopher Dahl, A Forced Perspective
  • Chief Douglas Foster, Crossed Up
  • George Fouke, Who killed James the Just?
  • George Fouke, Thomas Wolf’s The Western Journey
  • Dr. James Fraley, Dr. Taymora
  • Cliff Franklin, Digging for the Green
  • Ray Gee, The Legend of 9-Gun
  • J. Houston Gordon, The Plains of Abraham
  • Jeanette Harmon, For the Life of Charlie
  • Shauna Hill, Murder And Mayhem in..
  • Heather Knowles, The Prophets
  • Paul Ladipo, Forest of Fear
  • Herbert Lango, Crisis at Na'Diroc
  • Michael Mason, Da'Sheal
  • Richard Mikolitch, The Cannibal Cookbook
  • Vanessa Milota, The Abduction of Duncan Bly
  • Thomas Money, One Shot Of Murder
  • Curtis Myrick, Malek's Quest
  • Valerie Nye, Queen's Ransom
  • Walter Pavlo, Pavlo
  • Corey Potier, Birth of a Hunter
  • David Powers, A Present for P.O.T.U.S.
  • Dan Raciak, Thieves of Lives
  • Susan Raines, Out of Winds of Storm
  • Riley/Gill Team, The Adventures of Jessie and CD-ROM
  • Stephanie Rode, The Devil's Psalm
  • Karen Rodgers, The Banner County News
  • Dawn Ross, The Third Dragon
  • Teresa Rosseter, Carmella Cat
  • Mark Russakoff, The Adventures at Zoo La Tibia Academy
  • Alexander Sands, Lupus
  • Rona Sharon, Tears of Agadir
  • Edward Sutter, Family Business
  • Edward Sutter, Magic Shop
  • Edward Sutter, Patient 13
  • Fran Thomas, Summer in North Willow
  • Sam Van Houten, The Marquise Ruby
  • Karl Vanghen, Carin's Point
  • Sharon Wichlidal, Death Lives On
 

James D. Macdonald

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DeadlyAccurate said:
ETA: Research shows that Walter Borotto and Michael Bronte are one and the same. Bronte's book, The Dealership, was published in 2002 by Mandrill Publishing. I can't find anything on this publisher, however.



Mandrill Publishing is Trident Media of Washington D.C., Washington House, New World Media, Inc., Capitol Literary Agency, American Courier, Inc., American Literary Agents of Washington, and possibly other names. They're all owned and operated by a guy named Sam Asinugo.

The absolutely most charitable thing I can say about Mandrill is that it's a pay-to-play vanity press.
 

James D. Macdonald

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Cris Robins herself in person showed up in the Twenty Worst Agents thread to point out that she hasn't been convicted of anything yet, so there!

In other news, Cris is claiming that she sold a book!
Agency News

Domestic Sales

As publicly reported in Publisher's Weekly (Feb. 1, 2006)

Non-fiction/Lifestyle: Cris Robins's THE KID TURNED OUT FINE: Turning the Tables, about what we do when we're the ones who become the cause of our kids' fear, to Paula Ford-Martin at Adams Media, in a nice deal, by Cris Robins at The Robins Agency (world). [email protected]

Given what we know about Cris, that's a sort of creepy subject. What we know about Adams Media is that they're a small press located in Avon, MA, that says on their submission page, "We accept submissions directly from authors (including first time authors) and also from literary agents."

So, after close to a decade of trying to be an agent, Cris has finally sold ... her own book. To a place that doesn't require an agent.

(A "nice deal" is from [size=-1] $1.00 to $49,000.[/size] I'm just guessing, but I'm guessing that the actual number is more to the left on that scale.)
 
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James D. Macdonald

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From Cris's "Ann" page:

Ann Crispin was approached by someone filing a complaint against our agency with the Missouri Attorney General's office. She was asked for any and all complaints against us to put with this complaint. Her response: "If you'd like to talk with us about the info and documentation regarding her in our database, please call me."

So tell me, Cris: Did you ever call Ann like she offered?

(I'll bet you a nickle that the "someone" who claimed to have filed a complaint was Cris under a pseudonym, on a fishing expedition to see what people had on her. How else would Cris have copies of the actual letters?)