Barbara Bauer Literary Agency / Literary Management Professionals

[Jaime]

Hi:

I wish know your opinons and experiences with Barbara Bauer Literary Agency. Any old client can tell me about she?
Thank you to all.

Jaime

 

[Jaime]

Information

I'm waiting information about this agent. Is she good? I would like know experiences of the people that know this agent or her work.
Thank you.

Jaime

 

[Julie Worth]

She's on the list of bad agents. See here:
http://p197.ezboard.com/fabsolutewritefrm11.showMessageRange?topicID=568.topic&start=21&stop=28

And I know from personal experience that at least one of these agents is not so good!

 

[Dhewco]

Barbara Bauer

It didn't want to post this second ago. If it's a glitch, please remove one of them.


Here's the story: A friend of mine sent a request for a brochure from Bauer's agency. Afterwards she checked Dave's site and noticed the 'not recommended' and 'charges fees', my friend asked for a response.

The response was laughable. Claimed P&E was owned by a foreign monopoly 'with a hidden agenda to make money off writers by destroying the credibility of the American publishing industry' and sought to direct writers to self-publishers.

Has anyone dealt with this agency? Has the woman lost it? I've seen nothing on Dave's site to support such crazy statement.

David

 

[Jaws]

I'd love to see that correspondence. Please contact me off-line (click through from my user profile).

 

[Birol]

Hey, Dave, did you know you're a foreign monopoly?

 

[robeiae]

What exactly is a "foreign monopoly"? If they mean a a foreign company that has a monopoly on something, what could that something possibly be that would motivate them to behave in the way these mixed nuts are suggesting?

The only "foreign monopoly" I can think of that's not a company is OPEC. Hey Dave, if you're runnin" OPEC, could you drop the prices per barrel a little for the next few weeks. I'm doin' one a those family vacations...

Thanks!

Rob

 

[Birol]

It does sort of sound that way, doesn't it, robieae? (Dave. I would prefer just to keep gas prices below $2/gallon for a long, long time. $1.50/gallon or less would be excellent, but anything below $2/gallon would be good. Thanks.)

 

[victoriastrauss]

Barbara has a short fuse. I've heard from people who questioned her fees or claims and got abusive, profane responses.

For the record, she asks or has asked for a number of different kinds of fees, including a $50 reading fee, a $650 upfront marketing fee, and a flat "representation" fee of $1,000. As far as I know, she has no recent record of book sales.

- Victoria

 

[DaveKuzminski]

I would, but the Dutch distributors in Maryland are holding out for a no returns policy and want to increase the price by $5.00.

 

[Wallace Cass]

Oh yes....

Hi,

I was a client of the Barbara Bauer Literary Agency during the period 1990-1991. During that time, I was charged first a $35 reading fee, then a $595 contract fee for my work. 12 months later, I found myself $630 poorer and having learned a painful yet valuable lesson in dealing with Literary Agents. The agency promised much but delivered on nothing.

Do not deal with these people or anyone who charges an upfront fee. It's bad news all around.

Wallace Cass

 

[Andrew Zack]

Wallace:

I have a question for you: Did the agent do what she promised to do? What was that $595 for? Did she spend it on photocopying, shipping, long-distance calls?

I can certainly say that I have had clients spend $630 on such things and the book did not sell. It was an unfortunate fact of the business.

As for the reading fee, I don't find $35 outrageous, but do wonder what you got for that. A guaranteed turnaround time? Your material returned at her cost? Feedback on your work? You got representation, obviously, so you might not know what would have happened in the case of a reject, of course.

Andy

 

[Wallace Cass]

Essentially, I was charged for a skimpy agency newsletter and 12 months of "Well, the market is slow right now." I was never given a breakdown of what those fees were supposed to be used for. At the end of that time, no explanations were given just an offer to renew the contract for an additional $595. At the very end, I did receive some hastily prepared forms with red rejection stickers stuck across the front and no company letterheads anywhere on them. All in all, a very humbling experience that left a rather poor taste in my mouth for several years afterward.

Wallace

Wallace:

I have a question for you: Did the agent do what she promised to do? What was that $595 for? Did she spend it on photocopying, shipping, long-distance calls?

I can certainly say that I have had clients spend $630 on such things and the book did not sell. It was an unfortunate fact of the business.

As for the reading fee, I don't find $35 outrageous, but do wonder what you got for that. A guaranteed turnaround time? Your material returned at her cost? Feedback on your work? You got representation, obviously, so you might not know what would have happened in the case of a reject, of course.

Andy

 

[Andrew Zack]

I agree that this does not sound like a very good return on the investment.

 

[victoriastrauss]

Would someone consider moving this to the Bewares forum?

Writer Beware has been tracking Barbara Bauer since 1997. We have ample documentation, supported by reports and complaints from writers, that she charges a "processing fee" (currently $55), a "marketing" fee (currently $650), and over the years has charged other kinds of fees, such as a one-time "retainer" of $1,000. I've heard from writers who received profane and abusive responses when they questioned the fees or other aspects of her business, and I've also heard from former clients who say she contacted them only when it was time to send in an annual check.

I'm not able to find any evidence of recent sales for Ms. Bauer. Her website features a long list of publishers she has supposedly worked with, but the six projects actually named on the site have been the same for at least the past four or five years, and the most recent pub date is 1997 (though one of the authors has more recent publications). She also hosts a podcast of "the greatest literary talent on earth"--presumably her clients. A spot check of the authors doesn't turn up any who are commercially published (some are vanity published). I suspect that the clients who appear on the podcast have to pay for it.

- Victoria

 

[Daughter of Faulkner]

I wrote to you months ago about this agent

that she was on the Bad list.
If you are willing to give up your money, time and efforts to someone who is more than willing to take them, this is the one.
Listen to Victoria...

 

[Sandra1950]

Barbara Bauer

I worked with her several years ago and paid all kinds of fees with absolutely no results. She sent my manuscript to the same publishers I had already tried and didn't give me any help with editing. She just asked for $.

 

[CaoPaux]

FYI: This agency has been named one of Writer Beware's 20 Worst Agents/Agencies.

 

[kai5]

Bauer Literary Agency

Hello, I just wanted to add that I submitted a query to Ms. Bauer, unaware of her questionable status. I just received an envelope complete with a credit card authorization form (no explanation), a newsletter?-text on a paper with no heading or title,-and a brochure for submission, requesting $40.00.

Thanks for your info above. You have once again saved this hopeful author from a colossal waste of time and resources (your postings about The Literary Agency also rescued me.)

Kai

 

[Plix]

LOL

Got a letter from The Barbara Bauer Literary Agency today, full of the usual "promising project" bla bla and then finally a few papers that only had something to do with all the various ways I could pay her Agency for her services... wauw... so far my experience with the American publishing world has been scam suckers like Publish America and Barbara Bauer-like agencies

Keep your hopes us and make sure to create awareness on these kind of scammers who make a living out of naive and unware people/writers!

 

[Gillhoughly]

Getting Harrassing E-Mails from Barbara Bauer

Hello, I'm the e-vul twin of a print published author who was so bold as to put that 20 Worst Agents List on her website, along with a link to where it was originally posted and to the Writer Beware site. I fully support its goals to help neos to avoid scam artists in the writing industry.

Well, the wonderfully weird Barbara Bauer, Ph.D has contacted me and a) told me to remove her "agency's" name from that list, b) demanded that I provide her with my address and phone number, presumably so she can further harrass me. The subject line for that mail was "RE. Extortion and Blackmail." I never asked money for her, only suggested that she actually try to sell a book. How that got translated into E&B in her mind only her shrink can say.

I wrote back with the statement that should she attempt further contact I could and would take out a restraining order against her for stalking.

Do those work when the stalker is in another state?

 

[victoriastrauss]

Well, the wonderfully weird Barbara Bauer, Ph.D has contacted me and a) told me to remove her "agency's" name from that list, b) demanded that I provide her with my address and phone number, presumably so she can further harrass me. The subject line for that mail was "RE. Extortion and Blackmail."

Whoo-hoo! Welcome to the Writer Beware Cease & Desist Club! We ought to have a pin or something we could hand out.

Ms. Bauer seems to make a minor hobby of sending threatening emails to people who mention her online. Ann and I have both gotten more than one, as has SFWA's legal counsel (this was before we posted the 20 Worst List; we haven't heard a peep out of her since then). I've also heard from a couple of writers who posted their experiences to various message boards and got a "cease & desist" order. I'm sure there are more.

Based on her past pattern, these seem to be drive-by threats--she doesn't follow up, just moves on to the next target. If you don't respond any further, you probably won't hear from her again.

- Victoria

 

[Gillhoughly]

Thanks!

I got that from your previous posts, but very much appreciate the cheering. This here red-headed demon child is proud to be a member of the "Cease & Desist" club.

I also heard from a writer friend (her day job requires that she knows about this sort of stuff) that unless Bauer pays out to have the name of her agency trademarked that we can leave the warning posts up for as long as we like.

She also wanted YOUR home address, that of Miss Snark (as if I'd know that!) and Ann Crispin. Yeahhhh, riiiiiight.

Just to be fair, I did inform her that further attempts to contact me by any means will result in a restraining order against her for stalking. My non-e-vul twin is fully capable of going Ms. Hyde on anyone threatening her privacy.

I'm thinking *someone,* somewhere, is in cloud cuckoo land, curled in a fetal position, and muttering about a "Prrrrrecious."

This person seems rather fond of that Ph.D after her name. Maybe she worked real hard for it an' all, but down in my neck o' the woods it usually means "Piled high & Deep."

No offense ag'in those who also have them thar letters after their handle, but this one just chaps my hide. I've met this type before an' they wouldn't be happy if'n you hung 'em with a new rope.

 

[Gillhoughly]

Hello, I just wanted to add that I submitted a query to Ms. Bauer, unaware of her questionable status. Kai

Congrats on dodging a bullet! Check out the Bauer thread on the "20 Worst Agents List."

In the last 24 hours I've gotten 2 threatening mails from Bauer because I have the list up on my website.

So I went to hers. "Helped get published" ain't the same as actually selling something, and her celebrity endorsements are a joke. Dom Deluise is dead, Michael Jackson lives on another planet, and I wouldn't trust Jerry Falwell with a burned out match.

 

[HapiSofi]

Barbara Bauer is achieving new heights of fame.