Clark, Mendelson, and Scott (formerly Capital L.A., Washington L.A., et al.)

[markmac28]

Hi,
New member here. My compliments on a great service.
Anyone dealt with either of these agencies:
1. American Literary Agents of Washington Inc
2. The Fox Chase Agency Inc

Thanks. Mark

 

[vstrauss]

Re: Fox Chase Agency//American Literary Agents of Washington

American Literary Agents of Washington charges an up-front marketing fee of $250, and its contract, at 4 months, is one of the shortest I've ever run across. Theoretically its clients would have to re-up every quarter, to the tune of $1,000 per year. I'm not aware that ALA has any record of book sales, and according to documentation Writer Beware hasreceived, it appears to send submissions in a haphazard manner to publishers that aren't appropriate for the subject/genre of the book. Agencies that consistently send inappropriate material to publishers tend to be ignored by editors.

ALA owns a vanity publisher called Washington House (a.k.a. Trident Media Inc.), which solicits ALA clients without acknowledgment of the connection.

I know very little about the Fox Chase Agency, other than that it appears to have a number of sales.

- Victoria

 

[David]

American Literary Agents of Washington Inc.

Does anyone have info about this agency? They want a 250 dollar fee for sending work to publishers which they promise to reimburse if you get published.

 

[lastr]

Re: American Literary Agents of Washington Inc.

Seems to me the only safe bet would be if they reimbursed you when you didn't get published. I don't know about the agency but no reputable agent charges the author, they make their money off of selling the book to the publisher. Sounds like this one makes their money off of not selling the book to a publisher. Sell, give you 250.00, don't sell keep 250.00.

 

[vstrauss]

Re: American Literary Agents of Washington Inc.

Writer Beware has gotten dozens of reports and complaints about this agency.

In addition to the fees (the $250 is for a 4-month contract--you'd have to re-up every quarter for a grand yearly total of $1,000), they submit to inappropriate publishers and to my knowledge have never sold a book. They also own a vanity publisher--Washington House, a.k.a. Trident Media--which charges several thousand dollars for editing. I've gotten reports from clients or ex-clients of the agency who've been solicited by the publisher without acknowledgment of the connection.

- Victoria

 

[bashfulLV]

American Literary Agents of Washington

Has anyone ever heard of these folks? I ran them through the "search" at Writer Beware and it came back with no entries so I thought I was good to go and sent them my first two books - a romance novel and a non-fiction book. Today I got a letter from them telling me they want to represent me for the romance novel. And then the kicker - a $250 submission fee due with the signed contract (enclosed). Crap.

So, I guess they're schysters like all the others I've tried. Back to square one.

So consider this a warning - they charge upfront fees. If you know anything about them that might be helpful, let me know. I'm new at this - so far I'm on my fourth book but haven't published a word.

Thanks for listening.

 

[victoriastrauss]

Writer Beware doesn't have a search function, nor do we list agencies' names. We do maintain a database of writer complaints and documentation, though, and answer questions in private e-mail.

Can this be moved to the Bewares forum? Thanks...

- Victoria

 

[Andrew Zack]

What is the stated purpose of this $250 "fee?" Is it to cover photocopying and shipping? Or is it simply a fee?

 

[victoriastrauss]

The fee is supposedly to cover photocopying and postage. The contract is for just four months, so the author would have to re-up with a new $250 every quarter.

Writer Beware has collected a lot of documentation on this agency, which has been in business since 1998 or 1999 and as far as we're aware has never made a sale. We've seen some of its submissions lists, which frequently include publishers that are totally inappropriate for the subject/genre of the manuscript. On the other hand, there's no evidence that it ever actually submits anything, so it hardly matters.

The owner of the agency also owns a vanity publisher, Trident Media a.k.a. Washington House/Mandrill, which charges clients around $3,000 for editing services and employs a standard POD publishing model (minimal selectivity, no marketing or distribution apart from Amazon, etc.). Clients of the agency receive solicitations from the publisher, without acknowledgment of the connection. I recently heard from a writer who successfully took the publisher to small claims court for non-performance.

- Victoria

 

[AC Crispin]

Writer Beware Info - how to get it

You can search on Preditors and Editors and get a bit of information, but to get detailed information on an agent, publisher, etc., from Writer Beware, you must write us a note or an email. The addresses are on the site, and it states this quite clearly.

The email for Writer Beware is [email protected]

Generally, you'll get a response within 48 hours, sometimes a bit more. Remember, we're volunteers.

Yes, American Literary Agents of Washington, Inc., is on our list. They fee-chargers who have never made a single sale to an advance and royalty paying publisher.

Avoid.

-Ann C. Crispin
Writer Beware
www.writerbeware.com
Author: STORMS OF DESTINY/HarperEos
www.accrispin.com

 

[DaveKuzminski]

They have changed their name to Capital Literary Agency. They're still using the old American Literary Agents' web site and email addresses.

 

[CaoPaux]

They have changed their name to Capital Literary Agency. They're still using the old American Literary Agents' web site and email addresses.

Egad, thanks for the update!

 

[CaoPaux]

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

 

[SonoranWriter]

Is Trident Media Inc. being discussed here the same as Trident Media Group?

http://www.tridentmediagroup.com/

While the photos on their site make the agency office look like a Scientology Mission, I had them on my "genuine" list and now I'm wondering...

 

[rugcat]

Is Trident Media Inc. being discussed here the same as Trident Media Group?

No. Different Agencies.

Trident Media Inc. = bad
Trident Media Group =good

 

[Jaws]

No. Different Agencies.

Trident Media Inc. = bad
Trident Media Group =good

May I suggest that even this is could be misleading? What we should really be saying is:

• Trident Media (and affiliated companies) in Washington, DC area, key word "Asinugo", is a fee-charging agency and front for a vanity press, and is therefore inappropriate for authors who have any self respect
• Trident Media in New York, key word "Gottleib", is a multi-form agency with an extensive track record of actually placing works for authors with commercial publishers, and is therefore appropriate for authors who have some self-respect

One of the reasons that this can't simply be phrased as "Inc. = bad, Group = good" is that there is an Trident Media Group of questionable value to a US-based (or, indeed, non-Australia-based) writer in Australia, while there are also a Trident Media Ltd., a Trident Media Group Ltd., and a TridentMedia PLC that one might run across.

 

[rugcat]

May I suggest that even this is could be misleading?

Yes, I should have been more specific.

However, I was replying to a question about a) the specific agency referred to in the thread, and b) the specific agency for which the poster provided a link. There's plenty of info about both in AW threads; I was just trying to be succinct.

 

[James D. Macdonald]

Capital Literary Agency is listed on the IILAA / International Independent Literary Agents Association site.

 

[underthecity]

It's interesting to note that on the ALA/Capital webpage, they have seven titles listed in their "successes." All of them are published by Mandrill, a subsidiary of ALA, or Washington House, which has no web presence but one can gather that it too is a subsidiary of ALA.

They have 35 more under consideration. I wonder who will publish them?

allen

 

[James D. Macdonald]

Mandrill, of course, is a pay-to-play vanity press with no distribution.

 

[JennaGlatzer]

They're now advertising in AW's Google Ads. And I'm about to show Mac how to make sure they no longer can advertise in AW's Google Ads.

Ugh.

Spread the word far and wide: Writers, you do NOT want any agent who advertises in Google Ads. Real agents don't need to pay to advertise to writers. They're flooded with submissions, and they make their money selling the work to publishers, not charging writers up-front fees.

 

[CaoPaux]

Re: New World Media aka American Book Press, Washington House, Trident Media, and Mandrill

FYI - This publisher has received "two thumbs down" from Writer Beware:

http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2007/02/happy-valentines-day-from-writer-beware.html

 

[Sparkle]

Capital Literary Agency

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone had any information concerning Capital Literary Agency located in Washington,DC. I was going to get in contact with them, but something is making me question the agency.

Sparkle

 

[waylander]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone had any information concerning Capital Literary Agency located in Washington,DC. I was going to get in contact with them, but something is making me question the agency.

Sparkle

RUN AWAY NOW!
These people are scammers and will take you for as much as they can and will doing nothing to advance your career.

 

[JulieB]

Glad you're asking questions before signing on the dotted line. They're on the Writer Beware "Thumbs Down Agency" list. They're also listed as not recommended at P&E.