Dear writer, this is a scam.
A recent student email caught me short when they told me an agent who had requested their full manuscript wrote back that the work wasn’t publishable. It had issues with pacing and structure, and if the writer wanted, she could recommend some excellent editors.
Dear writer, this is a scam.
I didn’t reach this conclusion lightly but did due diligence because my knee-jerk reaction was the same as the student’s. That can’t be true!
No one, myself included, offered similar feedback, so was it true?
I’m human enough to get defensive on my student’s behalf, but I am also skeptical enough to do the research.
Several articles and threads later, I knew this was a scam. The problem is, it’s an enticing one. If we would simply spend a little more money on editors—and really, is it that much money in the big scheme of things—the work would sell.
The writing heart wants what it wants, and this scam plays into our deepest emotional desires and fears. We desire publication. We fear we’re not good enough. So, the scammer suggests:
“If you’d just give me a little bit of your hard-earned cash, I’ll make it better. I’ll make it salable.”
Right.
PT Barnum said there was a sucker born every minute. Some days, we’re the sucker, but fortunately, my former student reached out and no contract or money changed hands. That’s not always the case.
Years ago I had a former reporter reach out to ask about marketing her new book. She’d spent $25,000 with a book packager to write and publish the book, and now she had no money left for marketing and promotion. That book packager was also a scam.
Stay in the writing world long enough, and you will hear a litany of horror stories about the bad actors in the industry. Suffice it to say, bad people exist in this world and they love to take advantage of trusting souls.
What to look for in an agent
We’re all sophisticated enough to avoid the “too good to be true” scenario, so thinking that we have to pay for an editor might seem reasonable. If we got an amazing contract the first time out the door, we’d be suspicious, so this scam seems reasonable. Seems is the important word in that sentence, because it is not reasonable or ethical for an agent to also provide editorial services for an extra fee, particularly if they imply that they would THEN work as your agent.
The Association of American Literary Agents (AALA formerly the AAR, Association of Author’s Representatives) is an industry association that includes member agents who agree to a Canon of Ethics. Part of the ethics they agree to is that they are primarily agents and do not “primarily [pursue] freelance editorial work and [misrepresent] themselves as literary agents or support staff of a literary agency.”
If an agent doesn’t belong to AALA, maybe they’re okay, but they haven’t signed on to the code of ethics, so for me, the first thing I ensure is that a potential agent works for an agency that is a member of the AALA.
You can search for AALA member agents on their website. Here’s an example that I’m using because Kriston Nelson (Nelson Literary Agency) is in Colorado where I live, and I recently read an article by her, so her name’s on my mind, but FYI, as I write this in mid-2024, she’s closed to submissions, so this isn’t my suggestion you submit to her. What I’m doing is showing you that when I went to the AALA site, I found that both Nelson and the other agent in the agency were members of the AALA. The agent my student had queried was not. That’s a huge red flag.
Also, consider how long they’ve been an agent. While newer agents aren’t all bad, in fact, a new agent is often actively looking for clients, they should begin agent life in an agency with more experienced and higher profile agents (who are members of the AALA).
Another consideration is who they represent. While the agent my student had queried had a list of authors on her website, they were unknown authors. That’s not all bad if they’re a new agent, but a reputable agency will have a mix of debut authors and well-known names. At the very least, they should list published novels that you can verify on Amazon. Look to see who publishes the authors listed on the website:
Are they the type of publishers you want to work with?
If you can access Publisher’s Marketplace or other industry resources, does the agent command the type of advance you would consider appropriate for your genre and level of experience?
Are these books from the agent site self-published or published with a small publisher you’ve never heard of? I’m not suggesting that self-publishing or small publishers are bad, but if the book/author is listed as an agency client, why is their book self-published?
Is the agent the publisher?
These are things to guard against.
But say that you’re still uncertain, how can you verify if an agent is legitimate?
How to check for scammers
Start with Writer Beware®. Writer Beware® is sponsored by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association ( SFWA®). They’ve been around for years, they have a tremendous database of bad actors, and they warn about the dark side of publishing. They track, expose, and raise “awareness about schemes, scams, and other bad practice[s] in the publishing industry, with the aim of providing writers with tools to protect themselves from exploitation.”
When I’m unsure, I type the agent’s name and Writer Beware in the search bar. If they’ve previously written about an agent, I know they’re a safe source of information. Even if they don’t discuss a particular agent, they frequently write about current trends in publishing scams that may help you recognize what’s happening with the agent you’ve invested so much time with.
Even if Writer Beware® hasn’t published about an agent, the search returns might show other warning signs. This was the case with the agent targeting my former student. I found a thread on a writing forum from 2012 about this agent where someone responded with a quote from the rejection letter that was nearly identical to what my student received 12 years later! The “agent” was so successful at this that she’s been doing the same thing for at least twelve years. The tragic thing is that the forum was 5 pages long with similar horror stories. Enough evidence. This was a scam and my student avoided it.
Which brings me to another option. If you’re not sure, reach out to another writer, former teacher, or online community. While scammers exist, so do a multitude of people who want to help each other avoid the worst of the industry. Writers are incredibly generous with their knowledge and time. Most writing groups are filled with people who want to share what they know, so while the bad exists, the good is significantly better.
I love the publishing industry, but like the nearest big city, it has a seamy underbelly. Avoid the darkness by being skeptical, doing the research, and trusting your gut. And phone a friend when you need it.
Cindy Skaggs is a writer, public speaker, and writing coach who holds an MFA from Pacific Lutheran University and an MA in Creative Writing from Regis University. She is an advocate for military and veteran issues, mom to two humans, and an armchair traveler. She is a native of Colorado where she teaches graduate and undergraduate creative writing.
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