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May 22, 2004 I’m writing this in order to give already-cheated writers a boost on getting back on the right track or to give would-be writers a warning as to what they could get themselves into should they fail to educate themselves before making a move. Writers are, to some extent, naught but pawns in the game of literature. We’re the creators of the written word, but agents and publishing houses are the ones who control what makes it to print and what gets rejected and ends up in the trash. It’s pretty easy to discern the difference between a reputable publishing house and a scam, but it isn’t so easy when you’re dealing with the task of finding an agent. And, if you want to get with a major publishing house, you’ve first got to deal with the task of getting accepted by an agent. Not only do you have to sell yourself to a real agent, you’ve got to figure out how to tell the difference between a fake agent who’s only there to steal your money and the real thing. To begin, keep in mind that a real agent doesn’t take any upfront fees and only takes a percentage of your royalties once they’ve gotten you accepted by a publishing house (major or minor). On the other hand, a fake agent will seem overjoyed to be receiving your manuscript and will shower you with praise (not to say that, in some cases, a real agent wouldn’t do this). Not only will you be almost immediately accepted (sometimes when they haven’t even gone as far as to look at more than a few chapters of your manuscript), they’ll normally charge a few upfront fees¾the most common of which is a “reading fee”. As far as I’ve been able to discover, there’s nothing you can do to legally go against fake agents if you’ve already been scammed, but you can stop from letting it ever happen again. You can also join the struggle against the ever- increasing rise of fake agents and spread the word to other writers. Should we fail to ebb the tide of fakes that continually grows and outnumbers real agents, there may be a great deal of would-be great literature that never gets discovered because of scam artists. Take the battle into your own hands and do your part. ------------ About the author James T. Neal: I have a soon-to-be published book entitled The Alexian Saga: The Kotani. The book has been accepted for publication and is currently in the editing process. Estimated time till its release is posted at my website, http://www.alexiansaga.com. As for myself, I'm 16 years old and have been an avid reader (and, to some extent, a writer) for the last couple years. I'm currently finishing up the second portion of the fantasy series, The Alexian Saga: Shadarien's Wrath. Email: alexian@alexiansaga.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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