Avoid listing and agent scams
Agents and publishers will earn money if an author’s writing is successful. Publishers will receive their money after sales or in advance. Agents get their cut after the royalties from the author’s sold book arrive. If they do a good job, they both deserve and earn what they earn. The problem is with publishers and/or agents who are not ethical.
Let’s start with “publishers”. Some who ask for money up front are legitimate, Yes they provide certain services, such as professional editing, promotion and production of a quality product. Those services must be included in the price paid for the books the author agrees to buy. However, if the provided “edit” is, at best, a spell checker, beware. An editor will provide at least one professional editor who will work with the author to improve, adjust, and correct errors in the book. That edition should be part of the package, not provided only if you pay extra. As stated above, a publisher will be paid up front or after the books are printed and sold.
However, any “publisher” who doesn’t do thorough editing is nothing more than a vanity publisher, one who offers a few books for a (usually high) price to people who simply want to see their words in a book, flaws and all. However, don’t confuse print-on-demand companies with publishers. A POD is not intended to be anything more than a printer. A publishing scam promises that the company is a publishing company.
A true publisher does not solicit material from a writer for an anthology and then expect the author to buy a book. A real publisher rewards the writer, don’t expect the writer to reward the publisher: now this means book publishers rather than magazine publishers, who often “pay” in the numbers of the publication.
Whenever a person or organization claims to be an agent or agency, but asks for money up front, run. An agent is paid as a percentage of the author’s royalties. As well as some expenses, such as mailing your manuscript to a publisher, with documentation of the actual postage cost, and possibly to photocopy your manuscript. However, some agents may ask you to send multiple copies instead of billing you for the copies. Any billing is for actual expenses, not inflated amounts.
Another point about expenses borne by the client: The author and the agent agree what expenses will be invoiced prior to are incurred. If the writer never agreed to any expense and the expense was not included in a contract, then the agent billing said expenses is at least unethical, if not criminal. Allowable expenses must be clearly included in any contract, and agents must not profit from such expenses.
Jenna Glatzer Writer’s Summary June 2006, states: “Never pay anyone to represent you.”
An agent is supposed to get a percentage of the client’s profits from the publishers and producers, not the client. That means that agents first do their job, sell the author’s work, and then get paid. Ethical Agents do not ask for representation fees, retainers, setup fees, evaluation fees, marketing fees, or editing fees. Nor do they suggest that an author “hire” an editor they recommend.
Getting a compatible, aggressive and knowledgeable agent is a good idea for anyone who wants to publish a book. However, a bad agent is worse than no agent. One way to verify an agent is to find the ethical organization for agents online, AAR, or go to Literary Agents.org.
Just don’t be fooled by unethical “publishers” or “agents” who turn your writing into a feast for their greed.
Sources:
1.Andrew Zack, The writerOctober 2005
2. Brian A. Klems, Writer’s SummaryJanuary 2006
3. Jenna Glatzer, with Daniel Steven, June 2006
4. Various speakers at the OWFI Conference, May 2006
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