In a previous blog I talked about vanity presses and why I think a writer should avoid them. This week the Writers Beware® blog highlighted a bogus company that offers self-published and wanna-be-published writers ways to get their books or unpublished stories looked at by TV and movie companies and/or republished by traditional publishers.

I suggest you read the entire article @: https://accrispin.blogspot.com/

“Paper Bytes Marketing Solutions and its Stable of Imaginary Agents”

Basically, these bogus companies contact writers by letter or email saying they can help a writer better market a book. Or, if the writer isn’t published or is self-published, the contact might appear to be from an agent (they even sometimes use the names of real agents) who has been told about the book.

Writers familiar with how publishing works know agents don’t solicit books. Most receive hundreds of queries a week. They’re not out looking for work. (The only exception might be if you are friends with an agent’s client and your friend has read your book and suggested it to the agent.)

The moment you receive an unsolicited email promising you great things, you should be wary.

These marketing companies and agents initially say this isn’t going to cost you anything upfront, that they’ll make their money when you make your money. But once they have you, there will be “small fees” for certain services. Small fees that either increase (once they have you hooked) or continue to “pop up” over and over.

How to protect yourself?

Again, go to Writers Beware® and read the entire article, but I suggest the first step is delete any unsolicited emails promising you great things. If you don’t do that, the following is what Victoria Strauss posted on Writers Beware®.

1. Know how things work in the publishing world. Real literary agents don’t sell services to potential clients, or refer them to companies that do. Real agents don’t commonly contact writers out of the blue. The warnings at the Writer Beware website can help you recognize non-standard or predatory practices.
2. Proceed from a point of skepticism. An unsolicited contact from a literary agent isn’t automatically suspect–as commenters have pointed out on a number of my other posts, it does sometimes happen. But it is not common. With the volume of scams currently in operation, out-of-the-blue contacts are far more likely to be illegitimate than on the level. Caution is always in order–especially if it sounds too good to be true.
3. Mistrust–and verify. Do a websearch…and do it BEFORE you respond. A real agent, with real sales, will have at least some web presence; be suspicious if you find nothing, or almost nothing (strategically, Paper Bytes’ imaginary agents have common names or names that are similar to celebrities’, making them harder to research). Vet the agent’s website: my recent blog post unmasking a fake agency provides some tips for that. If the agent claims to rep authors or books, or to have worked at a particular agency or publisher, see if you can verify whether this is true (often you can find out who agents an author with a simple websearch, or by visiting the author’s website).
4. Use your common sense. Out of the blue, too good to be true? Extra-careful research is in order. Also…anyone can make an occasional typo. But agents selling rights in English-language markets are capable of speaking and writing grammatical English. No reputable agent would send out language-challenged emails like the ones above.

Her 5th suggestion is for suspicious writers to contact her (Victoria Strauss) at: Contact me at Writer Beware If she’s heard something, or received complaints, she’ll let you know.

Getting published isn’t easy and even after you are published, getting noticed isn’t easy, but don’t let the scammers take advantage of you.