A subject near and dear to my own heart...
as some of you know I write. While the material I write is not publishable yet (it would have to be done for that to happen) and I am not a pro... I have done a lot of research over the years about the industry.
Writing si a tough industry, you have to stand out from thousands every day just to get your stuff considered... finding and agent, finding a publisher... it's heartbreaking and hard work. And more then likely after you have slaved from months or years on that first novel... it may never get published (now the second or third can be a different story, or if you are JA Konrath the 11th).
The worst part of being a writer (perhaps even more then the countless rejections) is the scammers who play on the unpublished sense of desperation and offer then what they think they are looking for. And that tees me off!
Folks repeat after me: Money flows from the publisher to the writer. There are a few exceptions... most of them are nonfiction or cases where authors published their own book under their own label.
Second tenet, and the one that has me riled up today... Agents do not get paid up front! Which brings me to Barbara Bauer. http://www.bbla.com/ She's listed on the site of 20 worst agents. Want a clue she's not legit...http://www.bbla.com/Clientswork.htm she reps newspapers? WTF? Most literary agents don't bother with magazine rights and I've not heard of a one that agents freelance journalists. The list of books she has "helped to publish" don't show up in a quick google search... and all look to have been published at least 20 years ago. And agents don't "help you publish" they sell your work!
Check her out on http://www.sfwa.org/beware/twentyworst.html (and I highly recomend this site for anyone who has considered publishing). It is against AAR policy to charge and author upfront. Agents get paid after they sell your work. If they spend the money sending it out and it nevers sells, they eat the costs. Because good agent, legit agents make their money by SELLING publishing rights to publishers. (and there is foriegn rights, audio rights, film rights... but that get's into a whole new subject.
Why am I targeting Barbara specifically? After all there are enough scammer out there that it's like shooting fish in a barrel. Well Barbara has been screaming Libal! Slander! Lawsuit! and managed to get one of the writing sites domains to pull the site. I have news for you Barbara... it's not libal if it is TRUE! The author comunity has been riddling the place with similar posts so here is my contribution to the educations of inexperienced writers. Oh ad Barbara... here's your chance to put up or shut up. You want this taken down, let me publish a list of the things you have SOLD. Writer Beware already has an extensive file on her charging upfront fees, but show me a legitimate sale. To a press that is not a vanity press, and I'll eat my words with a public apoligy...
Love moi.
BarbaraBauer
Writing si a tough industry, you have to stand out from thousands every day just to get your stuff considered... finding and agent, finding a publisher... it's heartbreaking and hard work. And more then likely after you have slaved from months or years on that first novel... it may never get published (now the second or third can be a different story, or if you are JA Konrath the 11th).
The worst part of being a writer (perhaps even more then the countless rejections) is the scammers who play on the unpublished sense of desperation and offer then what they think they are looking for. And that tees me off!
Folks repeat after me: Money flows from the publisher to the writer. There are a few exceptions... most of them are nonfiction or cases where authors published their own book under their own label.
Second tenet, and the one that has me riled up today... Agents do not get paid up front! Which brings me to Barbara Bauer. http://www.bbla.com/ She's listed on the site of 20 worst agents. Want a clue she's not legit...http://www.bbla.com/Clientswork.htm she reps newspapers? WTF? Most literary agents don't bother with magazine rights and I've not heard of a one that agents freelance journalists. The list of books she has "helped to publish" don't show up in a quick google search... and all look to have been published at least 20 years ago. And agents don't "help you publish" they sell your work!
Check her out on http://www.sfwa.org/beware/twentyworst.html (and I highly recomend this site for anyone who has considered publishing). It is against AAR policy to charge and author upfront. Agents get paid after they sell your work. If they spend the money sending it out and it nevers sells, they eat the costs. Because good agent, legit agents make their money by SELLING publishing rights to publishers. (and there is foriegn rights, audio rights, film rights... but that get's into a whole new subject.
Why am I targeting Barbara specifically? After all there are enough scammer out there that it's like shooting fish in a barrel. Well Barbara has been screaming Libal! Slander! Lawsuit! and managed to get one of the writing sites domains to pull the site. I have news for you Barbara... it's not libal if it is TRUE! The author comunity has been riddling the place with similar posts so here is my contribution to the educations of inexperienced writers. Oh ad Barbara... here's your chance to put up or shut up. You want this taken down, let me publish a list of the things you have SOLD. Writer Beware already has an extensive file on her charging upfront fees, but show me a legitimate sale. To a press that is not a vanity press, and I'll eat my words with a public apoligy...
Love moi.
BarbaraBauer