If you have had a problem with any of the following literary agencies or related companies, all of which are owned and operated by Robert Fletcher, please send me an email. My address is: anncrispin@aol.com
The Literary Agency Group, which includes the following:
-Children’s Literary Agency
-Christian Literary Agency
-New York Literary Agency
-Poets Literary Agency
-The Screenplay Agency
-Stylus Literary Agency (formerly ST Literary Agency, formerly Sydra-Techniques)
-Writers Literary & Publishing Services Company (the editing arm of the above-mentioned agencies)
We all know Aol can be temperamental, so if by chance you get a bounce when emailing to my address, please re-send your email to Writer Beware’s address, which is: beware@sfwa.org
The reason for this request is that I have some information for you that may help you out.
Thanks very much for your assistance.
Sincerely,
-Ann C. Crispin
Chair, Writer Beware
anncrispin@aol.com
www.writerbeware.com
I got a response in less than a week. I thought maybe my sci-fi adventure was going to be the next Star Wars.
Until I read that scripts 130 pages or more were subject to more fees. I wrote back asking how much more. I got a very simple email asking “how many pages do you have.” The very same day I received a message on my answering machine with one name and a 800 number. No mention of the Screenplay Agency. I did a search and found many web pages with negative responses, You just saved me$100.00
Thanks Alan.
I went through the whole process with The New York Literary Agency. When asked I sent an email with a link to my manuscript and shortly after I received an email telling me that they would like to represent me. I became suspicious. It was a little too fast. I asked a friend who was familiar with that area of business to look at what they had sent me. She wrote back that she thought it was a scam and noted a number of things that weren’t kosher about what they suggested. Getting and paying for a critique was one thing.
Well, that’s how I happened on this site. It didn’t cost me any money but did cost me some time and effort. I never did get too excited when they made their offer, because I was skeptical of it’s authenticity. As a result I wasn’t crest-fallen when I found out that they were crooks.
The search goes on. Good work Ms. Crispin.
I answered the questions on Children’s Literary Agency, and received a rapid response that appeared as though I were the next greatest Children’s author in America. I thought it too good to be true, since they had not even reada any of my work yet, and that alerted me to foul play. So, I never sent them my manuscript, or anything and never responded to their ads again.
Anything you can talk about yet? You know we’re drowning in curiosity. Besides, Bouncing Bobby has already read this – he goggles his name fairly consistently, from his responses to these warning boards.
I am, naturally, eager to learn what’s up — but will put my curiosity aside until All Can Be Made Known.
The first warning Bouncin’ Bobby should get is when the process server knocks on his door.
Thanks once again, dear Ms. Crispin and Ms. Strauss, for your tireless, vigilant campaign against scammers. May all your ventures succeed and all your investigations bear fruit.
Feeling tingly at the prospect of good progress. 🙂 🙂 You go, Ann!
It just now occurred to me that we’ve all missed one thing that could blow open PA, LAG, and a few other scams. We have Jim Fisher, a former-FBI agent on our side. He might know who to contact at the FBI in order to reach someone who doesn’t have to undergo a learning curve in order to understand just what kinds of literary scams are out there.
Obviously, we can’t throw just any case at the FBI, but in situations such as that involving PA where Phil Dolan has a wealth of documentation in the form of PA’s accounting books and their statements to the arbiter, putting those in the right hands at the FBI could conceivably shut down PA by the end of this year.
I hope this means that Bouncin’ Bobby violated the conditions of his previous conviction and is now receiving the proper attention from the authorities at last.
I haven’t had any experience with these, um, “agents” because of you two, Dave and the AW crowd, but I wanted to add my encouragement for those that have:
Don’t feel foolish; these scammers make $$$ – a lot – by sounding expert. They do it well, and it takes experienced pros to stop them. Wipe that flush off your face and stand up for your fellow writers. Please; we need you.
As for you, Ann – sic ’em, tiger!
Writers owe people like you, Victoria, Uncle Jim and Dave a very large debt of gratitude for the work you are doing to warn us about potential scammers, and to expose them to the light of day.
It was a reference to the old NEPAT thread on another forum that lead me to AW. I had seen ads for PA, thought it sounded too good to be true, and searched for references to them…I have also seen ads for the agency group you mention in this post in various and sundry websites.
If encouragement from an unpublished and virtually unknown writer means anything at all, I offer mine, and a very large Thank You for your work on my behalf, and on the behalf of others in positions similar to mine – even before you knew me, or them.
:D:D:D
Yay! You know I’m happy to see Bobby Fletcher catching a little heat. 😀