The official blog of Writer Beware® shines a bright light into the dark corners of the shadow-world of literary scams, schemes, and pitfalls. Also providing advice for writers, industry news, and commentary. Writer Beware® is sponsored by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association.
Victoria is out of town for a while, so I’m holding down the fort. Does the name “Bill Appell” or “Denise Sterrs” mean anything to anyone here? I sure hope not! They were the “dynamic duo” who ran one of the biggest writing scams in history, the infamous “Edit Ink.” Edit Ink was up andRead More
To paraphrase a famous television ad: “Writers don’t let writing friends (and acquaintances) get scammed.” Yesterday, I attended a women’s conference up at PG Community College. The keynote speaker was a dear friend of mine, a mystery writer who writes both as Elizabeth Peters and Barbara Michaels. (If you haven’t read her work, it’s great,Read More
Wow, my post no. 40 really stirred up some discussion! Bring it on! I think I understand why that article inspired a lot of commentary. The urge to be read is something most writers feel. Writers like Emily Dickinson who are content to write totally or mostly for themselves, with no urge to share theirRead More
From the comments section of my last post, courtesy of Anonymous: So, what would you say about an agent who is contacting dozens of electronically published authors? She’s always very flattering about their novels, and asks if they have representation. She’s personable and polite, but the only web information on her is that it’s believedRead More
“Everyone has to start somewhere.” This is the justification used by countless aspiring writers for signing with an agent who a) has no relevant professional credentials, b) has no track record of sales (sometimes after many years in business), c) has a website/contract/correspondence laced with mis-spellings and grammatical errors, or d) all of the above.Read More
Sometimes, I can’t think of anything to post about in this blog. It’s a distinctly anxious feeling, rather like the experience of the newspaper editor protagonist of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novel, TRUTH, when he looks at the giant printing press, just squatting there waiting, waiting for content. “I must feed it,” he thinks, half inRead More
