Queen Uhuru
07-26-2004, 12:58 PM
For anyone who feels they've been dealt with in a less than honorable fashion by any agent or agency, do check out some of the following websites. Even if most of them deal with novel writing, some of the cautions and advice contained on these websites is still valuable to all writers.
I know it's probably been said here before, but I think it bears repeating: An agent makes his/her money off of you, the writer, when they sell your work and they get their percentage of the sale. They probably should not be making their money by referring you to a script doctor service or by charging their own "reading fees" or other set-up money.
Also, I'm hearing more and more about some sort of waffly representation deals that involve $1 options and tieing up the writer's work and somehow not much ever comes of these kinds of representation. Not saying it's all bad, but use your common sense. If that agent is not getting your career off the ground, you might want to wonder what exactly are they doing for you.
Here are the links:
WRITER BEWARE (http://www.sfwa.org/beware/).
AGENT VERIFICATION (http://www.agentresearch.com/agent_ver.html)
WARNINGS FOR WRITERS (http://www.naww.org/employeebios.html)
EPIC RED FLAG/YELLOW FLAG LIST (http://www.epicauthors.org/redflags.html)
WHISPERS AND WARNINGS (http://www.writersweekly.com/whispers_and_warnings.php)
THE BEWARES BOARD (http://pub43.ezboard.com/fabsolutewritefrm11)
STORM WARNINGS (http://www.fictionwriters.com/storm-warnings.html)
WRITER ALERTS (http://www.nwu.org/alerts/alrthome.htm)
LITERARY AGENT WATCHDOG (http://www.fictionaddiction.net/agentwatchdog.html)
I know it's probably been said here before, but I think it bears repeating: An agent makes his/her money off of you, the writer, when they sell your work and they get their percentage of the sale. They probably should not be making their money by referring you to a script doctor service or by charging their own "reading fees" or other set-up money.
Also, I'm hearing more and more about some sort of waffly representation deals that involve $1 options and tieing up the writer's work and somehow not much ever comes of these kinds of representation. Not saying it's all bad, but use your common sense. If that agent is not getting your career off the ground, you might want to wonder what exactly are they doing for you.
Here are the links:
WRITER BEWARE (http://www.sfwa.org/beware/).
AGENT VERIFICATION (http://www.agentresearch.com/agent_ver.html)
WARNINGS FOR WRITERS (http://www.naww.org/employeebios.html)
EPIC RED FLAG/YELLOW FLAG LIST (http://www.epicauthors.org/redflags.html)
WHISPERS AND WARNINGS (http://www.writersweekly.com/whispers_and_warnings.php)
THE BEWARES BOARD (http://pub43.ezboard.com/fabsolutewritefrm11)
STORM WARNINGS (http://www.fictionwriters.com/storm-warnings.html)
WRITER ALERTS (http://www.nwu.org/alerts/alrthome.htm)
LITERARY AGENT WATCHDOG (http://www.fictionaddiction.net/agentwatchdog.html)