Young Writers Society

I thought this would be a good thread for us. What I mean by background check is if you are looking at an agent, editor, publisher or contest and aren't sure if it's a legitimate operation or not, you can ask me. I'm sure with a little digging most of you can figure it out for yourselves, but sometimes it is difficult to tell, so I am here to help you if you need it.

For my fist background check I tell all of you this:

PublishAmerica is a total scam of a publisher. And that my friends is from personal experience with them.

So, post your questions here And I will do my very best to find you an answer.

Hey Adam!

You may or may not know that I've been sending out lots of query letters, trying to get my novel Gypsie Eyes published. Well, one of them finally showed an interest! Robin Rue of Writer's House has requested my first fifty pages and a synopsis. I've heard nothing bad or even suspicious about Writer's House, so I sent it off with no qualms. Even now, I'm not really worried (she hasn't gotten back to me yet, obviously), but if you have any inside information of Ms. Rue, I'd love to hear it. Thanks so much for your help, darling.

*offers tempting selections of chocolate and toffee*

Hey, I hope you don't mind if I jump in and post something for gyrfalcon Adam - if you do, just let me know.

Gyrfalcon, so far as I'm aware of, Writer's House is completely legit. It's actually the publishing company of Stephenie Meyer (Author of the Twilight Saga). Also, Writer's House is in Writer's Market, and I'm pretty sure they do background checks before putting publishing companies in that book...

Granted, I could be wrong on that aspect.

Hope that helped!
Adam, please don't eat me!

~Bella Bambina~

First, off, I didn't know that, second of all, she looks to be Legitimate. The operation is a true blue agency and you were very smart for going for an Agent. They are a lot less likely to try and mess over authors cause if you don't make money, neither do they.

Looking at their best sellers list and double checking them, you have nothing to worry about.

I couldn't be more proud of you actually, they are a pretty big time agency, the fact that she requested your work is a big deal. Now, when she contacts you again, she'll prolly have a contract. It is very very important that you go over it. I know you already know that, but you have to make sure you totally understand what you're agreeing to do and what they're agreeing to do.

Other than that, you're good to go. I wish you the best of luck, if you need me for anything else, feel free to ask.

EDIT: *eats Bella* :p You beat me to it.

Thanks so much, both of you! Adam, you really made my heart jump with the word 'contract'--won't she request a full manuscript first? Honestly, though, I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high (and failing, of course), but I'm really encouraged by what you say about Writer's House. Even to have one of their agents consider me is a huge morale boost!

Hadn't thought about a full copy. Usually, agencies like this will reflect the entirety of your book on the sample they read, they have so many queries to go through that they need to grab the good ones when they come in. I could be wrong, she may ask for a full copy first, but There is also a chance she will want to sign you now and then go into it.

gyrfalcon: Well, I have to say, I'm very impressed. =) Glancing over their website, they look like a very big agency. Look at all the bestsellers and award winning books they've represented! Robin Rue is one of their senior agents as well, so I'm guessing that's a good sign too.

This is a very good sign. Even if they end up ultimately turning down your novel (which is still quite likely at this point, so don't start celebrating just yet), the simple fact that such a prestigious agency considers your novel's idea and your writing style to be publishable is a very good sign.


Adam: You might want to add into your initial post that a quick and easy way to check out if a publisher/agent is respectable is see if they ask you for any money. If they do, they're a scam. Of course, this method is far from perfect (see: PublishAmerica, who would actually seem to pass this test). =)

Glad your doing this. I hate the scam publishers and agents floating around on the net so much. They pick up people's dreams and crush them, whilst also taking their money.

Congratulations, Gyr! *crosses fingers* I actually sent a query to Writers' House too - first to Stephen Malk, who rejected it, then to Jodi Reamer, who is Stephenie Meyer's agent. (Apparently I'm extremely masochistic and I simply enjoy rejection.) Good luck!

There's also a great site that gives you oodles of info on both scams and legitimate agencies and publishers: Preditors & Editors. Check it out!

Does anybody have any information about Dorrance Publishing? I keep getting emails from them cause I submitted something once and I would like to know if they are really legit.

Well, Dorrance sends me stuff in the mail...they spell my name wrong...I don't like them.

That being said, they are a Vanity Publisher. So you pay them and they'll print it for you. Not a real publisher, just a money shark in my opinion.

Okay, thank you very much.

Perfect! Anyway, I do journalism on the side and can't find crap worth of pay for it...I've tried Associated Content (http://www.associatedcontent.com/) which is good I suppose if you're not really looking for much money. However my brand of journalism is worth more than $3.40 up-front (I write Gonzo, Hunter S. Thompson-esque) and I can't find much more out there and am not really sure about the process of entering these writings for a magazine, do note I don't want an agent I just want to get my writing out for a fair price...as well I'm not looking for a crapload of cash, but there has to be something better than $3.40 out there.

Well, I'm not really sure what you're asking of me, but I can tell you that Journalism is a rough area to get in. Since you're new to it, as far as the world is concerned, you're looking at starting really really small in the money aspect.

The best I can say for you is to start small. Try to get a job at your local newspaper cause everyone has to start out somewhere. Networking is a key part of journalism. Knowing the right people to get the right stories.

That's why I suggest your local paper because they have a large contact list of people who have other large contact lists and you will be able to work your way through gaining a reputation and building a good list of people.

Hope that helps.

PublishAmerica is a total scam of a publisher. And that my friends is from personal experience with them.

Is there any way that you can elaborate upon this, please? One of my dear friends who'd been working on her book for six years was finally accepted to be published by PublishAmerica! They sent her the contract, her first dollar, and we're just waiting for her release now. I suppose there's nothing to really be done about it now, but if there's truly something wrong with the company I can advise her against using them again in the future? Please let me know! Thank you!

-Hannah-

The Storyteller


I've had a poem published by The Storyteller magazine, adn I am fairly certain it's legit, for anyone that's interested, and for Adam to do his nifty background search.