Legit Literary Agents and Scammers: Tools to Separate the Two

Seeing as I use the searchable Agent Query database whenever I decide to query a project, I spend little time worrying about ‘fake’ agents or scammers. However, scammers hooking unsuspecting writers happens everyday and it is worth gaining some tools on how to identify the ‘bad guys’.

Over on Pub Rants, blog by agent Kristen Nelson, she discusses scammers and the handy websites Writer Beware and Preditors and Editors. She made a call to those of us with blogs to mention that scammers are indeed out there in case we have newbies checking out our sites. (It’s nice to know someone is looking out for us, isn’t it?)

Basically, an agent should never ask for money. (Check out the excellent article by Victoria Strauss for more tips on how to spot a scammer.) Agents get paid when you get paid. That means, you pay them NOTHING until they have made a book deal with a legitimate publisher. Now, some agencies do ask for a small fee to cover office expenses. However those fees should not be asked for upfront. Generally, they are taken off your cut of the book deal and should be mentioned in the contract you sign when you land your agent. And yes, it is common for agents to ask for 15% of what you make on book deals as their cut and 20% from foreign deals. It may seem like a lot at first glance, but agents work very hard for that money and in fact, often you wouldn’t even earn that 15% if you were dealing without an agent. Fact: agents almost always get a better deal for writers than writers do for themselves. Look at that, your agent just paid for him or herself AND you have more time to write and less worries. Awesome!

(If you are new to the game and aren’t sure what sort of things to expect from an agent, check out agent Rachelle Gardner’s list of things to expect of an agent and a couple things not to expect. They are worth checking out. As well, agent Ethan Ellenberg has an excellent article on how to pick a good agent.)

Back to scammers. If you are looking for an agent, you can also check to see if they are a member of AAR (Association of Authors’ Representatives) as those agents HAVE to act within the association’s code of conduct. That is NOT to say that if an agent is not a member that they are going to scam you. No, AAR is just another way to help you sort through your pile of potential agents. As well, check out Agent Query for a good agent. Check writer boards like Absolute Write Water Cooler and of course, the already mentioned Preditors and Editors and Writer Beware. You can also check out books on literary agents at your local bookstore like this one or this one.

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