Question

[Sheila]

Hey, I haven't been on in awhile and this may not be the right place to ask this but I have a question. Has anybody ever heard of Writers Literary Agency? I'm working with them. They want me to do a complete copy edit of my new book, which I do need to do, but are they legit or are they fraudulent? Please respond and if this isn't the place for this question, I do apologize.

Thanks,
Sheila

[Kevis]

Hi Sheila,

I was accepted by WL Children's Agency which is a subsidiary of the same agency you are with. They also told me that I needed to get my book reedited. Truth is, I have already had my book edited by two different professional editors and was not excited about hearing that they wanted me to edit my book again. It didn't help that the price tag was not cheap.

The rule of thumb in the publishing industry is that if you have to pay a publisher or agent for their services they are not legit. I am smart enough to see that my book does indeed need another edit. But the way I see it, if an agent really believes in my work, they would be willing to find a way to get my book edited even if I couldn't afford to do so. In fact,Wl Literary Agency did not even bother to contact me when my contract with them was up. Doesn't appear that they really had faith in my book, does it?

In recent years it has become known that WL Agency has a staff of editors to facilitate every situation in which an author would have to come out of the pocket--from critiques to professional editing. My experience in this business has taught me that legitimate agents don't have these kinds of operations. At best, an agent will edit your book themselves, not tell you that they have people on hand to do the job.

I'll give you this final warning. There are several authors lamenting WL's business practices saying that after they ponied up the cash for a slew of services their books did not get picked up by a publisher. Onoe of the major reasons why I believe they are a scam is that, contrary to what they say, they do not have access to book publishers. What they do have is a booth at book conventions where they supposedly try to interest publishers to buy your book. This is a red flag if I ever saw one.

As I alluded to before , I intentionally let my contract with WL Agency end to see if they would fight to retain me. WL Agency never bothered to contact me when my contract was up. But in the months between they kept asking me to pay them to edit my book. This tells me everything I need to know about them.

If I were you, I'd move on to greener pastures and forget about this scam artist company. There are plenty of reputable agents out there. You just need to do the work to find them. If any agent offers you the world but asks you for money, give em the boot.

[Sheila]

Thanks for that. I appreciate it. That is what I was beginning to think. I did do the critique and it wasn't nothing like the examples they showed me. It was a shoddy job at best.

I did sign a contract with them but that's ok. It was only for a year so I want fool with them. It will probably take that long to finish the book any way.

Thanks again. You saved me a lot of money and a lot of headache.

Sheila

[Stuart, Mod-Squad]

Hi Sheila,

I just saw your post moments ago, stay well clear! Kevis, has summarised the 'outfit' perfectly...

[Trent]

This is great information and I thank you for posting it. I had seen the ad and visited the site as a possible, though I'm not ready to search agents yet, I still keep the thought in mind.

You've saved me a lot of heart ache!

[Author]

I am with the agency right now. I just got started on the critique. It is obvious now that they have nothing to offer. I will have my book edited by an outside source so they can forget that. I just want to let my contract expire. I am sorry that I ever got involved with them.

[Sheila]

Thank you all so much. That's all I need to hear. I really appreciate it. Writing is a dream and a passion of mine and I don't really appreciate people taking advantage of me. I know there are those that will if I am not careful and I thank God that I have friends like you. You are all great!

Sheila

[K.G.]

Thank you for bringing this to light, and thank all who commented. The business is tough enough without having to fight wolves in sheeps clothing too. Nice seeing you again Sheila. Kathy

[Sheila]

You to Kathy. I'll have to make it a point to get on here more.

[Dee, Group Creator]

Thanks Elizabeth, for posting the link to "Preditors and Editors"

http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/

It has always been my first source to find out who is legit and who to stay away from.