Writers Beware: WL Writer's Literary AGency

j4london

j4london

There's a large advert in the june issue from WL Literary Agency, which seems to be eager to find new clients. However, a bit of research with a writers' watchdog site reveals this:


Thank you for contacting us. You have asked about an agent/agency not listed in the various groups of experienced literary agents on our web site, nor among the fifty or so new agents whose names would have generated a positive response.

The Literary Group with its Stylus (which was ST and before that Sydra Techniques), New York, Children's, and Christian so-called literary agencies, and the Screenplay Agency (and lately we've heard of a Poetry Agency) and Authorhouse which appears to be connected to the New York Literary Agency cited above, all get thumbs down from us, though the person sitting at the top of the tree, a Robert Fletcher - another name that comes up frequently is Sherry Fine - does point to some very few apparently legitimate sales, citing the same four or so for each of the so-called agencies!

This operation in its various guises has been around for five or six years that we're aware of; were it a true bookselling operation it would have hundreds of sales to point to. Recently, we saw them make an offer to "publishers" to PAY THE PUBLISHER $2,500 to publish a book by one of their clients. The end being, of course, that they could claim more sales... As for how they make money, their M.O. seems to be to eventually request writers pay for an "independent critique" of their work. Then of course there will be an offer to refer the writer to an editing service. We have been told that Fletcher owns Rapid Publishing, aka Writers Literary and possibly an editing service called My Editor is a Saint. There is also a Robert M. Fletcher cited in the state of Washington in 2001 for offering and selling unregistered securities and acting as an unregistered broker-dealer, for which a $50,000 fine was to be levied.

The entire Literary Group operation is highly suspect and we are not alone in thinking so. Similar evaluations can be found on the Writer Beware page of SFWA.org and at other watchdog sites. (Please be aware that this is NOT the entirely legitimate Literary Group International run by Frank Weimann. Also, that we do not normally track agents for screenplays, much less poetry, but the reach of this outfit demands that we include this info here.)

No writer with a real manuscript of any merit needs to become involved with this enterprise, and on the basis of their paltry public record of sales (we have been tracking in the US, UK, and Canada since 1980) we counsel against doing so.

Katy

Thanks for that. Cd you give addresses of watchdog sites as there is an agent I would like to check out.

Amanda

well done you for posting this.  we all need to be aware of companies that do not have our best interest at heart.

Zoe

Thanks for sharing this with us - I've not come across this agency but if I do I'll know too steer well clear.

Carol

I'll certainly check out if Authorhouse are connected, as they approached us at Lowdham Book Festival.

Stirling

I was thinking about Authorhouse a few years ago I found them expensive and their so called 'publishing advisers' nothing more than agressive salesmen.  I will also warn you that they where sued in the US Carol.

Not that it wouldn't be a bad thing to hear them talk, I repeat the advice I say so often.  Before using them, research and research.

Stirling

You might find this website useful Carol (and anyone considering self publishing using POD technology):

http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6340616.html?text=booksurge

The libel and defamation cases circulated around their failure to screen manuscripts and publish any thing and everything they where sent.

Carol

Thanks for this info, we were considering asking them to come and talk to our members next year, but I will certainly look at everything available.
We work hard to avoid info from dubious sources reaching our members via the club, for example competitions that are aimed at selling anthologies.