From time to time I post about the scum-bag agents and publishers out there who prey upon the unwary writer. This is a serious item to me.

Back in July I posted Aultbea Publishing, Ltd that was ripping-off writers, which I had heard about via the Grumpy Old Bookman.

Today, I received a comment to that post. Since the original post was way back when, I decided to do a redux and post the comment here. I think it’s important to see what these scum-bag agents and publishers are doing.

re Aultbea
The aforesaid publisher recently showed extreme interest in my book claiming in a meeting that it was “exactly what he was looking for”, and was eager to publish it and also show it to film companies. I traveled personally to Inverness to meet with said publisher as he wanted the full manuscript and sequel in hard copy and disk, and he was keen to have this title published quickly. He promised to send me a contract within two weeks and said that in six months I would have to be free to do lots of publicity and marketing. Naturally I was overwhelmed by the response. To reiterate his words he said “This book will change you life”. In a sense he is correct as I have never felt so foolish or so overwhelmingly disappointed in human nature! In addition, I must add that during our first meeting I was asked to contribute £15,000 towards marketing, something which seemed rather unusual and to which I said no. He apologized for the misunderstanding saying that I would be offered a 50/50 royalties deal. We finished the meeting with said publisher agreeing to draw up a contract that suited both of us. Two weeks later instead of receiving a contract as promised I received a letter stating that they had decided not to proceed with my book. I now feel incredibly stupid.

Comment by dissapointed author | October 7, 2006

But more than that, I want to tell “disappointed author” not to give up, not to let this scum tear down your dreams. It happens to the best of us, believe me. And there is a lot of support out there, a lot of writers who care and would not consider you “incredibly stupid” at all.

May I suggest that you check out these links: Writer Beware and Preditors & Editors. And, if you’d like to hang with the greatest, most supporting bunch of writers on the planet, check out Backspace. If you join, send EJ a PM.