This article is to all those wanna-be authors out there and I know there are a lot of you! I recently went in search for an agent to promote my children's book and found one called the “Children's Literary Agency”. All started off well and I got accepted as an author for their agency. After they had gotten the contract ready to go and sent it through to me to sign, they asked me to get a professional critique. They suggested that I go through a company they had dealings with to get this critique, but I went in search of my own editor.
I found a freelance editor to do the critique for me for just $20 (and this was a professional with a lot of qualifications), the company that the agent wanted me to go through was going to cost me $70. It was a good thing that I went with the freelance editor because she was kind enough to point out a forum, explaining to me that this agent the “Children's Literary Agency” was in fact a fraud! You could imagine my surprise as I am reading through this forum, but that surprise turned to anger as I had just realized that this company was trying to scam me for money!
The forum explained that this company the “Children's Literary Agency” was also running under the names of-
- Christian Literary Agency
- New York Literary Agency
- Poets [sic] Literary Agency
- The Screenplay Agency
- Stylus Literary Agency (formerly ST Literary Agency, formerly Sydra-Techniques)
- The Writers [sic] Literary & Publishing Services Company
These companies all ran under different names but were in actuality all run by the same people. I have to say that I found it strange that the agent, when sending me the contract, was willing to have an “electronic block signature” instead of a normal signature, which would be by law legal. I find that if you just use an “electronic block signature” you could just say that the company typed it in there themselves.
I have learned from reading this forum that they have scammed people out of approximately $5000 altogether, probably more. The website I got scammed from was http://www.childrensliteraryagency.com and there are at least another 6 so just be careful when choosing an agent and remember, no respectable agent (or publisher) will ever ask you for money up front and they will NEVER let you use an “electronic block signature” with your contract.
Here is a clipping from part of their website-
Our mailing address is Children's Literary Agency, 275 Madison Ave, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10016. We DO NOT accept submissions there without permission
What I don't understand is if they are a legitimate company, why can't you send your manuscripts in through the mail, like every other publisher and every other agent? Please don't get caught like I did.
