Angie,

I need your advice on a proposal just sent to me by an agency, [name removed.] It’s below.

T.J.

I reviewed the series of emails you sent to me. The first red flag about the emails is that the URL he provided as part of his email address is not a working website. And, while that URL is registered, it is only a year old. If the company is truly only a year old, all of the connections and experience they are touting are bogus.

I can find literally no chatter about them online. If they were an established company with successes, people would be talking about them.

The “rush-rush” of the email (gotta do it by this Saturday!!) when so much money is at stake is another red flag. And, the fact that it’s a “one time” opportunity is, to be completely honest, total B.S. I’m sure they’d take your money at any time if you chose to participate.

I did find the real website for the company. They are just another self-publishing services company. It has the same logo as the guy’s email so that’s the company. They are not a literary agency. They are not a traditional publisher. And, they are not coordinating manuscripts to show to large publishing companies.

They are simply luring in authors, and then upselling them on worthless services. The fact that they’re quoting authors $4,000 for those bogus services is terrifying.

Here’s what they were probably going to do:
1. Take your money
2. Do none of the services they offered
3. Tell you later that your book did not get picked up by a major publisher or a movie producer
4. Tell you they can republish your book for thousands more, and “make it look better” to increase your chances of landing a traditional publishing or movie deal. And, of course, you’d need to pay the $4K all over again at that time.

We are seeing increasing reports of these types of scams. I am so glad you wrote to me before sending those clowns your money!

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