Author: Jim Fisher
Genre: Non-Fiction
Summary: The story of a scam agent and how her agency was brought down.
The Take-Away: Dorothy Deering's literary agent career began when her own novel wasn't accepted by publishers. She quickly found out how hard it was to find an agent, but became engrossed in the "helping" of others. It was easy enough, after all, to purchasing a Publisher's Market book and forward manuscripts to agents. Writing one took work that may or may not pay off.
Deering was one of the first scam agent, someone who charged fees to the writer in order to help the writer find a publishing home for their manuscript. Deering was a smooth talker, coaxing thousands of dollars out of her victims while her husband kept the books and made sure that contracts were renewed each year, for around $300 a year.
The persistance of those who had been scammed, combined with opportune timing for a FBI agent lead to the discover of the fraud.
While it's easy to see how people could be misled, it's amazing that no one caught on sooner. Unfortunately, the practice of scamming new agents continues today, however, various watch dog groups, like Writer Beware, or writer's boards, like Absolute Write, are available to new writers.
Recommendation: Great read, especially if you've wondered how a scammer can stay in business.
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