We live in a time of great political and social changes, of liquid boundaries and cultural contaminations. This context makes it inevitable that literatures rapidly lose their national connotation and gain a more extended European trait. Over the past 15 years, we have established our leadership by reaching a wider audience which is not confined to the Italian borders. We opened branch offices in the main European capitals. Both our bestselling writers and emerging authors are published simultaneously in Italy, Spain, Germany and, from now on, in England as well. France and the United States are our next goals.
September 25, 2020
Pay-to-Play Alert: Europe Books / Europa Edizioni / Gruppo Albatros Il Filo
September 18, 2020
Dissecting a Scam: Fact & Fiction Entertainment and Literary Agency
Posted by Victoria Strauss for Writer Beware®
In the past week, I've gotten two questions about solicitations from a literary agency called Fact & Fiction.* As I've mentioned many times on this blog, it is rare for agents to cold-call writers...but that's not to say it absolutely never happens.
Here's the solicitation.
Unlike other solicitations I've been writing about lately, this one is actually somewhat credible--at least if you don't look too closely. It mentions the writer's work (I've redacted their book title, along with their name). It provides a rationale for reaching out that's not blindingly bogus on its face. Aside from the one typo, there are no glaring English-language errors. It doesn't ask for money.
Of course, it's odd that a literary agent would boast about being top of the slush pile--since the whole point of having an agent is avoiding the slush pile. And a request that a manuscript be "professionally edited" should always spark caution (for reasons that are explained here).
Still, an eager or inexperienced writer could be pardoned for mistaking this for a serious approach. Even I, when I first saw this email, didn't immediately tag it as a scam; I thought it might be a marginal agency looking to expand its client list. There are a lot of these; since they lack contacts and expertise, they specialize in placing books with smaller publishers, including many that don't typically work with agents. Whether it's worth paying a 15% commission for placement with a publisher you could have approached on your own is an open question--but at least (most) such agencies aren't overtly fraudulent.
.#YA authors and agents, you might want to check this page: https://t.co/ARtExAB8M9 . Apparent scam "agency" Fact & Fiction claims to rep multiple books it does not actually rep. Pls contact me if you or your clients are there--I'm planning a blog post at #WriterBeware this week
— Victoria Strauss (@victoriastrauss) September 14, 2020
I don't know if any of the authors or agents contacted Fact & Fiction themselves (there is an email address on the website), or if whoever's behind the scam watches Twitter--the many Philippines-based scamsters are well aware of me and my warnings--but when I checked in on Wednesday afternoon, poof! The "Gallery" link was gone. (Though not the page; it's apparently just the link that has been removed.)
The only thing missing from this so-fake-it's-almost-awesome picture was a demand for money...though I was sure I'd hear about that in due time. And I did--that same Wednesday, even sooner than I expected--from a writer who was asked for editing fees. Fortunately the writer smelled a rat, and was able to initiate a dispute with their credit card company to get their money back:
And here's Andie Millstone, the day after the writer got their refund, trying to salvage the scam by persuading the writer that it was all a big mistake, and their "dues" actually needed to go somewhere else:
"Partner editing firm" Beacon Books Agency is--you guessed it--one of the Philippines-based publishing and marketing scams listed in the sidebar of this blog (also in this post). It's not uncommon for the scams to operate under multiple names, and for writers recruited by one name to be routed to a differently-named company for payment.
I've amended my scam list to include Fact & Fiction and its relationship to Beacon Books Agency.
Writers, I can't say it enough. While it is very rare for reputable agents, publishers, or PR companies to phone or email authors out of the blue with offers of service, invitations to submit, claims you've been recommended by nameless book scouts or referred by Amazon (yes, I've seen this), or anything else--for scammers, solicitation is a primary recruitment tool.
Any contact of this type should make you extremely cautious. Resist the appeal to your emotions (the scammers are counting on you not doing so), and don't respond before thoroughly investigating whatever company or individual has targeted you. Carefully peruse the company's or individual's website (and be wary if they don't have one). Do a websearch; are there complaints? If there are claims of success, can you find independent evidence to corroborate them? Ask a question on social media. DM me on Twitter or drop me a line at Writer Beware.
The best remedy for scams is not to fall victim to them in the first place.
* Not to be confused with the identically-named advertising agencybased in Boulder, CO.
September 4, 2020
Contest Beware: "Lovecraft Country" Short Story Contest
- Just by submitting your entry, you agree to grant HBO and G/O Media, Inc. (The Root's parent company) an exclusive six-month license to your work.
- The license is "irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual, fully-paid-up and royalty-free, sub-licensable, [and] transferable", and empowers HBO and The Root "to use, publish, distribute, copy, edit, adapt, and perform your Entry or any elements thereof...online, in print, or in any other format, for any commercial or noncommercial purposes (e.g., marketing; advertising or native advertising; promotion; editorial coverage), whether related or unrelated to the Contest."
- After the exclusivity period expires, all "rights, title, license, and copyright" revert back to you.
- "After the Exclusivity Period, you grant to Sponsor and HBO an irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual, fully-paid-up and royalty-free, sub-licensable, transferable right and license to use the Entry as described herein."
Shouldn't The Root, or its parent company, want to provide accurate information to would-be contestants? Apparently, not so much. I've left this comment on the announcement page twice, once on 9/4 and once on 9/5: