Scammer Sightings

Where do they come from, these scammer literary agents? How do they find the gullible? Check the back pages of Writers Digest and you'll find them, prominently displaying their services in large boxed ads.

"Manhattan Firm Seeks New Writers" reads one banner. Mark Sullivan Associates, with offices on Fifth Avenue in New York, might be able to represent you. If they do, why, you could garner an advance between $5,000 and $100,000. Six figure advance! Money, money, money and what fledgling author could resist? Why, this company only wants serious efforts, so they must be serious themselves. Of course, the fledgling does not know anything about the stunt that was pulled off by several moderators at Absolute Write, who submitted to another scammer with other intentions, and scored big.

But before you send off your sample chapters, grasshopper, you would want to look at the website of Mr. Mark Sullivan. Nowhere on his page does he list the dubious distinction of being one of Writers Beware Twenty Worst Agents. Ah, but he does mention some of the watchdog groups who have outed him:

Internet reference services on literary agents, like P&E, WritersBeware, Agent Gripes, etc. express a general opposition to the reading fee, although some of them are selling their own services quite aggressively with poor research behind them.

But P&E, WritersBeware, Absolute Write, why, those are all free sites that have no services to sell at all. Mr. Sullivan is obviously confused, so we cut him some slack and move on through his FAQs.

What about that reading fee he charges? He feels that it's perfectly all right, as long as the fee charger is in New York City, where the publishers are, that the scammer, er, fee charger reads the material, and that the fee is reasonable. How about that, his fee is exactly as much as the reasonable fee. Why, doesn't that just prove how legitimate he is?

Next? Look at his list of clients. Legitimate agencies have no problem with detailing their clients, the books sold, and the name of the publisher. Mr. Sullivan is sadly lacking in that department. So he charges to read a manuscript, he offers editing services (no mention of the cost of that process), and then he can't seem to sell anything to legitimate publishing houses that require agented submissions.

Real agents do not charge anything to read your manuscript if they ask for it, because they are looking for material to sell. It's their business. It's how they make money. Reading fees are never legitimate, and there is no such thing as a reasonable amount to charge a writer.

Mark Sullivan claims to have been in business since 1992. At $225 a pop, he would have to sucker about five people per week to make a comfortable living on submissions alone. Add in some editing, which doesn't seem to be very good if he can't sell a manuscript to a legitimate house, and it's a vacation home in the Hamptons.

Don't you go falling for it.

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