Writers Digest University is an arm of the popular web and print publication. They offer courses and other activities designed to appeal to unpublished writers. I’m in that group. We’re particularly vulnerable because we can’t easily find help to get published.
The people at Writers Digest know this and work hard to find ways to take our money. The worst scam is the so-called Literary Agent Boot Camp. For a couple of hundred bucks, a writer can submit a query letter, synopsis, and the first ten pages of the book. A “reputable” literary agent will review the submission and provide feedback. There’s also an opportunity to view a one-hour video the agent has made and an opportunity to ask questions.
Sounds good, right? Well, let’s be honest. The big draw is that the agent is going to spend time with your submission materials. She will help you make your submission more appealing to agents you query. Maybe, just maybe, she will want to read your manuscript and represent you. That’s worth a couple of hundred bucks, isn’t it?
paula munier just wants your money
My experience was less than thrilling. I signed up for the boot camp. Several agents from the Talcott Notch Literary Agency were participating. I selected Paula Munier because her bio on the agency website indicated that she represents authors who wrote books like mine. I didn’t expect her to fall in love with my writing. I was hoping for help finding an agent.
I figured that she would help me make my query letter more exciting. You can imagine my surprise when she wrote,
This was a very fun read. You have a very strong and engaging voice and that is half the battle. Bravo!…
The voice is great, but when a writer has a great voice the tendency is to rely on it to the detriment of other elements. So watch that.
She gave me some excellent advice on ways to improve my story. I can’t argue with that. In a later email she told me that I’m a good writer and storyteller. She invited me to query her. Of course, I did. This is when the wheels came off. She failed to respond to my query. I would have expected a polite rejection, at the very least. But nothing seemed odd, especially since she invited my query and told me that she liked my story.
It took me months to realize that what really happened was that I paid an agent to look at my submission. She probably got most of my $200. Her advice was kind and on target, but her interest in me and my work ended at getting my money. You aren’t supposed to pay an agent to consider your work. I did.
An ethical agent is supposed to respond to invited queries. She told me that she liked my work. She invited me to query her. I wasn’t in the slush pile, was I? I thought I was in the elite group of invited authors. I wasn’t. My submission went into the trash unread. She had my money. Honest consideration and decency were not on her menu.
I can’t claim that I didn’t get any value from that boot camp. I did. Paula’s feedback was useful. What hurt was the strong praise followed by silence. We weren’t strangers. I would have been fine with a polite rejection. I suppose it’s my own stupid belief that all that praise was nothing more than smoke.