Writers, beware

Look, I'm not an expert. I'm a hopeful, a neophyte, a wanna-be. I write, but I have not yet finished the book nor even begun querying agents. I may never be published. I might be the next Harper Lee. I just don't know. (And I really suspect ... *not*.)

However, if you're here because you're a lit-blog surfer, then you know what the latest scandal is about. It's about Absolute Write's site being shut down because they posted the Top 20 Worst Scam-Artist "Agents" List that was compiled by the incredibly reputable and smart Writers Beware site. One of the "agents" included in this list is the infamous Barbara Bauer, who may or may not have other names in other careers, including theatre.

(The very idea that an actor can be so horrid... I cannot even begin to rant about this travesty!)

Miz Bauer has a habit of rattling her cage bars and trying to scare those who have exposed her as the scam artist that she is, and she wrote to the webserver that hosts Absolute Write, and accused Absolute Write of spamming her. The host panicked and pulled the plug on Absolute Write, which is completely ridiculous. Barbara Bauer has as many legs to stand on as a double amputee. She has as much legal right to complain as a blackguard. In other words -- none.

The good that comes out of this is that every lit blogger on the Web is outing Miz Bauer for the fraud and charlatan that she is.

The evil is that writers in search of a beloved community are bereft while the host takes time to figure out that Miz Bauer cannot possibly cause them as much damage as she causes innocent newbie writers.

What I cannot help but notice is that unlike the scrapbooking community, the writers have come together as one to decry Miz Bauer's unscrupulous tactics. In scrapbooking, you could get maybe 20 people to agree, "So-and-so is a plagiarizing bitch," or "Such-and-such Inc. is ripping artists off to the tune of several hundred thousand dollars." You couldn't get the whole scrapbooking community to rise up righteously as one to out a thief or a tyrant. But the writers can. Isn't that odd? And... endearing?

P.S. -- To any aspiring writers out there -- the Top 20 List of "agent" scammers is just a Top 20. There are plenty more where they came from. If you are in search of an agent, be sure to check out Writer Beware and AgentQuery to find an agent who is both reputable and trustworthy. The rule of thumb is that the agent earns money when he/she sells your work to a publisher. You don't pay an agent up front. Period. End of discussion. If in doubt, read Miss Snark. She's the best.