One of the Great Truths of life is that there will always be people who prey upon the desperate. Some are legal: sub-prime mortgage lenders, ticket brokers (aka scalpers), payday advance loans. Some are illegal: drug dealers, loan sharks, smugglers. It should come as no surprise that the writing community has its fair share of nefarious individuals ready to separate hopeful writers from their money, offering nothing but empty promises and shattered dreams in return.
Fortunately, there are still people who care enough about doing what’s right. One such group runs the Writer Beware blog (and corresponding web site.) They are sponsored by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, And their mission is to “shine a light into the dark corners of the shadow-world of literary scams, schemes, and pitfalls.” They offer a lot of useful information about scams, contests, agents and a host of other topics. Well worth checking out.
I made the Writers Beware blog the inaugural link in my Writing Resources section, to the right. As I come across more useful links, I’ll post them there.
Thanks for sharing this info.
First of all I LOVE what you have done with the place………VERY HAPPY AND BRIGHT!!!…… People are lame. I am glad you posted that link I will spread the word to my writer friends!! hope all is going well for you in the writing department!!!!
N
Terry, not a problem. I figure the more people who know about that site, the harder it will be for scammers.
Nikki, glad you like the new look. That black background was just too hard on the eyes. And the writing side of things is going well, thanks. I’ll be posting about that before long.