Why is the About Words Agency "not recommended"?
jools
http://www.anotherealm.com/prededitors/peala.htm
which claims to give information and advice about agencies - in
particular, warnings about crooks and fraudsters who prey on on
writers.
To be honest when I read everything you had to say about your
principles and working practice, it just looked too good to be true.
So - wondering if there was a hidden catch - I looked up About Words on
that website and they have marked against your name (in scary red
letters)... "not recommended".
But - I hasten to add - this is a very important, BUT...
they say nothing else! No reason or explanation for this "warning".
If they had given tales of bad experiences which people have had with
you, then I would probably have taken it seriously. But as they didn't
have any specific reason for marking you "not recommended", then it
just made me curious. Since you seem very accessible, I thought I'd
write and ask you about it.
It seems to me that if they have no grounds for complaint against you
then you should complain to them for effectively blackening your name!
Do you have any inkling what their problem with you is?
Jools
Jeff Jewett
Business Breau has a fee to list their members in their network.
bze...@aol.com
Editors with no additional information?
First, who is Preditors & Editors? It is a Website sponsored by
Anotherealm.com (an electronic magazine--or Website--that publishes
speculative fiction online) and is run by David Kuzminski, who is an
author published primarily by electronic publishers. Anotherrealm has
sometimes also acted as a small press.
In the "criteria" for Preditors & Editors ratings, it states that:
"Neutral ratings consist of no editorial comment or the mild
admonishment that some complaints have been received which is
considered as neutral because nearly all publishers and agencies
eventually generate complaints."
Preditors & Editors has its own unique "rules" for its listings of
agents and editors. They are not based on the official AAR
(Association of Authors Representatives) guidelines, which About Words
Agency has always followed. (
http://www.aar-online.org/mc/page.do?sitePageId=10337) For example, we
have never charged reading fees.
The main complaint seems to have stemmed from About Words Agency
working closely with Bobbie Christmas to give free, no-obligation
personalized feedback to all of the queries we receive by mail. No
other agency provides such detailed free feedback.
I have always thought it was important to say why the query was not
accepted, but there are so many queries, that other agencies don't take
the time to reply with feedback. Frankly, neither do I, so I don't do
it all by myself.
Fortunately for About Words Agency and the authors who query us, Bobbie
Christmas agreed to donate her time and expertise to help us. No
obligation is required or implied, and there is no fee. It is
completely free.
That's it, with one more note chosen from the many happy authors who
have gone through this process: "I took your advice and purchased both
of the books you recommended. I found Cheney's 'Getting the Words
Right' especially helpful. I cannot thank you enough for recommending
that I edit the work myself. I have learned a lot and feel that the end
result is a much better book."
As you can see, we do not require that authors who query us use Bobbie
Christmas and Zebra Communications, although we did ask Bobbie to
insert information on her services that are available, so writers will
know who gave them the feedback. Of course we do recommend her, among
many other editors. To see the full list, go to
http://writers.aboutwords.org/tipseditors.html.
We also have hired Zebra to edit some of our clients' manuscripts. She
is an excellent editor with impressive credentials. Her most recent
book is an excellent book on editing titled "Write In Style," published
by Union Square Publishing and distributed by Simon & Schuster. (
http://www.zebraeditor.com/)
I hope this answers your question sufficiently. We look forward to
answering writing, editing, and publishing questions from you and
others.
-Susan Graham
About Words Agency