www.poetsliteraryagency.com

I got an email earlier today from a young poet, looking to me for guidance about a literary agency they have seen repeated ads for on the web:

www.poetsliteraryagency.com

I wrote him back, telling him what I knew, then decided I should post the same info on here.

There are a lot of people out there who prey on talented souls. A lot. It's the Salieri Effect. Those who are mediocre will try to tear down, destroy or even profit off of those who have the talent, the ability, the drive. Leeches attach themselves to the most robust of hosts.

And, of course, they even prey on those souls they can delude into thinking they are talented, their money spends the same as the talented and is sometimes easier to separate them from.

I did some research on the this "Poets Literary Agency" (they are part of an umbrella group of con artists that also run the organizations The New York Literary Agency, The Christian Literary Agency, The Children's Literary Agency, Stylus Literary Agency and The Screenplay Agency)...and I could say a great deal about them here, but I will defer to the inestimable James D. MacDonald at The Absolute Write Water Cooler:

Concerning The Poets Literary Agency

I have some great anecdotes about frauds perpetuated against poets on the web and in the world. I recall when a young woman took over the Poets Place on AOL after I had passed on the job (I'm a poet, not an admin). She had been running the chat room for about a month when she was approached by a group holding a "writers conference" in Washington, DC, wanting to present her with a "lifetime achievement award". Pretty good for a person who had never had a poem published, even self-published, and had been running a chatroom for a few weeks. They were just looking to get free promotion from her.

I don't make fun of people who do get conned. God knows I know enough poets who have fallen for the Poetry.com ripoff con. Not me, thank God, but many, many others.

Be careful out there, keep control of your fate, keep an eye on your rights, don't give someone money after they say there's no charge.