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Q&A How to figure out if an agent is "on the straight" or "shady"?

By far the best way to find an agent is to go to a writer's conference and pitch to as many of the agents in attendance as you can. This not only pretty much guarantees that the agents are legit (t...

posted 8y ago by Mark Baker‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

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#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2020-01-03T20:41:48Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25710
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T00:49:36Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/25710
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T00:49:36Z (almost 5 years ago)
By far the best way to find an agent is to go to a writer's conference and pitch to as many of the agents in attendance as you can. This not only pretty much guarantees that the agents are legit (they have been vetted by the conference organizers) it also gets you to the top of their reading pile if they request material from you. From the agent's POV, writers who spend the time and money to attend conferences are much more serious about their craft than hundreds whose send their manuscripts in the mail.

A shady agent, on the other hand, will probably prefer to keep their victims at arms length. The last thing most frauds want to do is to meet you face to face. A fraud with the brass to con you to your face is probably going to go after bigger fish than aspiring writers. There is only so much money you can con out of gullible writers; it is a volume business and the last thing you would want to do is spend the time and money on attending a conference where you con only can a few marks and have to look them in the eye while you do it.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2016-12-29T14:05:34Z (almost 8 years ago)
Original score: 4