Character development is an essential component of fiction writing, and a character profile template can help you.
You need to get to know your fictional characters well before you start writing your new book.
No matter what genre you are writing, you should create profiles for your main or major characters before you begin.
The best way of organizing your thoughts is by creating a quick character profile template.
What is a character profile?
If you are planning to write a book or even a short story, you need interesting people to write about. You might have a few ideas in your head already, but they are not fully developed.
But a short bio of a couple of sentences is not going to be enough.
There will be many times in your story that you will need to refer to precise details about your characters.
Very often, it is a lack of attention to minor details that can cause problems in a plot or with a character’s story.
When I started writing, I had no idea about creating a character description template.
It led to me making so many mistakes in my first drafts. I was writing by the seat of my pants, and it didn’t end well at all.
Writing a book needs careful planning and outlining. Without it, you can end up with a convoluted story with very flat characters.
If you detail as much as you can before you begin, you will have a quick and reliable reference you can use as you write your book.
It might take you a little while to complete your character details, but it will save you time in the long run.
How to plan a character profile template
There is a lot of choice in book writing software. Many of the premium versions come with character profile cards.
But you don’t need to buy expensive software to create as many profiles as you need for character creation.
It’s very easy to detail all the information about a character’s life by creating a simple template in Word or Pages.
Here is an example of creating a free character profile template complete with some details.
A good character profile will have as much information as possible to form a complete overview.
Here are some of the essential character traits and details you will need to include.
- Short bio
- Personal data
- Physical description
- Personality traits
- Positive and negative attributes
- Mannerisms and habits
- An image
You can always add more elements if you wish.
You might not use all of the information in your story. Simple things like knowing a birthday and astrological sign might not seem necessary.
But as your story develops, small details like this can sometimes crop up.
If you are well prepared, you are not going to confuse a reader by using two different dates in your story.
If you write historical fiction, dates are a big issue. It is so easy to get things wrong or out of order.
If your character lived in the 17th century, a birth date of August 1725 would be wrong. It should be 1625.
When you write, interesting characters should always be showing the story to the reader. The more details you know about them, the more depth you can give to your story.
How to create your template
If you do a Google search, you can find many free templates to download.
But most of them want your email address before you can download the template.
If you are like me, you want to avoid getting even more marketing emails. But it’s up to you.
It’s really so simple to do it yourself by making a simple Word or Pages template.
All you need to do is set up your new document in portrait or landscape, and save it as a template.
You can add as many text boxes as you think you will need. I also add an image holder. I’ll cover more on that later.
Here is what my basic template looks like.
If you click the image above you can download my character profile template in pdf.
And no, you don’t need to hand over your email address to get it.
You are welcome to print it out if you are happy to write character details by hand. Or, if you know how to do it, you can edit and annotate the pdf file.
But, if you prefer, you can create your own template like this in less than five minutes.
Why you should add an image
There is nothing better than a visual image of your main characters. If you have a picture in your character profile template, it will help you a lot when you write.
It doesn’t need to be anything spectacular. But a picture that is representative of what you have in mind is a great idea.
Where can you find an image?
You are not going to use or share your image online. You are only going to use it for your template. So you can use almost any image you can find.
The best places to start looking are royalty-free stock image sites. There are thousands upon thousands of photos you can choose from.
You can find a lot of images of people as well as fantasy images and even aliens. Here is one I found on Pixabay.
It’s okay to show you this image because the Pixabay License says it is free for commercial use, and no attribution is required.
You can also search the Internet and even social media platforms for an image that looks like what you have in your imagination.
But if you intend to share your profile image or images, always make sure you check the license information first.
It is especially important if you plan to use an image for your book cover.
Summary
I have tried many different ways of creating a character profile.
For some time, I kept bullet point notes, spreadsheets, and then tried writing long descriptions.
But with a bit of experience, I found that breaking up the information into boxes helped make the details and information much clearer and easier to remember and reference.
When you write, you can add more details to each text box as they come up in your story so you keep building a character.
Then you won’t fall into a fact trap later in your book.
There is no better or the best way to layout your character profile templates.
But not having profiles at all when you start writing your book is one of the most common mistakes for an inexperienced writer.
When a problem comes up in the plot, it means wading back through the whole manuscript, trying to find mentions of perhaps hair or eye color or important dates.
It’s always a great idea to get to know your characters as best as you can before you write.
Your story will flow better and more naturally, as well as being factually accurate.
I was contacted by New Reader Magazine. Their address is 100 Church St NY,NY.
They said their research team found my book on line and offered to turn it into a screenplay and submit it to producers _for a price of course.
They claimed they had done the same for, Dances with Wolves,Twelve Years a Slave ,No Country for Old Men and many others.
Their approach was very professional with email and follow up phone call
Just thought you would like to know.
I had never come across New Reader Magazine before you comment. But looking at their site, and the media & partnership page, in particular, tells me it wants to make money, like any business. So I suppose it is up to you to discern what NRM means by a partnership. But as with all unsolicited “opportunities” that you are offered online, tread very carefully.
For your interest…… Received this today and was elated as my focus is attempting to get past the gatekeepers and try and get a pitch with a film production company. However this was unsolicited and of course, will tread very carefully treating, the contact with suspicion and interrogate them to find the pitfalls. The first warning is they have NOT tried to contact me today or in the past, and am fairly sure my phone number has not been publicised. I don’t fancy a long distance chat at my expense which could be loaded with `blather` ….so my contact will be by paper trailing via emails. Will keep you posted. ??
Michael,
This is Christian Smith from New Reader International. Your book has been partially reviewed by our 3rd party research team based on location , genre, and category, and we would love to work with you on this one since your book is one of the 5 projects we’re considering as an option to be forwarded to our film partners for a movie adaptation. We want to hear your thoughts about how you want the storyline to flow. I tried contacting you but I couldn’t reach your number . What is your best phone number ? Please phone me back as soon as you receive this. Be blessed.
Truly yours,
Christian Smith
Senior Business Development Associate
100 Church Street
Suite 800
New York NY, 10007
They are legit, as far as I know, but you have to ask yourself whether you want to lay out $4,000 for a website and a very small ad in an on-line magazine. They may or may not succeed in placing your book in bookstores (many bookstores refuse), and anyway Amazon.com is where you really need the book placed. Also, NRM doesn’t guarantee any sales. They say you’ll get your money back, but they might no longer be in business when you go looking for the money and you may need to hire a lawyer to try to get the money. It’s not worth it, in my opinion. A website is easy to do yourself or you can hire it out for about $500. The ad looks useless to me. I think they may be legit but their price is way to high and what they’re offering is too little.
It was interesting to read what all the authors had to say about New Readers. I too got the same information but my quoted price was $17,500 to promote my book. They pay $10,000, I pay $7,500. This is a 50 page young readers book. The deal included what was covered by other people it would be in 3 bookstores of my choice and all the internet promo. Looks like the price is more expensive for little books! Oh, they also were going to be printing it themselves only in hard copy. It was also $24,ooo to get a screenplay written to be sent to the powers that be, to make it into a film. I would pay $14,000 of that. I understand another person did some research and contacted these libraries and there is no banner and magic shelf in their libraries. The guy I talked to seemed nervous at times, some of my basic questions he could not answer. He would have to go to management. The contract was full of typos, misspelled words. You know what they say, “Just say no!” THE END
I had my book, my life experience as a Canadian Aboriginal published by Xlibris in 2011 and they did an excellent job of editing I, doing the cover and left everything up to me for my written approval. I’m a Canadian Aboriginal, formerly called Indians and if my book was published in Canada the story would have been distorted to the point that there would have been very little, if any truth to the story! Then I spent phenomenal money advertising and promoting my book and copies went very fast at book fairs when I was autographing them and giving them away.
Unfortunately that’s as far as it went! I got next to nothing in royalties and in 2016 Xlibris asked me for $15,500.00 for a publicist and I would have ABSOLUTELY no way of knowing if the were just going to take my money and say they got a publicist then just give me a little bit of money! Then in 2017 asked me for $1,500.00 to try and get Indigo, Canada’s largest book store chain to market my book. An author shouldn’t have to pay a publishing company to try and market their book in a large book store chain, the publisher should be doing that to increase sales. There used to be a website titled pissedconsumer.com/xlibris/rt-f,html with many complaints about Xlibris.
i have been scammed by new readers and I want the world to know! I hope this reach everyone who is wondering are they a scam. I let Jerry Bilson talk me out of $3000 for a book campaign that never happened. After waiting for a over a month for the project to be delivered I cancelled and ask for a refund and they never got back to me. They wont return my call or email. I even found out the address they use is not the real location. They are not at 100 church st.. I am currently working with the FTC for internet frauds, as well as filing a compliant with the Attorney generals office and the bbb.
They take hopeful artist and sell them a dream as though we are not working hard enough for a break.
It is so easy for them to scam because the “staff” are so professional, the website is flawless and they have impeccable customer service but they are a whole entire fraud!
TCK Publishing is a scum-scam company run by scam artist Tom Corson-knowles that should be at the top of every writer’s “BEWARE” list. TCK Publishing takes your books then just publishes them for you through Amazon KDP–something any writer can already do for free on their own–then leaves everything else up to you while they sit back and take a huge cut of all your book’s profits. They used to charge their authors publishing fees as well as charge them “hidden” fees if their books didn’t sell well and also charged their writers to gain their books’ rights back, but they have recently stop this foul practice because of so much bad feedback and talk about them on internet forums from those they scammed. TCK Publishing preys on ignorant authors. BEWARE TCK PUBLISHING!!!
I have been offered international movie marketability by Pearson Media Agency of Anaheim, California, with submission to Hollywood through further assessments. They promise a great deal, but ask for $3,200 towards costs of screen script etc. etc. etc.
Since I am not tremendously well off, I wonder at the risk of this offer if I send them a check. My published book, which they praise and say passed a test of their editors, is Newsboy – Adventures from a Life in Journalism, From my start at age eight as a newsboy in Scotland in 1944, I have completed 75 years and still going in the newspaper business. At age 84, I am Editor Emeritus of the Riverview Park Review in Ottawa.
OK, I was just approached by New Reader International. They found a book of mine already out there, (self published) and I am in London and they called me from New York. I was running out the door so could not really speak to the guy who said “we scout talent and we think you have it, we would like to invest in your writing and offer you a book deal with a literary agent, etc.” and since I could not talk, was already late for an appointment they said they would call me back that evening…did not call back. Is this a SCAM? As usual, if it is too good to be true it usually is, eh? He left a message on my cell phone with all the numbers to get back to him, The original call I took was on my home phone. I cant imagine how he got both of these phone numbers! Anyone got any advice or same experience here? Thanks!
So. Reese Elton. Yup. Got that call today. I thought I had heard of New Reader Magazine and wondered why. ALLi has a whole slew of people just ripping them apart. I found more here. Great. I was so excited for the possibility of being represented to have my independently published book put in front of Hollywood people only to then read all this and more about them. Well, they suck! I’m not paying anyone to “release” work that’s already out there. Seriously? Are they out of their minds?
Hi Alithea,
Thank you very much for sharing this information.
We apologize about this experience you had. We know how you feel and if we were in your shoes, we would probably do the same thing. We’d like to point out that New Reader Media has always been doing it’s best in providing a good experience for every client we work with which is why we’d like to explain our side in this matter.
The program we offered is good for a 6-month preparation in production before we launching it.
You signed the contract last 13th of March. We gave you time to submit your requirements and time for us to complete the necessary partnership, platforms ans etc. We even continued to prepare even though the shared portfolio you submitted was incomplete.
Alithea,we are still willing to work with you but in any case you feel unhappy about the service, the refund policy is open for executing.
We will be waiting for your reply or we will have our finance team reach out to you asap.
Thank you.
Hey Shawn….I received a call from New Reader Magazine today. Since I never answer calls from unknown numbers, I let the person leave a voicemail. The woman caller identified herself as Reese Elton and said, quote: “We are interested to invest and partner with you on your book. Let me discuss the details. Please call me back.” She didn’t divulge the name of the company she was calling from. A few minutes later I received a text message with the same information. I texted back and said my book was self-published in January 2018 and that it was currently being sold through the printer’s online bookstore, Amazon and eBay. I also stated that I would need the name of the company before considering “partnering” with anyone. She then gave me the name of the company – New Reader Magazine – and told me to look at their website and download their latest issue of the magazine. I thanked her and said I would do further research and speak with my financial advisor prior to making any decisions. I then looked at their website and then did an internet serach for reviews of the company and up popped the “Just Publishing Advice” page with all of these comments. I figured New Reader Magazine was a scam and didn’t plan to contact them back, but it’s always wise for anyone receiving an unsolicited call to do their research before getting involved with a place like that, no matter how “professional” they sound!
I have been working with New Reader Magazine for close to 2 years. At first they were good, gave me a web site and displays in some stores, but then I started to see communication taper of bit by bit. They were working with my first publication but not my second. Now it has reached a point where the services I have been promised have not been fulfilled, I am following what avenues I have and considering legal action to see if this will have positive results. I have doubts this will prove successful. I did dig, but not deep enough. Beware the names Christian Smith, Kelly Smith, and Trixie Jean. They will tell you things, but remember the old saying, “Beware the one in the fine suit. Sweetest tongue, sharpest tooth.” Do not work with New Reader Magazine if you plan on being a successful writer.
Often times I find myself wondering what Robert Roark, or Hemmingway would have done with their lives, had they came up during the past forty or fifty years. Would they have been the great literary success stories they were back in their day? RR got a job as a news paper reporter right out of high school. That in and of itself, boarders on being impossible in our present day. Two years later he was fired for being drunk on the job. He leaves this local paper, then lands a job on another paper in Maryland, where two years later he is fired again due to the same situation. There again, virtually impossible to do in our own time. Now he leaves this paper in Maryland, and lands a job at the Washington Tribune, for crying out loud here! I will say it again, in and of itself, a near impossibility!
Hemmingway had a relative who landed him a job at the Kansas Star as a reporter. That, for all practical purposes, would be highly unlikely in our own time. I think he wrote movie scripts for Hollywood. There again, landing such a job is unheard of today, for the rank and file, although Hemmingway’s parents were wealthy doctors who more than likely had solid connections.
On top of all these considerations, there is the publishing world of today. A number of Hemmingway’s books were not very successful until much later on. He would have never received any advance. More than likely he would have never been able to get them published, outside of doing it himself. So we go back to my first question; would these people have been the same great literary success stories in this present day? I seriously doubt it. So what would they have done instead? If they tried to live a literary lifestyle, would they have lived the life of Edgar Allen Poe instead?
My personal answer to these questions is yes. The system we of our present day live under disregards natural talent, and my personal belief is that many persons with the ability of Raurk, Hemmingway, Fitzgerald, and many others, never even gets a second glance, which is very sad, and doesn’t speak well of the age we live in.
To help aspiring Horror, Thriller, and Science Fiction authors, I want to spread the word about Nicholas Grabowsky. He is the publisher and owner of Black Bed Sheet Books.
For the last 2 years, I belonged to 2 of Nicholas’ Facebook groups, which are Black Bed Sheet Books and Horror Nation. Horror Nation is strictly meant for Horror fans sharing Horror-related content whereas Black Bed Sheet Books is mostly for Horror authors and fans.
Last year, I talked to Nicholas on his Black Bed Sheet Books group page and he misled me about my work. I submitted at least 2 different versions of my story.
He briefly explained to me last year about contracts and told me that my story would be published sometime this year.
Because Nicholas Grabowsky appears to be a 1-man show, I was willing to have some of my friends help him with book cover illustrations and whatnot. When I offered, he wouldn’t respond.
Nicholas asked other authors within the last few months to vote for him to make recommendations lists for Black Bed Sheet Books and we did.
Every time I asked him a simple question about my book, he kept saying “I’ll PM you real soon” and “I’ll PM you later” with a winking emoji.
Every time Nicholas Grabowsky said that to me, I sat and waited. He could NEVER answer a simple yes or no question or give any answer to my questions at all.
It was not until June 25, 2021 that Nicholas FINALLY gave me an answer and it was only because I confronted him on his Facebook group page.
Last Friday, I was mostly asking him about what I should do to advertise my book.
Suddenly a random book publisher, who does NOT work for Black Bed Sheet Books at all felt compelled to interlope in our conversation with snide remarks, mansplaining, and patronized me about not getting my work published by Black Bed Sheet Books simply because I asked Nicholas Grabowsky about WHEN he would respond to me.
Nicholas finally confessed to me that he “decided” that he disliked my story and “set it in a pile of other stories.”
Never once did he explain WHY he disliked my story and wanted to use his own mother’s sudden death as an excuse for not answering my questions, when he KNEW about my story, since last year or 2 ago.
I let Nicholas Grabowsky know publicly that he misled me into believing that he was working on my story, when he disliked it the whole time.
Had Nicholas had been HONEST with me, I would’ve understood and could’ve looked for another publisher. Instead, he avoided me like a coward and used me as well as other authors to vote for he and his company to make lists for Horror publishers to use.
What Nicholas Grabowsky did was awful, cowardly, juvenile, and highly unprofessional as a book publisher in the eyes of many people.
This comment may sound like I am posting this with malicious intent, but if he has done this to me, I can only imagine who else Nicholas did this to in the past and present.
With that being said, it would be beneficial for other Horror, Thriller, and Science Fiction authors to AVOID Black Bed Sheet Books like it is The Plague and like Covid-19 combined.
Nicholas Grabowsky is disingenuous to new authors, who are inexperienced with the book publishing industry.
Please add Black Bed Sheet Books to the list of book publishers to avoid and help spread the word to new and aspiring authors.
Badgering a man constantly (to the point where it was apparent to people in the group who did not even know you) and then calling him out on social media because he’s not giving you the time you so obviously think you deserve is not a good look. I especially like the part where you think him not answering you due to his mom’s death was an ‘excuse.’ Perhaps sending him messages during a period of grief was not the best idea? Book publishers don’t owe you anything, especially without a contract. If you waited around for two years for an answer you weren’t getting, that’s on you for not pursuing other avenues. As you yourself said, Nick is a one man show (and perhaps he takes on more responsibility than he can handle at times) but he has always tried to do his best. He’s not Scribner, he’s a man with a love of the genre trying to do his part as best as he can. I’ll stop now before I get accused of mansplaining, but take comfort in the fact that I chose not to use capitals for emphasis. Wishing you all the best…
amazon KDP will terminate an account over a book KDP blocks and when a book is blocked by KDP, they send you an email that you can change title or cover image and upload it again. However, sometimes it triggers a “book blocked” and just like myself and others a few days later. bam! account is terminated! I had nearly 1K titles. KDP, first of all, needs a better system… and if the user apologizes for a mistake and their account is in good standing (mine was!) that shouldn’t be grounds to automatically terminate. Also,Jeff Bezos needs to run KDP division better. (most KDP people are not in America…)
Thanks for the post. I sense that you mean well but I also feel like your analysis is a bit simplistic.
What is the vanity in “vanity publishing”? It refers to the author, the author who is not looking at publishing as a profit driven business (which it is) but as some kind of vehicle for their personal dreams of recognition.
There are plenty of sharks for sure but I would be careful using the word scam.
One of the fastest growing publishing companies is Callisto Media who approach writers and commission books on various subjects. They pay the author a set amount to write the book and the writer is credited as author, but that’s it…The writer gets no further money when their book becomes a bestseller, as many of Callistos books do.
Is paying a writer 3K for a book that goes on to make the publisher 100k+ a scam? It’s certainly good business.
If you want to just get your book published you can,
1.Hire a book cover designer
2.Hire a book formatter
3. Hire a proofreader (optional)
4. Login to KDP or IngramSpark and publish your book
That’s it, job done.
If you want to make money from your work you need to become a professional (self) publisher and take on ALL the work and effort to make that happen.
There is no universe in which you write something and someone comes along and says “Your work here is done. Relax now while I go off and turn your book into a bestseller and blockbuster movie and give you all the money.”
1. He kicked the bucket 2. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket 3. Time flies 4. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth 5. He has a screw loose 6. There are worms in your ears/brain 7. Don’t spill the beans 8. Fish on a silver platter 9. Cards up your sleeve 10. Wearing your heart on your sleeve 11. Keep your cards close to your chest 12. Hanging on by a thread 13. Cat got your tongue 14. Caught holding the cheese? 15. Caught by the skin of the tail 16. There go your nuts 17. Cut the cheese? 18. Big cheese 19. He got cold feet 20. Fish out of water 21. Riding his coattails 22. All patched up 23. Bird brain 24. Story has more holes than Swiss cheese 25. Best foot forward 26. Screwed up in the head 27. In a nutshell 28. Follow your nose 29. Red herring 30. Ace up your sleeve 31. Pale as a ghost 32. Rags to riches
wearing your Heart on your sleeve, Don’t keep all your eggs in one basket, Time flies. Born with a Silver spoon in your mouth, Kick the bucket, red herring, Ace up his sleeve, ear worm, cat got your tongue, Bird brain, Playing his cards close to his chest, Hit the nail on the head or a screw loose,Don’t Spill the beans, It;s a piece of cake…with a cherry on top, Can’t make an omelet without breaking an eggs-, he’s Got Cold Feet, Big cheese or Your story has more holes than swiss cheese, In a nutshell, Best foot forward, Shadow of your former self, Rags to riches or life in tatters, Everything was handed to him on a silver platter, Shoe on the other foot, Overshadowing women/cast a shadow over me, Skinny as a rail or tall as a beanpole, Bald as a billiard cube, Pale as a ghost,
– Shadow of your former self
– piece of cake
– child at heart
– wearing your heart on your sleeve
– playing all your cards close to the chest
– bird brain
– your story has more holes in it than swiss cheese
– follow your nose
– in a nutshell
– put your best foot forward
– from rags to riches
– served on a silver platter
– don’t get cold feet
– hard to crack
– can’t make an omelette without cracking an egg
– shoe on the wrong foot
– pale as a ghost
– beggars can’t be choosers
– nail on the head
– spilled the beans
– in one ear and out the other
– kick the bucket
– all your eggs in one basket
– time flies
So many more than 27….so adding a few ma be pushing a bit, but picture has some questionable things in it…..
riding on his coattails
all patched up
clean the wax out of your ears
big cheese
fish out of water
walking on pins and needles (or is that the artist signature??)
open a can of worms
ants in my pants (looks like ants at bottom on egg)
last one in is a rotten egg or spoiled like a rotten egg (egg at bottom)
pot to piss in
silver tongue
loose lips
clean the wax out of your ears or earworm
Ok, I’ll tell you the whole story, no problem, piece of cake, cherry on top… Anyway in a nutshell it goes like this… Time flies and you can’t let it get ahead of you, before you know it you kick the bucket, you gotta have an ace up your sleeve, you can’t keep all your eggs in one basket, see? I am keen on this girl… she’s in my head all day like an earworm I can’t stop singing but she’s just throwing me shade, see? She says she’s only interested in serious relationships, she wants to tie the knot, but me I had cold feet. The cat had my tongue. I thought I was the big cheese because I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth, but she smells a red herring and before you know it I spill the beans… she wants it on a silver platter but I’m just riding my coattails… What can i say? I keep my cards close to my chest but I wear my heart on my sleeve. Yeah, I know, I’m a bird brain, I’m screwed in the head. I thought I had the cat by the tail, but before you know it the bird sings and I’m just some joker dealt a bad hand. Guess them’s the breaks.
1 Birdbrain 2 that one flew over my head 3 a little thin on top 4 your story has more holes than Swiss cheese 5 what’s wrong you look a little blue 6 spill the beans 7 he has high standards 8 revenge is a dish best served cold 9 piece of cake 10 from rags to riches 11 wearing your heart on your sleeve 12 Timeflies 13 shady character 14 nail on the head 15 in one ear and out the other 16 now the shoe is on the other foot 17 You’ve got him wrapped around your finger 18 dead man walking 19 you opened a can of worms 20 thought I had the cat by it’s tail 21 Hanging on by a thread 22 flying by the tail of his seat 23 walking on eggshells 24 he’s got something up his sleeve 25 something’s fishy 26 aces up their sleeve 27 Play your cards close to your chest 28 always guard your heart 29 lead with your best foot forward 30 flying by the seat of his chair 31 that’s the cats meow 32 Not now I’m juggling ten things at once 33 always walk before you run 34 only time will tell 35 I lost track of time 36 born with a silver spoon in their mouth 37 he’s too big for his britches 38 it was handed to him on a silver platter 39 high tail it out of here 40 don’t trip in a nutshell 41 ghosted 42 Runnin on fumes 43 what a nightmare that was 44 now look what you’ve done, you made a mess of everything 45 now I have steam coming out my ears 46 a wise man once said nothing at all 47 deaf in one ear and can’t hear out the other 48 thinks the sun comes up just to hear him crow 49 he has peanuts for brains 50 don’t be so thin skinned 51 what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger 52 pain in the ass 53 why your nothing but skin and bones 54 I can see straight through you 55 cats got your tongue
I would say that neither “it’s raining cats and dogs” nor “I’ll give you a hand” is a play on words. They are both idiomatic expressions, popular metaphors, if you will.
A play on words is a pun, a usage of an expression in which a word can have more than one meaning, or where there is play between the word and another that sounds very much like it.
A magician is driving down the road. Suddenly he turns into a parking lot.
Need an ark to save two of every animal? I noah guy. (Thanks, internet.)
And another
Often times I find myself wondering what Robert Roark, or Hemmingway would have done with their lives, had they came up during the past forty or fifty years. Would they have been the great literary success stories they were back in their day? RR got a job as a news paper reporter right out of high school. That in and of itself, boarders on being impossible in our present day. Two years later he was fired for being drunk on the job. He leaves this local paper, then lands a job on another paper in Maryland, where two years later he is fired again due to the same situation. There again, virtually impossible to do in our own time. Now he leaves this paper in Maryland, and lands a job at the Washington Tribune, for crying out loud here! I will say it again, in and of itself, a near impossibility!
Hemmingway had a relative who landed him a job at the Kansas Star as a reporter. That, for all practical purposes, would be highly unlikely in our own time. I think he wrote movie scripts for Hollywood. There again, landing such a job is unheard of today, for the rank and file, although Hemmingway’s parents were wealthy doctors who more than likely had solid connections.
On top of all these considerations, there is the publishing world of today. A number of Hemmingway’s books were not very successful until much later on. He would have never received any advance. More than likely he would have never been able to get them published, outside of doing it himself. So we go back to my first question; would these people have been the same great literary success stories in this present day? I seriously doubt it. So what would they have done instead? If they tried to live a literary lifestyle, would they have lived the life of Edgar Allen Poe instead?
My personal answer to these questions is yes. The system we of our present day live under disregards natural talent, and my personal belief is that many persons with the ability of Raurk, Hemmingway, Fitzgerald, and many others, never even gets a second glance, which is very sad, and doesn’t speak well of the age we live in.
My wife who at a certain time I will devoulge her name , we were just taken advantage of as well for $3000 . The initial cost was $6000 to giving false hope . The promise to make a trailer for an investor & ultimately a movie . It’s so easy for these so called publishing companies to sound good to people that aren’t strong in the book business. Actually there was a representative who was the driving force was a really sincere tone & promising to put here best effort moving forward. The last two emails from her were apologetic which shows that the effort fell empty once they used the $ for their lame effort to give my wife who has Alztimers. She wanted so much to help one person who was in their addiction. Getting to the point of my story New readers has really talk the talk but can’t walk the walk !!! Shame on them , this isn’t a slam to New readers magazine, just another disgruntled human being, disappointed & getting more frustrated on who do you trust anymore. There has been calls & emails that promise results with 3 easy payments, after this last loss to new readers , only good faith could make me think the owner might have a conconcious , we will see , ALIVE has been a true story about love , lies & addiction. Eileen
One more
There is a book out called “Become Traditionally Published,” by L Horne. Nothing out there beats being traditionally published, no matter who tries to convince one otherwise. Yeah, you have those one in a million true blue success stories, such as Amanda Hockings, for example. The overwhelming average rank and file barely even sells a book. As BTP clearly explains in vivid details, one can still have great publishing success, and may well bank some money in the process, however.
Hi, just wondering if anyone had heard of a new independent publishing house called “Cranthorpe Millner”? Was approached by them on LinkedIn. They have published the autobiography of The Chase judge Dark Destroyer. However, when I checked out their website they seem to offer this side business of ‘Appraisal’ where authors can submit the first 10,000 words for some honest even brutal review of their work according to the lead editor. Seems suspicious, like a paid reading fee of some kind like dodgy literary agents offer? Any help / info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Attention everyone, my name is Manny Pelaez and I promise I will tell everyone the results of New Reader Magazine. I’m waiting for the production team to finish storyboard and 4 minute animated trailer for the movie agent to begin negotiations. This project is at it’s end in June it’s going on one full year. I will announce the results, furthermore, I have another project that the screenwriters are doing the screenplay, storyboard, and the animators work. I ask for work being done before giving out any payments, I would like to add that in June I’m going to be featured as a contributor on their magazine. I decided to take the full ride with them, I am also watching carefully everything they do, if success comes out I will announce to everyone the results, I will also give how much financially was involved. If anyone knows of any other company that does this type of work tell everyone don’t stay silent, authors, and the literary world to share valuable information for guidance to others, thank you.
New Reader Magazine is currently working on two fully digital animated trailers each are from different projects. The first one will be 4 minutes with characters, sound etc. The storyboard is being done also, the script is also done, at any moment it will be done, negotiations begin with a movie agent representative to all the production companies that are interested, I will give everyone the results, In June I’m being featured as a contributor on the magazine full articles. The other project is a 40 minute fully digital animated trailer, the screenwriters are doing the script and storyboard also. This project will take time but I will also give the results, in detail financially also. I would like to add, give people information of companies that are good, myself I believe that giving other authors valuable information this world can become better and the companies that are bad tell everyone and report them to the authorities.
I have two projects ongoing with New Reader Magazine and I will give the results once available, and this will shut up everyone that has any doubts, I stopped dealing with book publishing companies especially XLibris, because that’s a scam, they charge you a fortune for marketing and the royalties are a joke, at least in the Hollywood industry there’s way more money, everyone be patient that I will give the results soon, thank you Manny Pelaez.
Anyone know of an HONEST and RELIABLE Publishing house that is not out to take advantage of new and dumb authors who don’t know when they are being skinned alive? Xliberis sold me a package that they told me would include placement on Amazon Barnes and Noble etc. Yesterday they sold me another item for “Books a million” for $200 more. I am getting concerned that they are ripping me off.
In October, 2018, I was approached by Brian Mandoza who was with Carter Press. I had a children’s book and decided to publish it with them. I paid a deposit on October 26, 2018. Soon after, the company changed to BookVine. Soon after that, the phone number and email to Brian no longer worked. In December, I received contact from someone else and was told this man no longer worked there and now the company was Bookwhip. I sent an email and cancelled the contract and they gave me my money back in full. Today is April 4, 2019 and they are still advertising my book on their website, plus it’s at Amazon.com, Books-A-Million.com and many others. I know there have been sales on the book but I have not received any royalties over these past few months. I have called them and the manager has yet to return my call. DON’T USE THESE PEOPLE for your publisher!!!
I was approached by a firm in America
who found a book of mine wanted permission to put it into The Book Excellence Awards said it had potential
Phoned over a few nights cost was 549 dollars
I went through with it promises of possible film and tv and interviews asked for more money later
I previously cancelled payment then got email protesting he was a legitimate co so I went ahead with it
But all promises and money given was
never came to fruition paid out for the extra that was free competition was only charge
Have written several times asking for a refund no return
Has anyone had dealings with Matchstick Literary Atlanta if not don’t
Definite Scam
Valerie
I promised to inform everyone of my conversation with Mr. Givens at Global Summit House. After I repeated pretty much what I said in my email, I waited to hear what he had to say. He did say that he understands my concern and that he’d be happy to read my book if I sent him a copy. Well that’s not going to happen. If he can’t afford to spend a couple bucks on me, then why should I spend hundreds with his company? In the end, he didn’t respond to any of my questions or concerns. He quickly finished the conversation by saying, “let’s not waste anymore of each other’s time”. And then hung up. That was my experience but I put a little presser on Global Summit House. I’d be willing to bet that I will continue to receive calls from Global Summit House in the future.
I just realized that I had been taken by cindyhill@bookthoughtspublishing. She played a convincing part in pretending to manage marketing for my book with ALA and ACLR events in 2019. She even provided a contract and provided for a payment plan in which she took my money. She promised to keep me apprised of the markeing status and provide proof of my book listing in these events, but then she never followed up. I found out later that my book was never presented at the events as she claimed, and I had been taken for a fool. As I tried to trace her down, the websites and youtube sites for bookthoughtspublishing were abandoned and then taken down. As I imagine she is reworking her scam under another name, I would avoid any publishing company with “thoughts” in their name, just to be safe.
That sounds just like the text I received from Kelly Smith at NRM. I called her back and talked to her, but I have a hearing problem and so have difficulty understanding people with accents. SHe did tell me the “partnership was for $18,000 to submit my books to movie producers, and I would need to pay half. When I told her I was a senior citizen on limited Social Security and my books weren’t making me that much money, she said here was another option which would just cost me $1.500. She agreed to email me the particulars which I just received today. But I do not think I will do it. Agents generally just take a percentage after they’ve sold your project. You should not have to pay upfront..
More testing
Thanks for the post. I sense that you mean well but I also feel like your analysis is a bit simplistic.
What is the vanity in “vanity publishing”? It refers to the author, the author who is not looking at publishing as a profit driven business (which it is) but as some kind of vehicle for their personal dreams of recognition.
There are plenty of sharks for sure but I would be careful using the word scam.
One of the fastest growing publishing companies is Callisto Media who approach writers and commission books on various subjects. They pay the author a set amount to write the book and the writer is credited as author, but that’s it…The writer gets no further money when their book becomes a bestseller, as many of Callistos books do.
Is paying a writer 3K for a book that goes on to make the publisher 100k+ a scam? It’s certainly good business.
If you want to just get your book published you can,
1.Hire a book cover designer
2.Hire a book formatter
3. Hire a proofreader (optional)
4. Login to KDP or IngramSpark and publish your book
That’s it, job done.
If you want to make money from your work you need to become a professional (self) publisher and take on ALL the work and effort to make that happen.
There is no universe in which you write something and someone comes along and says “Your work here is done. Relax now while I go off and turn your book into a bestseller and blockbuster movie and give you all the money.”
FYI, throughout May and April I’ve received 13 calls from Global Summit House. A Frank Givens somehow also got my email address and told me about a book fair coming up at the end of May in New York City. Instead of ignoring him, I decided to reply to his email. In short I told him that I get at least one or two calls a month from publishing companies he’s wanting to either publish or republish my book. I also told him that I doubt that anybody at his company has even read my book. I did not say anything derogatory, only that they offer the same services at every other company does and I have to pay for it. I went on to tell him that at Book Fairs, my book will be sitting under a tent, just like dozens, maybe hundreds of other publishers promoting their clients books. I am not interested in this type of publicity. I looked at their website and it was only registered in May of 2018, yet they claim to be a well-known company. I also noticed that they have literary agents. In short I told him that these were true literary agents they would not charge me any fee because I believe in my book, and only take a percentage of my book sales. To my surprise I got a callback today from Mr Givens. All he said is he got my email and responded to it and then went on to say that they are very interested in representing me it’s a Book Expo in New York. I plan on calling Mr. Givens back just to hear what he has to say. If they can offer me promotion without me giving up my book rights, then maybe we can work out something. But I doubt that will be the case. To all my fellow authors out there, don’t let your ego get in your way when it comes to your book. These days there are dozens of companies playing off of people’s desire to be a well-known author, while at the same time taking their money. In the end you may sell a few extra books but that’s it. Eventually, you could wind up spending thousands and thousands of dollars and only sell a few books. Don’t make that mistake. Anything these companies offer, with a little research you can do them yourself. You can hire editors, design graphics people for your cover, and even Ghost writers. After I talk to Mr. Givens, if he had anything useful to share I will post it here. Good luck to everyone.
I was just offered a partnership with them, too, but on the advice of my lawyer I think I’m going to pass. They started out by saying my share of the partnership would be $4000, yet the contract asks for $4600. They supposedly put up the rest to equal $8000, and if I’m not satisfied with the results at the end of my 6 month contract I will get all my money back, and get to keep everything they created for marketing purposes for my own use.
I checked out their website, looks professional, and I admit that their approach was very professional. I had concerns over the 3 author’s testimonials on their home page though. One had no Amazon author page. One had no author pic or bio on Amazon. The other had neither. When I asked, stating that didn’t they think having an Amazon author page was important with regards to marketing I was told that some authors don’t want to be discovered or famous. So, then, why would they sign up with a marketing company? Sounded fishy to me.
More tests
Silver Ink is another scammer! They promised me my book would be taken up by a well known publishing house once it was found to be ‘editorally sound’. It was to go before a board for final approval. This book had already be reviwed, reprinted, and had a five star Amazon rating.The scam? Well they wanted mevto pay $2000 for ‘corrections with no guarantee it would be accepted.!!
I have received this call about taking a little course for $9.00 per month then if they like my stuff that they would publish and something about editing etc. 30 day free trial. I was really excited at first then suddenly my feet got cold and old saying come thru my mind. If it sounds real good it more likely RUN the other way! I really appreciate the help from other writers about who to stay away from. I think this company name was Ievers. Spelling I’m not sure of or where they are from.
Thank you
Another test
A reply test
NRM contacted me with the offer of promotion, three bookstores of my choice, a website, etc. for $4100. I would get 50% of the profits from sales after the cost of book production, or about $3 per book. I already get this from my publisher, VirtualBookworm, whom I highly recommend as an ethical, affordable, and reliable self-publisher. VRM is offering to promote my book, which it “selected” from many others. So I looked at two similar books that they have also selected and featured in their magazine, and from what I can see their promotion has done nothing for book sales. One book has only two Amazon reviews since it was featured in New Reader Magazine, and the other book has absolutely NO reviews, and the excerpt I read was so full of grammatical errors that I found it unpleasant to read. Neither book had a gripping appeal to be read. I was not impressed and I don’t plan to give them $4100. Please let me know if anyone out there has had success with NRM and recommends them.
amazon KDP will terminate an account over a book KDP blocks and when a book is blocked by KDP, they send you an email that you can change title or cover image and upload it again. However, sometimes it triggers a “book blocked” and just like myself and others a few days later. bam! account is terminated! I had nearly 1K titles. KDP, first of all, needs a better system… and if the user apologizes for a mistake and their account is in good standing (mine was!) that shouldn’t be grounds to automatically terminate. Also,Jeff Bezos needs to run KDP division better. (most KDP people are not in America…)
I self-published a book in 2013. I have not done any marketing in at least 2+ years. For some reason, during the past 6 months, I’ve had a half a dozen unsolicited phone calls from companies that want to republish my book. They each had an ambiguous reasons how my book was picked, but each claimed that someone did read it and passed it on to the sales rep. They all said how great my book was and that it could even be made into a movie. After doing some research on the internet I realize that each of these companies, in my opinion, are nothing more then a republishing scam. One company was pressuring me to pay them without even a contract because their fair was coming up soon. It started at $2,500 and ended up offering a fee of $1000. Each company offered various services that I could buy, and they probably would republish my book and place it at a book fair or send it to a movie agent. However, the cost that they wanted to charge for their services was outrageous. I could do it all myself at little or no cost. It’s a shame that so many companies are now preying on individuals who dream of having a best-selling book.
Test comments
I call on any author who has made investments in the services provided by New Reader Media, New Reader Magazine, and New Reader International Consultancy. Services like animated trailers, screenplays, with promises that your books will make it to Hollywood. I know for a fact it’s a big fat no. Absolutely nothing will happen after you spend thousands of dollars that is a dead end. Show myself proof and everyone in the industry if there is any proof otherwise, thank you.
I have received an unsolicited email from Deran Cody, Supposedly Production Manager of Pearson Media Group, Anaheim CA. He has indicated that my novel has been through a strict evaluation by their editors and he has offered to turn my novel into a film. Attachments to the emails were very professionaI in respect of portraying Pearson Media Group. I might add that many critics and readers have commented that the book would be well suited to become a film. My dilemma is that I don’t know whether this offer is legitimate or a scam. Were I to go ahead, I have been asked to contribute $5499 towards the Project Cost of $34299. It seems unusual to me that I would need to contribute when it is my book and copyright they want to access. Has anyone any comment.
This entire situation with New Reader Magazine can only go two ways: either do exactly what they promise they can do, meaning landing film contracts, nothing else because promoting books is a waste of time. The other is failing to do what they promise and being exposed for everyone to know, which will cause them to go bankrupt and start up FBI investigations everywhere, it won’t end well for them. They ask me for more money with a animated children’s book that is very special, my other project they didn’t ask for more money, please, keep in mind that investing in something that is a billion dollar Industry is a no brainer, the financial benefits are remarkable, that said, only with legitimate and respectable companies that have credibility. To end this, New Reader Magazine has to prove themselves and have successful stories to show everyone they are the real deal, I will tell everyone my results as soon as they finish.
Authors Beware of New Reader Scam
On December 20, 2018, “Kevin Wilson” from New Reader called me asking for $4,000 in exchange for promotion of my book, Zero Waste in the Last Best Place, in five prominent bookstores, including The Strand in New York, Elliot Bay in Seattle, Powell’s in Portland, and City Lights in San Francisco. Kevin told me that his editor had read my book, liked it very much and wanted to include it in an exclusive promotion that New Reader was going to be running on DIY books for the first quarter of 2019, that they already had three authors selected, that they were seeking two more, and I was one of these two lucky individuals. To be included in this elite group, I had to make a decision by December 22nd. I was skeptical, as I had already wasted $10,000 on a lackluster promotion effort by Danielle Grobmeier and Rian Rosado of Lavidge. After consulting with my attorney, and several other Montana authors and media professionals, they suggested I call these book stores, and get testimonials from other New Reader clients. I did. None of the book stores had ever heard of New Reader or had ever done any business with them. Kevin sent me the phone number of Manuel in Florida who told me that New Reader was currently turning his trilogy into a movie. Manuel also mentioned a few movies that New Reader had been involved in, but was conspicuously unspecific regarding the details. Kevin told me that it was very important that I make a decision before the end of the year as they would not likely run a DIY feature for another couple years. I countered the offer on December 22nd at 5pm, one hour before he closed his shop for the day, telling Kevin that I would put the $4,000 in an escrow account that we would draw down from as New Reader met its promotion and sales goals of 200 – 300 sales per month. At this point he went dark. I’m writing this on the second-to-last full business day of 2018. Kevin Wilson and New Reader are engaged in criminal behavior.
Kevin’s initial message is below:
Dear Bradley Edward Layton,
This is Kevin Wilson from New Reader International – Media, Magazine and Digital Film company.
Our chief editor has read your book and recommended to have it featured on the next issue of our magazine. It’s also one out of five projects that we’re considering to be forwarded to our film partners for a movie adaptation. We would love to discuss with you our interest in investing for this book. We will willing to invest half of the total cost of this campaign and looking to creating a partnership with you.
With this campaign, we are targeting to land a film contract. You will be getting seventy percent of the money stipulated in the film contract. Your commitment and satisfaction is very important to us. If you are not satisfied with the result after six months of our work. We will be able to reinstate your investment – MONEY BACK GUARANTEE.
I tried contacting you but I couldn’t reach your number. You can reach me at xxxxxxxx
Please ring me back as soon as you receive this.
Sincerely,
Kevin Wilson
Senior Business Development Associate
I’m working on my first book of poetry and I’m learning a lot in the process of looking into where publish it. I 99.9% sure I’m going the self publishing route now. I just want to go over a few things with one consult again, but I’m pretty sure in the end I will be telling them thanks for everything, but this isn’t the right direction for me. I want to make the right choice for myself especially since I don’t have a lot of money right now to put into publishing and I also don’t mind waiting to publish when I can afford my own site, etc.
Do comments work?
Wow. I actually received a call this afternoon from Kelly Smith at New Reader Magazine. She told me she wanted to represent my book THE CONFESSIONAL and would send it to film makers for the tidy sum of $13,000 or they would write a treatment for $4,000+. Fortunately, I am aware that such scams are out there since I get scam calls and emails. Glad I know better than to commit.
Ran into an elegant three-way fraud between Biblio Avenue LTD, Author Media Express and a guy representing himself as Kevin Burns of Prometheus Entertainment (Curse if Oak island).
The original pitch was for a book review and a treatment for a three-book series for potential video clients from Biblio Avenue and “David Blake” (Filipino accent).. Money paid to “Sonny Bernus” who is Filipino.
Before the dust settled, I got an unsolicited email from “Burnskevin209(at)yahoo.com saying he was that Kevin Burns and expressing interest, urging me to get register for BEA in NYC in May and to set up an interview with Ric Bratton. The bill for BEA was from Bernus and the one from Author Media Express for the interview initially said “BEA ” altho I had not mentioned that.
When I asked for an email from the Prometheus showing that “Burnskevin” was authentic, he disappeared. When I demanded and authentic contract from Edz Rellermo monsales (the Audio Media Express contact), I was chided for being so naive and then he disappeared along with the David Blake.
It was all a fraud. Paypal got my money back for the first enstallment
I recently was contacted by the New Readers Media about my recently published book. They sent me their agreement which to me was totally one sided. For example, they say “money back guarantee”, however, according to the agreement, they may cancel, or, change the terms of the agreement at any time with or without cause. Yet, if they cancel or change the agreement & I do not agree with the changes, they keep major portion of my payment & return to me the balance. This is very alarming to me because “cancellation or modification clause” supersedes the guarantee. I asked NRM, if they actually guarantee sale of screen play option, why don’t they pay the entire amount & then deduct it from the sale proceeds to which they did not have a convincing answer.
They said total cost of publicity & full feature screen play is $20,000. They pay 50% of it & I pay the balance. In return they get 30% of the option price offered by the film production company.
I read the reviews & it appears that nobody can say with assurance whether New Readers Media actually brings an offer for the screen play. Additionally, it seems that once you sign the agreement, they may keep asking for more money.
I like to know if anybody actually received offer for the screen play and made money with NRM.
Thanks.
Mr. Layton, I too just yesterday, received a request from NRM (Kevin Wilson). However mine wasn’t as lengthy, but basically read the same. He said my book was submitted to them by his list of avid editors from NY and they were loooking to feature my book ON the June issue of their magazine. They spoke of investing $$ in my book etc etc. I checked out the latest issues of the magazine, and didn’t care for what I saw. So, I didn’t return his call. Not interested. He also told me that he tried to reach me by phone, but couldn’t get ahold of me. Well…I checked my phone for either of his phone numbers listed, and guess what…NOT THERE.
Does a comment work here?
I think so.
New Reader Magazine reached out to me about my self-published book. She gave her name and contact number (which was a ‘917’ area code), but did not say the name of the company she worked for. When I pressed for the information, she told me, but seemed reluctant to do so. I sensed a language barrier between us, and when I asked where she was located, she said Hong Kong. I requested to speak to someone on shore in The States, but she said she was not able to transfer me, because they are a 3rd party vendor. I said I don’t like dealing with outsourced call centers and wanted to speak to someone from their office in New York, but she had no way to transfer me. Throughout our conversation, she kept telling me about their desire to have a partnership with me, which would be an investment on my part. But each time I asked for specifics (costs, fees, etc.) she would repeat those same talking points. I was getting increasingly annoyed, and I pressed further for details regarding upfront costs and fees. She hung up on me twice, and both times when I called back, I got her voicemail. Finally, I called the toll-free number listed on Google (their own website does not contain any contact info) and got another person in Hong Kong! Do NOT do business with these people. They are a scam!
I have been contacted by at least a half a dozen different publishers wanting to republish the novel I published in 2013. Each of them have said that my book was chosen because it contained all the elements of a successful novel. Personally, I believe that these publishing companies are preying on the egos of previous published writers. I’m sure they will fulfill all the services that they promise, but at a price. However, they cannot promise that your book will be any more successful that it was previously. In my opinion, these are simply vanity publishers, reaching out to writers who have previously published a book, trying to make money.
Does anyone know anything about Book Trail Agency? I just got a message that the radio talk show “Rebuilding Your Life Radio” with Susan Sherayko have invited me to a radio interview for a book that I had published. Does anyone know anything about Book Trail Agency or the Radio show? I have been contacted by so many marketers I have come to not trust any of them.
I have been with Beacon Books Agency for 8 months now. I used to have 8 books with another publisher but decided to have them republished with Beacon Books. I spoke to marketing director Todd twice and to his book agents several times. The republishing process wasn’t that smooth like I expected it to be, but their strength is in marketing and book selling. After 6 months, I signed up a deal with a literary agent to represent one of my works. So far, my book sales almost hit the figure they guaranteed, but it’s a far improvement from my previous publisher. I also paid to market the other 7 books, but now it’s still a wait-and-see.
My name is Manuel Pelaez and I also received an email from New Reader Magazine, Kelly Smith is the senior associate handling everything, my trilogy action novel books are being made into a film adaptation and it’s at the final stages for bidding, this cost me $6,600 dollars and my other project a children’s book is being made into a fully animated motion picture, so far this has cost me $7,000 dollars, this project is part of other investors costing $149,000 dollars, my part is $35,000 dollars, I want to be crystal clear that if I don’t receive any financial gains on anything, plus receive official documentations are given to me, I will not give out anymore money period, so far I’ve been featured on spotlight in NewReaderMedia, and waiting to be featured on NewReaderMagazine as a contributor, I hope that New Reader Magazine is the real deal, soon I’ll find out.
I was about to sign on with a Company, I was talking to 2 different agency, but did not really trust neither,
due to my gut feeling, I was right. One agent continues to call and email me when I had told them prior. I would contact them after I had made my mind up. But the 2 agent was very patient, I asked that they send me a copy of a contract, the contract had scam written all over it. They wanted me to pay so much upfront and then access to my credit or debit card.
I had forwarded them my manuscript along with images attached to my manuscript, one agent asked that I send the images separately. I knew just by that they were going to try and steal my images for their own purpose. It’s best to beware of any agent. Even if they advertise on TV