No doubt many of you are familiar with the news that Meta used sites pirating books to train their AI. But that isn't the only scam going after us writers. This month I've invited Sue Duff from my critique group to share her story of yet another grift in this publishing biz.
Too good to be true was never more true for me recently!
Last month I received an email from an individual in Hollywood, posing as a literary agent. He claimed to have read my first novel, Fade to Black, in my SciFi/Fantasy series The Weir Chronicles, and loved it! He shared how it just had “that something that popped right off the page” and how, as he read my book, he could see it playing on the screen. Based on its cinematic adaptation potential, he claimed the material was “just what Hollywood is looking for right now” and asked for a date and time to have a real conversation about it. Below his signature it stated he was the literary agent Nate Winslow. BUT (in hindsight) it also said he could connect me with the people who could make this happen. I made the mistake of assuming it meant production companies. I mulled this over and emailed him the next day asking how my book came to his attention.
He was able to give me specifics (his scout found it, tagged it and had him read it), and that my “story stuck with him after he’d finished it,” etc., He shared enough details to convince me that he had, indeed, read my novel. He wanted to submit it to production companies as a potential limited 8-10 episodic series with options for the other 4 books in that series. I found him online and he appeared to be legit. I decided to take the next step and emailed him my phone number and a time I'd be available. He said to expect a call from his production assistant, who online was listed as an executive at an L.A. based production company, had years of experience in TV production, etc., and by all appearances was also legit.
When this assistant (Dustin) called me, he explained that they would need three things from me to develop a presentation packet. 1) a short author video of me talking about my book, 2) a cinematic book trailer for producers to see my vision of the story and 3) a three-page synopsis. Once they received those materials, they would meet as a team and decide how best to proceed with my book. At that point, Dustin sent a list of 60+ production companies that they head hunt for. He asked if I had any preferences about who I’d want them to submit to first. I checked out a few online based on how they wanted to receive my packet and they were all true production companies. At this point I double checked with a friend, a literary agent. There was another agent in her firm who handles cinematic adaptation contracts. Together, they, too, confirmed the individual was legit.
I scrambled to assemble the required materials. A week later, I received an email that they had reviewed everything and wanted to connect me with a film expert to discuss more details. They also shared that they had gathered the presentation packet just in time to submit to a production company, Wonder Street (a legitimate production company) for March. But Wonder Street was a “pass” because they already had a SciFi series they had contracted for in 2025. During the week with Dustin, I emailed the literary agent directly a couple of other times but it was Dustin who always responded. With them already submitting my project, I noted that we needed to discuss terms of the literary agent/author contract which had not been sent to me. Dustin replied that I’d be hearing from their film expert. The next day, Kevin, a man from yet another agency, Writers Edge Productions (who I discovered was in New York) called me. Kevin jumped into a very elaborate, intense “sales pitch” from a marketing lens about what it would take to get my book the best exposure in Hollywood. He mentioned getting a minimum of 5 book reviews in the LA Times, and had already posted my author video and book trailer on their Writers Edge website to “start the process.” He also mentioned working with the LA Talent Agency to hire actors to create a lengthier, more cinematic book trailer complete with CGI effects and arrange for a consultation with an award-winning cinematographer. He claimed I could expect thousands of dollars, even implied over a hundred thousand dollars, to sell my rights (which I knew would not be the case from previous research). He would email the contract to get their ball rolling and market my book before the next submission window opened for the production companies in April, and that they would be in charge of my submissions from then on.
His email ended up in my SPAM folder. By the time I found it, I had already done a deep web search about this new company. Sure enough, when I clicked a few places, I found reviews on Writers Edge Productions, titled LEGIT or SCAM? The site was scored low (most likely a scam) and a warning that, to share any financial information with them, would be at your own risk. I researched further about the original literary agent in Hollywood and found his Linked In account. I messaged him through that site instead of our previous email exchanges. He called me later from an LA area code. He asked if I was Sue, and I confirmed that I was. He then said that dreaded next line that smashed any crumb of lingering hope from the past month’s endeavors, “I’m the REAL Nate Winslow.” Oh, and that contract they pressured me to sign to push my book into the Hollywood spotlight? $6000 for a 6-month contract or $12,000 for a year contract (my money up front, of course) with the promise of only one submission of my book to production companies each month, with no guarantee of acceptance.
These guys know the business because most of what they told me was true. I suspect Writers Edge may be trying to get a foothold in the cinema business by taking a deceitful approach to build their portfolio with unsuspecting authors and touting it as the “new way of doing the book promotion business in Hollywood.” I may have been one of their first because my author's video and book trailer was the only one posted on their site on Friday, the day Kevin called me with the “sales pitch.” But by Tuesday, the following week, there were 12 more authors and their content. When I called them on it, they STILL claimed they were legit and had submitted my book through “GreenLightMyMovie.com.” After sharing everything I had with the real Nate Winslow, within another 8-10 days, all information on YouTube regarding this Writer’s Edge Company, was removed. Someone else had posted a video, sharing they were a scam and not to fall for it.
BEWARE of any literary agent claiming to be a legitimate Hollywood figure, or a real production company called Perspective Film House, or a New York based agency called Writers Edge Productions.
Unfortunately, there are more scammers out there masquerading behind other named agents and companies. Remember, literary agents never ask for money; they only get paid at the backend, and it’s always based on you signing a contract with the production company. Luckily I knew this. But not everyone does. In hindsight: Speak directly with the literary agent, not just through emails, ask to see a contract early on, and be aware that to request a book trailer to include in a presentation packet is not standard practice.
Sue Duff Loeffler
Author at CrossWinds Publishing and at Wicked Ink Books. Former President of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers (RMFW) Coordinator of Youth Writers Programming and the Youth Writers Scholarships through RMFW.
Sue grew up dreaming of dragons and spaceships before she chose her favorite genres as an author. She has written and/or contributed to 11 published novels, short stories, and anthologies. You can check out all of her work on her Amazon author page @Sue Duff - author
