Victoria Strauss is the founder of the Web site Writer Beware, an interactive hub of information for new writers about literary scams, fake publishers, proprietary writing contests, and other pitfalls in the publishing industry. She runs Writer Beware as a volunteer from her Massachusetts home, along with two other writers who she met through her work with the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. She is the author of seven fantasy novels, mostly recently The Burning Land and The Awakened City.
Strauss compiles and investigates complaints of shady literary agents and vanity publishers so new writers know not to get involved with them, and sometimes she helps police investigations of fraudulent business. We spoke with Strauss and found out what it takes to advocate and get to the bottom of real-life publishing world miscreants and mysteries for new writers.
You are involved in protecting and advocating for new writers on Writer Beware and also through your board position with the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. How did this become such an interest for you?
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People often ask me if I ever got scammed. I never did. I’ve had a relatively good experience with agents and publishers. However, when I first went online in the mid-90s, I found all these forums and message boards about being scammed by charging agents and vanity publishers. Back then there was almost no information about this ugly underbelly of publishing, and I was fascinated because I didn’t know of this experience. I heard that the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America were looking for a volunteer to do a section of the Web site to warn about this kind of thing, and because I was interested and knew something, I volunteered, which was how Writer Beware was born.
Define Writer Beware, and describe the process of how you took it from idea to actuality.
There is a public and a private aspect to Writer Beware. The public face is the Web site and the blog; the Web site has general warnings about common scams and problems that writers can encounter, with sections about literary agents, independent editors, various kinds of publishing, copyright, contests, and really just about every area where scams or schemes might occur. The Web site doesn’t just have warnings but also items about disreputable practice. The blog enables us to focus on specific scams and schemes, and also issues of interest to writers. For example, I just blogged about the common myth that writers have to give back their advance if they don’t sell enough copies to earn it out. Right now, I’m getting a lot of questions about a particular literary contest. The blog lets us be much more specific and timely.
The private or behind-the-scene face of Writer Beware is all the documentation we do when we put the warnings out. We built this into a very expensive database. So when we provide a warning, writers can be sure that it can be documented. We’ve cooperated with law enforcement on a number of cases; they have a tough time understanding exactly what is fraudulent.
What do you do to keep Writer Beware going on a day-to-day basis? Describe a typical day.
Writer Beware is a free advice service where writers can email us with questions or complaints or concerns. We get between five and 15 emails a day. As we become more well-known, people post our email addresses at various places. We also read industry publications and newsletters (like Publishers Lunch) that come in daily. I do a blog post at least once a week. If we get requests from the authorities for information, naturally we help with that. Sometimes it’s just maybe an hour a day, but other times it becomes like a part-time job. It’s 100 percent volunteer: we don’t get paid, and we don’t accept donations.
Describe Writer Beware’s traffic and readership over time. What exactly did you do to bring attention and traffic to the site, and what else has contributed to its growth?
The Web site and blog get between 300 and 500 visits each a day, although it’s less on weekends. It’s totally word-of-mouth. It’s a snowball thing — people tell each other about it. Since we’ve started blogging, our blog posts get picked up by the media and other bloggers. People in the publishing industry know about us and recommend us.
| “If someone wants to start a Web site, they should know that people are ready to take the word of someone who seems authoritative. Establish your credentials right from the start.” |
How does your work against literary scams correspond with your writing and your novels? Has the site helped drive your book sales or your literary career in any way? Has Writer Beware helped build a brand for you as an author, or is it the other way around?
No — as far as I can tell, it has not. It really is two different worlds. As a novelist, I write fantasy, for the adult market and for the young adult market. They don’t dovetail as far as I can tell.
How can other media professionals who see a need within the media community create a project similar to Writer Beware? Do you have any advice on how to get started? If they want to participate in Writer Beware itself, what would you recommend?
I would say now that blogging is probably a better way to establish yourself. You could have a blog and connect it to a Web site. It’s easy for anyone to set up a blog.
If someone wants to start a Web site, they should know that people are ready to take the word of someone who seems authoritative, even if they’re not. An important thing to do is establish your credentials right from the start. Make it clear why you are qualified to do what you do. Also important, you have to be yourself. I think you should do it as yourself and make it clear how and why you are qualified to do what you do.
How can writers parlay their efforts advocating for other writers into freelance assignments?
I’m sure there are ways. If you are willing to network, once you’ve amassed enough material on your blog, you could self-publish a book and sell it from the blog. We actually sometimes consider doing that — compiling the best posts from the Writer Beware blog. We just run into the problem that the information is really time-sensitive. A year from now, much of the information would be outdated. The upside of a blog is that it changes constantly. If I were really dynamic about networking, I could definitely be parlaying that into article assignments. I’ve written for Writers Digest and a couple of other places. My personal choice is to concentrate on fiction; I don’t see myself as a freelance writer. I’m sure that if I network more, I could do more. The process of establishing expertise is quite a long one — we’ve been doing it for more than 10 years.
The reason to do something like this is not to turn this into a paying career. If you’re going to do it right, you have to do it for the right reasons, to help people. Otherwise, why would you devote a huge amount of uncompensated time in the hopes of getting assignments in two years? The only reason to do something like this is if you feel really passionate about the issue.
Any other advice or guidance you’d want to give writers in terms of their own rights, or helping them protect those of others?
I think that everything depends on a foundation of knowledge. I think writers need to be educated. They need to spend some time researching the publishing industry before they jump into it. If they would do that one thing, we’d have a lot less to do at Writer Beware. Many writers don’t know that they can do research on the industry or ought to do it. When they start to send out their books, it might not seem like such a big deal if an agent asks for $200 up front or if a publisher says, “You need to invest your career and pay us $10,000.” The way writers can help one another is to be informed. There is a huge amount of misinformation on writers’ Web sites and messages boards about the way things work, so speak up when something isn’t correct, and be a smart and informed writer!
Tips for starting a Web site on a specific topic or skill set:
1. Start a blog, or some other way to present updates and new content. This attracts new readers and gives a reason for current readers to keep coming back. It can help your Web site get recognized by the media and get recommended to potential new visitors.
2. Make sure your online persona is who you really are in person. If you want to start a media Web site, do it as yourself: then you can also be open about your credentials and have people really trust you.
3. Make yourself known in the media sphere you want to cover — it pays off! Victoria Strauss is content with her fiction career and writes occasionally for Writers’ Digest, but she is confident that if she networked at her full-potential, she could definitely be getting steady freelance work because of Writer Beware.
4. Don’t do it just for the money. According to Strauss, it takes years to develop rapport and recognition, so it most likely wouldn’t be worth your time to start an informative Web site just for the money. You have to love — or at least be fascinated by — what subject you work around, too!
Liz Funk is a New York-based freelance writer. Her first book, Supergirls Speak Out: Inside the Secret Crisis of Overachieving Girls, will be published by Simon and Schuster in March 2009.
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