An Agent vanished...

In the end, I didn’t fall for the scam. I realized before accepting their offer, that it wasn’t legit. But, my god, I can only say how sick I felt to suddenly find out that my ‘baby’ was in the hands of a conman. I felt violated, deceived and it was like I was losing something! Wow man... How could I have let this happen? I was terrified he was going to ‘steal’ my book...

This is where the process of publishing gets complicated: Copyright. The seal that protects the writers work from being stolen or copied by someone else. Apparently, the book you’ve spent months sweating over, even if it hasn’t been published, is protected against theft, without having to go through any procedure (I find this law so confusing and so vague, by the way). But on Tuesday night I was so paranoid. I couldn’t sleep and was having nightmares. When I woke my up from the sound of my screams (yes, yes, I know, I can be the biggest drama queen there is!) I decided to follow advice I’d been given a few months ago which was to post a full copy of the manuscript to myself. According to what I’ve heard, it has to be in a stamped, sealed and dated envelope and isn’t allowed to be opened once it arrives home. It then serves as proof as my OWN WORK, should this proof be needed in the future, for whatever reason. So, this is what I did on Wednesday – just to feel like my baby was safe again...

It wasn’t until afterwards; I continued questioning... Would this ****** of dude, who is scamming 100s of first time writers, seriously sit down and read my script and then... steal it..?? One out of hundreds? Do I really think I’m THAT important? What a joke! Okay, I do love my book, yes. And it needs to be published, yes. But do I honestly think that my story stands out to such an extent, that this American guy, or any of his conning associates, would pick me to steal from? I realized that all the emails I’d received, would have been automated and nobody would have even opened my manuscript. It took the rational minds and words of a few other people, who I’ve since spoken to, for me to see that nobody would have looked at it. However, when it was happening, I did all I could do, to protect my work...

What a drama! But you know what? A day later, I wasn’t too deflated about the whole thing. Yes, I was disappointed at first, but then I was just happy for there to be so much information available, about the case that's being filed against this Mr Robert Fletcher. Websites are almost dedicated to him, all in aid of warning and protecting first-timers (and naive beings) like myself. I didn’t let it get me down and I had to get right back in the game. I found out the right sources for the professional and legit agencies. I found blogs and websites that are set-up to protect writers from fraud and I even reported this incident to the investigator of the Attorney General, in Florida. And they replied saying that there are 400 victims (and the amount is rising daily) and there’s a case against Mr Fletcher for Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices.

I learnt so much, through this ordeal. And right now, I’m so grateful for how this has planned out. It’s all apart of the process and a person must learn to grow, in whatever direction that may be. So, at the moment, the legit and professional agencies are being bombarded by my book proposal. I have to stay positive. This is only the beginning of the either long and winding or the short and straight road that will lead towards the printed book - or maybe it's a long and straight or short and winding, or average and bumpy.. Who knows! The description of possbile directions this process could take, are endless... meaning I haven't a clue how things are going to go! But it can only be good... Yes.. How exciting!