Scalzi Warns of The Write Agenda

John Scalzi, president the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and author of Old Man's War, warns writers of a dubious group masquerading as a legitimate writing resource. Excerpt:

Many of you are aware of Writer Beware, the fantastic resource spearheaded by Victoria Strauss and Ann Crispin (and supported by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, among other groups), which researches, documents and informs writers about the various scammers out there who pose as legitimate editors, publishers and agents. Writer Beware shines a light on the scumbaggery that these people do, thereby making it harder for them to separate writers from their money. So it's not entirely surprising that some of them would try to turn the tables on Victoria, Ann and Writer Beware, and attempt -- poorly -- to make it look like they are somehow bad guys.

One such group is "The Write Agenda," which gives the impression that it's an organization of writers that impartially looks at writing information online. What it actually appears to be doing is targeting Writer Beware, its principals, and other industry pros who have gone out of their way to point out scammers and the scams they pull. If "The Write Agenda" can give the impression that it is a legitimate group, it can then cast doubt on the work that Writer Beware does for writers.

Read the whole thing. Normally I would consign an article such as this to the @ISLF Twitter feed, but 140 characters don't quite seem enough to properly communicate the importance of the matter. The writing game is tough enough when everyone plays fairly. How much more so when one party operates in bad faith? While I'm not familiar with Writer Beware, I know John Scalzi (his curmudgeonly nature aside) wants nothing more than to keep con men away from honest authors. Cross The Write Agenda off of your resource list.

(Picture: CC 2011 by Sección Madrid; Hat Tip: The Literary Lab)