Know What You are Doing Before You Hire a Freelancer to Help

This should be a given, but I cannot count the number of times people post projects, and they do not know what they want. There are the standard people, who post a job for a proofreader when they really want a developmental editor, but generally that kind of mistake won't get you in too much trouble.

I am talking about the people who post jobs on Guru for a "book agent to market my book" or a "script agent to market my script." These people clearly have no clue what an agent is or how to find one. This really upsets me to the point of wasting a bid to explain to these people what an agent is. As I have stated on this blog in previous posts, you do not pay for an agent an upfront fee. Real agents all work on commission. In addition to that commission, you might have to pay a very minimal fee for copying your manuscript (think along the lines of what it would cost to go to Office Depot or Staples and get a copy). Since Guru specifically states that commission only jobs are against its terms of service, that right there would tell anyone looking for a real agent that Guru is not the place to find one.

Still, these people post their "projects," and there are plenty of people working on Guru who are willing to take advantage of this based on the number of quotes they get. I know that Googling "Agent" will turn up a plethora of results from websites promising to help you get one or from non-reputable agents who want you to use them for a small up-front fee--but again, these are scams. Real literary agents have thousands of people sending them their queries each year, they do not need to send advertisements or sales e-mails to people. They do not need to work through Guru or any other freelancing website because they already have plenty of work.

There should be books about literary agents in your library that better explain what an agent does. The Writer's Market usually has a section devoted to them, as well. You should not simply embark on finding someone to be your agent until you know exactly what an agent is and how to find a real one. There are plenty of people out there willing to take your money and do nothing. If you have money you want to give away, I have a pay pal link up at the top for donations. :) But like other reputable teachers, I would rather give you advice on how to make money than try to scam you out of the money you have.