Beware Publishing Scams and Sneaky People (taken from Amber the Librarian's page on the YWP site with some minor changes)
NaNoWriMo is all about encouraging people do things they would have thought were impossible. People have sold their NaNo-novels (after letting their inner editor out to check spelling and clean up consistency errors). Therefore, it is perfectly reasonable that people would want to sell their NaNo-novels.
But be careful. The world of publishing is, for the most part, made up of honest editors who want to give writers money for being brilliant (because then the editor gets to make money off the brilliant books), and agents, who want to earn their fifteen percent by convincing the editors that their clients’ books are indeed brilliant.
However (and it’s a big 'however'), some people want to cut out the whole selling books part and make money off the writer. They can do this in various unethical ways, and like most forms of fraud, these literary hucksters are getting more sophisticated all the time. Always look over any contract you’re thinking of signing and if you don't have a lawyer, give it to a friend to look at as well. It's up to you to protect yourself, too, by learning all you can.
Be especially leery of:
* Anyone who wants to charge you money up front, especially a reading fee.
* Anyone who requires you to pay them, or someone they specify, to edit your manuscript before they will publish your book.
* Anyone who wants you to buy something before they will publish your book.
* Anyone who offers you a "co-publishing" contract.
* Anyone who contacts you first, offering to publish your work.
Resources:
The most important site to look at is Writer Beware, a free service provided by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).
Preditors and Editors is a fairly extensive list of reputable people to send your work to, and of scams.
Most (though not necessarily all) reputable agents will be listed with the Association of Author’s Representatives .
You can find lots of reputable copy-editors through the Editorial Freelancers Association , the Society for Editors and Proofreaders (UK), and the Editors Association of Canada.
Just in case you’re also a poet, check here for info on some common poetry publishing scams.
These things do happen. Read three stories at Writing World and of course get more links there.
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Heather Dudley
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Another useful resource is www.ralan.com, which lists publishers and has some warnings about dodgy ones. I have personally had two short story sales and been runner up in a competition based on data from ralan.
However it is worth checking P&E first.
To find an agent http://www.querytracker.net/ has a useful searchable database, keeps track of what you have sent where, and collects statistics on response times.
And finally, to reiterate the classic advice, if anyone asks you for money it's almost certainly a scam. Slap them about a bit then run.