Ten Percent of Nothing: The Case of the Literary Agent from Hell Book

Ten Percent of Nothing is the story of a family of con artists who, for ten years, posed as literary agents and publishers. They made millions swindling writers out of thousands of dollars each. No product was delivered. All they did to support their lavish lifestyle was to feed the dreams of aspiring writers and take their money.

There are three really frightening things about this book. First, it shows just how easily an accomplished crook can bilk people using the simplest of tools: a telephone, a printer, and a few postage stamps. Second, even reported in a tone that sometimes borders on sarcasm, these phony agents' pitches and promises sound plausible to me. Third, they were caught and convicted almost by accident. If it weren't for a particularly tenacious FBI agent who happened to have time on his hands, the public might not know yet about the deceptive practices of this bunch and others like them.

Dorothy Deering and some of her family members were convicted of fraud and related charges and served jail time starting in 2000. They're all out now, so writers beware!