Former FBI agent Jim Fisher upends the genteel racket of fee-based literary agents and vanity publishers in this searing look at the rise and fall of one bogus entrepreneur who systematically swindled thousands of would-be writers out of millions of dollars with promises of having their work turned into salable books. In divulging the details of this colossal and shocking confidence game, "Ten Percent of Nothing: The Case of the Literary Agent from Hell "exposes a growing and serious crime against writers and a dark, ugly secret about the American publishing industry. In 1989, Dorothy L. Deering, possessing a high school degree, a recent embezzlement conviction, and no experience as a professional writer, editor, or publisher, began operating a fee-based literary agency out of her garage in Nicholasville, Kentucky. Over the next ten years, she racked up a fortune in reading and marketing fees, learning the business of sham publishing as she went along. Later, as the owner of a vanity press, she bilked 1.5 million dollars out of her clients, masterfully manufacturing dreams of literary success until she was brought to justice by Fisher s investigative journalism, an FBI probe, and the retaliation and testimonies of numerous victims. Deering never sold a single manuscript to a major publisher. With the money in her pocket and her clients hopes and hard work wrapped up in fraudulent contracts, Deering produced a few copies of four cheaply printed, poorly edited paperbacks. These she used as bait to hoodwink more clients. She was abetted by her husband, Charles, a former car salesman; his son, Daniel, a drug user with a ninth-grade education; and her brother, Bill, a fugitive from the law at the time he headed her vanity press. By successfully impersonating a literary agent for ten years, Deering operated one of the longest-running confidence games in American history. The financial loss for her clients was devastating, and the heartbreak was extreme. Drawing on victims experiences and documents recovered from the Deering venture, Fisher shows how Deering engineered and executed her scam, emphasizing the warning signs of sham agents, crook book doctors, and mendacious publishers. "Ten Percent of Nothing "provides essential information for aspiring writers and publishing professionals. Fisher s findings also prompt new inquiries into the potential licensing of literary agents and the prosecution of interstate scam artists. The volume s gallery of illustrations includes reproductions of correspondence, newsletters, and advertisements used by the Deering operation."

Under the name of G.B. Lancaster, Edith Lyttleton wrote over a dozen novels and some 250 short stories, mostly narratives of romance and adventure set in the remote back country of New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. This book is a fascinating account of the harsh experience of a gifted woman writer forced to earn her own living but struggling to move beyond the limits of potboilers to more serious work.

Robert Henry Wright, Jr., a resident of the Idaho Panhandle since 1988, has published Ten Percent Marriage, a second novel set in the Sandpoint, Idaho, area. Wright categorizes Ten Percent Marriage as a love story, an action story, and as personal relations in an outdoor setting. To escape the horror of a sadistic sexual assault that had left her with an illegitimate child and a shattered life before that life could begin, Emily has been living in a cabin at Arrowhead Point beside Lake Pend dOreille in northern Idaho. She had exiled herself there thirty years ago at age seventeen. Harvey considers himself to be one of Gods chosen losers, as he had lost at everything he had truly wanted to win: the state high school football championship; his son; and his wife. The final blow was having been presented with an early retirement package and shown to the door. Aimless and defeated, he goes to see a piece of land he had won in a bour game years before; the land is located at Arrowhead Point beside Lake Pend dOreille in northern Idaho. Emily and Harvey meet; they clash; they become attracted to each other; but there are obstacles to overcome. Harvey discovers that there are two Emilys: Ewn and Et. Ewn is the dominant personality, a passionate artist who has a well developed phobia of males. Et is fun loving, flirtatious, reckless, and has a mania for males. To Harveys dismay, Emily is Ewn for ninety percent of the time and Et for the remaining ten percent. Oth