Where Are You Getting Your Information From?

I am often amazed at some of the submissions I receive. Let me say, that amazement is not something that is good, but something that scares the heck out of me. I get it! There are a lot of sources out there proclaiming the ultimate in "One Stop Shopping" of editors an agents. I get that there are also a lot of people out there trying their best to provide authors with "the resources they need to make a fortune in publishing." 

But...

Do you have any clue who these people really are? Have you done your personal research on these people to see if they really know what they are talking about? My bet is NO!

Let me give you some very vague examples so as to not run into someone out for a pretty penny with a lawsuit. These are, however, examples of people I have seen out there

• An author, who has never been published but presenting at workshops of how to create a manuscript that anyone would by.
• An author presenting at conferences on how to be successful, but has been essentially fired from multiple publishing houses.
• Authors who proclaim their great successes at publishing, but have only written one book and self-published it with very small sales. 

I get it! You want to learn as a writer. You want as many resources as possible to grow and develop as a writer. But it is still crucial that you take the time to research what this person has REALLY done.