Veteran writer Jenna Glatzer teams up with publishing attorney Daniel Steven to expose the scams and unsavory deals writers are likely to encounter along their path to publishing success. The Street-Smart Writer is an essential reference for all writers to getting published without getting swindled.

This book will help writers spot an honest agent or manager, determine the value of vanity publishing, and avoid getting conned out of hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars when signing a contract. Sections on writing contests teach writers how to determine which contests are useless; other sections offer tips on avoiding costly conferences and shady seminars. A special focus on copyright ensures that writers protect their work from schemers who want to use creativity without paying for it. Appendices include sample publishing, agent, and manager contracts.

Reviews
From Booklist
Here's a welcome flip side to those how-to-be-a-writer books that either ignore or barely mention the dark side of writing for hire. The authors--respectively, the founder of absolutewrite.com and a lawyer specializing in publishing-related matters--give readers the skinny on such matters as agents (how can you tell the good from the bad?); writing contests (how to spot the scams); vanity presses and other pay-for-publish schemes (not all of them are rip-offs); and other potentially shady elements of the business of writing. The book offers a number of revelations--you don't need an agent to get published, despite what nearly everybody seems to tell you--and it contains such a large amount of essential information that it should be required reading for anyone with a story to sell. It's also worth noting that, overall, the authors take an optimistic stance: the business of writing, they say, is full of honorable people genuinely interested in seeing writers succeed. But there are also charlatans, too, and this guide tells you where to look for them. David Pitt
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"While the pen is mightier than the sword, many writers lack a shield. The Street-Smart Writer is that shield."
--Dave Kuzminski, Editor, Preditors & Editors™

"Never get swindled again! The unscrupulous prey on the dreams of writers, but with this book as your guide, scammers will have to look for a new target. You'll learn to tell the legit from the fishy when it comes to contracts, vanity presses, agents, writing contests, and more."
--Linda Formichelli, co-author of The Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success

"Street-Smart is a very smart book indeed, full of the sort of wisdom that too-often costs young writers time, money, and manuscripts. Jenna Glatzer acts as a lifeguard, pointing out the riptides, undertows, and sharks that can turn a day at the beach into more adventure than you'd care to have. Better than learning by experience is learning by others' experience."
--James D. Macdonald, Author of The Apocalypse Door, Sysop of SFF.net

"Ms Glatzer's information on publishing and bookselling, particularly paying to be published, is very accurate and describes all the issues related to getting published vs. paying to publish, cagey language on marketing and distribution used by companies to snare unsuspecting writers. She also describes how the legitimate process works with industry standards, marketing and distribution. She dispels the mystery of the basic economics of bookselling and the process bookstores follow to stock their shelves."
--Anita Zager, Northern Lights Books & Gifts, Duluth MN