HarperCollins Wants Me!
When I decided to be an author in 2016, I had no writing experience, but I did have an uncommon source of publishing experience. My father wrote ceramics textbooks from the early 70s to the mid-90s. His journey began by submitting his only typed copy (photocopying was not common) to Macmillan Publishers. At the time, they had only one other ceramics book available for sale and welcomed him into the world of professional authors. Way to go, Dad!
I must take a minor detour to continue this story. My grandfather was always a go-getter, and he started a small mail-order business in the late 60s called Falcon Company. He asked my father, who taught ceramics, what product he thought the world needed. At the time, the only available rolling pins were low-quality and too small. So, my grandfather worked out a deal with a local wood manufacturing company and began selling mail-order rolling pins, with my father handling the advertising. My father sold Falcon Company in 2015, but you can still buy their products here:
I must take a minor detour to continue this story. My grandfather was always a go-getter, and he started a small mail-order business in the late 60s called Falcon Company. He asked my father, who taught ceramics, what product he thought the world needed. At the time, the only available rolling pins were low-quality and too small. So, my grandfather worked out a deal with a local wood manufacturing company and began selling mail-order rolling pins, with my father handling the advertising. My father sold Falcon Company in 2015, but you can still buy their products here:
When my grandfather passed away in 1983, my father took over Falcon Company and added a publishing division. This meant my father wrote, edited, hand-created the graphics (including the cover), and manually typeset his books. He then ordered a pallet of 1,000 books and sold them one at a time. That’s hardcore self-publishing!!!
This experience left me feeling intimidated, but I had a massive ace up my sleeve. The internet has surely made publishing trivial. All I had to do was locate the many publishers’ websites and upload my book. If they did not like it, another would. Easy money!
It turns out that publishers do not accept “unrepresented manuscripts.” (Books are called manuscripts? I know that now.) Instead, publishers only work through book representatives (also known as book agents). So, I began looking for one and hit a wall. Book representatives require 20+ percent of the profit, and some even want $2,000 to look at the book.
My dream of publishing nearly died, but when I asked my professional editor for help to locate a representative, she knew one. Yay! I contacted Bethany, and it turns out that she was not a “book representative.” Instead, she was a “self-publisher helper.” I was about to say, “Thanks, but no thanks,” but Bethany explained her service and made a compelling case for self-publishing. It was a more straightforward path with more control and a better chance of success. Bethany read my book (she was okay with calling my work a book) and had a bunch of suggestions.
With a lot of her help, I became a self-published author. Nice! So… how’s it going? Barns and Noble just sent me a quarterly check for $2.67. Oh, well, life moves steadily on. Until… HarperCollins wants me! They are one of the biggest publishers in the world! NICE!!!!! Here is their email welcoming me into their fold:
Hello Bill Conrad,
I hope this message finds you well.
My name is Amy Mae Baxter, and I serve as an Editorial Director at HarperCollins Publishers. Your novel, Pushed to the Edge of Existence, was recently brought to my attention, and I wanted to take a moment to reach out to you directly.
I found the work to be thoughtfully executed, with a strong narrative voice and a confident command of craft. The novel’s thematic depth and assured storytelling made it an especially engaging read.
I would be very interested to learn more about any current or forthcoming projects you may be developing, as well as your broader publishing plans.
May I ask whether you are presently represented by a literary agent? If so, I would be pleased to continue the conversation through them, as they would serve as your representative in any discussions with HarperCollins. If you are not currently represented and would be open to it, I would be happy to suggest an appropriate path forward so that any further conversation may proceed within the usual professional framework.
Thank you for your time, and my congratulations again on Pushed to the Edge of Existence. I look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards.
AMY MAE BAXTER
Editorial Director Avon
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS
I’m going to be rich!!! But… there were some red flags. Did you catch the extra space:
Your novel, Pushed to the Edge of Existence,
It’s almost as if my title was sloppily pasted into a generic letter. Seems like a scam.
Still, this offer was too generous to ignore, so I emailed HarperCollins directly to ask whether Amy was an employee. They immediately got back to me. Amy was not associated with HarperCollins and would be receiving a nasty letter from their legal team. Dang, what a letdown.
While not a sophisticated scam, it was on point, and this was not the only intrusion into my life. I get about 10 spam emails a day; my wife gets around 30, and my mother gets over 100. Plus 10 spam texts a week for each of us. And then there is the junk mail pretending to be everything under the sun.
I have no idea why, but many companies really think my sewer line needs immediate inspecting, additional insurance, and an extended warranty. These letters are disguised as legal threats, a demand from the water department, an order from our homeowner’s association, follow-up from a “prior” inspection, an addition to my insurance, a warning from my insurance, or a plea from a charity group or winning the lottery. I get at least five letters a month. Really?
The worst scams are the calls. They used to be easy to identify because the agents all had heavy accents and were in a crowded room asking, “Hello, this is Microsoft. Are you next to your computer?” Now, I get calls from a sophisticated AI voice that knows all about me, from a legitimate number (the caller ID shows a real entity). I got one over the weekend from my bank stating my full name and that my checking account was overdrawn by $5,000. Yikes!
I really dislike being a target, and the above letter confirmed that being a minor author has upped the game. Yet, I know this is only the first round.
Because of some bad reviews, I know my work has flaws, which is to be expected because nobody is perfect. The problem is that this knowledge reveals the holes in my armor. Thus, it would be trivial for AI to download a copy of my book, identify the flaws, and generate endless bad reviews. Or even easier, generate fake bad reviews.
Someday soon, I (and every other author) might get an email that reads, “Send us $1,000, or we will post 100 bad reviews a week to every site where copies of your book are being sold!” Yikes!!!
Is that a real possibility? Absolutely, and I cannot do anything about it because big companies like Amazon lack the motivation to remove fake reviews. And the damage? My writing adventure would be over in a heartbeat. Wow, that is a depressing thought.
Now what? My only hope for successful publishing is that the government increases its efforts to prosecute scammers—like that will happen. And the rest of my life? Err… do not trust anyone or anything—an even dimmer future.
You’re the best -Bill
August 19, 2026
It turns out that publishers do not accept “unrepresented manuscripts.” (Books are called manuscripts? I know that now.) Instead, publishers only work through book representatives (also known as book agents). So, I began looking for one and hit a wall. Book representatives require 20+ percent of the profit, and some even want $2,000 to look at the book.
My dream of publishing nearly died, but when I asked my professional editor for help to locate a representative, she knew one. Yay! I contacted Bethany, and it turns out that she was not a “book representative.” Instead, she was a “self-publisher helper.” I was about to say, “Thanks, but no thanks,” but Bethany explained her service and made a compelling case for self-publishing. It was a more straightforward path with more control and a better chance of success. Bethany read my book (she was okay with calling my work a book) and had a bunch of suggestions.
With a lot of her help, I became a self-published author. Nice! So… how’s it going? Barns and Noble just sent me a quarterly check for $2.67. Oh, well, life moves steadily on. Until… HarperCollins wants me! They are one of the biggest publishers in the world! NICE!!!!! Here is their email welcoming me into their fold:
Hello Bill Conrad,
I hope this message finds you well.
My name is Amy Mae Baxter, and I serve as an Editorial Director at HarperCollins Publishers. Your novel, Pushed to the Edge of Existence, was recently brought to my attention, and I wanted to take a moment to reach out to you directly.
I found the work to be thoughtfully executed, with a strong narrative voice and a confident command of craft. The novel’s thematic depth and assured storytelling made it an especially engaging read.
I would be very interested to learn more about any current or forthcoming projects you may be developing, as well as your broader publishing plans.
May I ask whether you are presently represented by a literary agent? If so, I would be pleased to continue the conversation through them, as they would serve as your representative in any discussions with HarperCollins. If you are not currently represented and would be open to it, I would be happy to suggest an appropriate path forward so that any further conversation may proceed within the usual professional framework.
Thank you for your time, and my congratulations again on Pushed to the Edge of Existence. I look forward to hearing from you.
Best regards.
AMY MAE BAXTER
Editorial Director Avon
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS
I’m going to be rich!!! But… there were some red flags. Did you catch the extra space:
Your novel, Pushed to the Edge of Existence,
It’s almost as if my title was sloppily pasted into a generic letter. Seems like a scam.
Still, this offer was too generous to ignore, so I emailed HarperCollins directly to ask whether Amy was an employee. They immediately got back to me. Amy was not associated with HarperCollins and would be receiving a nasty letter from their legal team. Dang, what a letdown.
While not a sophisticated scam, it was on point, and this was not the only intrusion into my life. I get about 10 spam emails a day; my wife gets around 30, and my mother gets over 100. Plus 10 spam texts a week for each of us. And then there is the junk mail pretending to be everything under the sun.
I have no idea why, but many companies really think my sewer line needs immediate inspecting, additional insurance, and an extended warranty. These letters are disguised as legal threats, a demand from the water department, an order from our homeowner’s association, follow-up from a “prior” inspection, an addition to my insurance, a warning from my insurance, or a plea from a charity group or winning the lottery. I get at least five letters a month. Really?
The worst scams are the calls. They used to be easy to identify because the agents all had heavy accents and were in a crowded room asking, “Hello, this is Microsoft. Are you next to your computer?” Now, I get calls from a sophisticated AI voice that knows all about me, from a legitimate number (the caller ID shows a real entity). I got one over the weekend from my bank stating my full name and that my checking account was overdrawn by $5,000. Yikes!
I really dislike being a target, and the above letter confirmed that being a minor author has upped the game. Yet, I know this is only the first round.
Because of some bad reviews, I know my work has flaws, which is to be expected because nobody is perfect. The problem is that this knowledge reveals the holes in my armor. Thus, it would be trivial for AI to download a copy of my book, identify the flaws, and generate endless bad reviews. Or even easier, generate fake bad reviews.
Someday soon, I (and every other author) might get an email that reads, “Send us $1,000, or we will post 100 bad reviews a week to every site where copies of your book are being sold!” Yikes!!!
Is that a real possibility? Absolutely, and I cannot do anything about it because big companies like Amazon lack the motivation to remove fake reviews. And the damage? My writing adventure would be over in a heartbeat. Wow, that is a depressing thought.
Now what? My only hope for successful publishing is that the government increases its efforts to prosecute scammers—like that will happen. And the rest of my life? Err… do not trust anyone or anything—an even dimmer future.
You’re the best -Bill
August 19, 2026
