Newsgroup: it.cultura.fantascienza
Titolo: Writers Seeking Publication

We are the International Literary Agency of New York. We also have 2 
other branches, one in the Lake George region of New York and the
other in Marco Island, Florida, consequently we are able to accept new
clients. Please adhere strictly to the following guidelines for submission
of all fiction & nonfiction.
Fiction: Brief synopsis, first chapter, self-addressed, stamped envelope (S.A.S.E.)
Nonfiction: Brief synopsis, first chapter, S.A.S.E.
Screenplays: (for TV & Movies) Brief synopsis, first 20 pages, S.A.S.E.
Short Stories: Brief synopsis, first 3 pages, S.A.S.E.
Poetry: Send in 3 of your best poems only, S.A.S.E.
Woodside International Literary Agency
1190 North Collier Blvd.
Marco Island, Florida  34145
(941) 642-9660
Please do not send in complete manuscript unless invited.

 
We have noticed an enormous amount of spamming going on in
misc.writing and want to
clarify that it is NOT the Woodside Literary Agency destroying misc.
writing by
monopolizing the group. The anti-spamming by Hitchcock and Mingo
(spamming is not
content- relevant) which has been going on recently in spite of
warnings by the abuse
administration obviously brings out sympathizers for the agency AGAIN
and we have
nothing but a vicious cycle going on destroying misc.writing. PLEASE
CEASE and DESIST.
Writers, concentrate on your writing. Let us help you get published! 
THE WOODSIDE LITERARY AGENCY-2-28-97 
In addition, Jack Mingo became a target of Woodside: Two FBI agents
went to Mingo’s
home after Ursula Sprachmann called and claimed Mingo made a death
threat against her.
Here’s a recap from Mingo: 
"On Wednesday, February 26, as the Express was putting my story to bed
( a newspaper in
Oakland, California), I was visited at my home by two FBI agents from
the Oakland bureau. I
had called the Woodside Literary Agency's number over the previous
weekend to ask once again
for any comments on the story. As I identified myself to the answering
machine and told why I
was calling, the squeal of feedback suddenly interrupt as a woman --
to my ear, the same one I
had talked to earlier -- picked up and shouted "Foch you!" before
hanging up. From that one
encounter, Ursula Sprachman had -- according to Thomas Bohlke, one of
the agents -- put in a
complaint to the NY attorney general's office that I told her "you can
run but you can't hide"
and had threatened to hire a hitman to have her killed. 
The G-men seemed to be satisfied once I explained it to them, gave
them a copy of the LA Times
story (Mingo had written), and even played them a tape of my only
phone call this month to the
Woodside "agency," asking for an official comment to put in a news
story in my local
alternative weekly this week. (Even the agents seemed to be amused by
the sound of me asking a
professional, droning newsguy question and being interrupted by "FOCH
YOU!" and a hangup
from Sprachman.) 
When I called the FBI agent later by phone, I asked if there were any
penalties for making false
claims of this nature, and if there's anything I can do to encourage
them to go forward and do
so. He was somewhat non-committal. 
Jack (And to think that I thought at first, what with the suits and
ties in the morning, that they
were Jehovah's Witnesses) Mingo"
Since then, Woodside has continued to post odd messages about Jack
Mingo. Just go to
Misc.writing for all the details, or jump to Deja News and do a search
on the Woodside
Literary Agency or Jack Mingo. 
On March 3, 1997, Mr. Horowitz served a motion on behalf of defendants
James Leonard
and Ursula Sprachman (sic) asking that the court dismiss the action.
The motion, which is too
voluminous to reproduce here, claims the complaint is "woefully
inadequate for numerous
reasons" and fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted;
and that, in any event, its
service upon those defendants was not made in a proper manner as
specified in the applicable
rules. 
A briefing schedule has been established under which plaintiff's
papers in opposition were
served by March 31, 1997, and all papers on the motion are to be
submitted to U.S. District
Judge Nina Gershon on April 10, 1997. Judge Gershon will then schedule
a time for the
attorneys to argue the motion before her. 
Jayne Hitchcock appeared on The Sally Show on 4 March 1997 -- the show
aired on 10
March 1997. This gave her the chance to reach a national medium about
her online
harassment story. Jayne Hitchcock appeared with three other victims of
online harassment,
plus Colin Hatcher from Cyber Angels and Dr. Michael Adamse, co-author
of the book
Online Friendship,Chat-Room Romance and Cybersex. 
Jayne Hitchcock then spent Wednesday, 5 March 1997 at the Maryland
State House in
Annapolis, testifying on behalf of House Bill 778, which would punish
e-mail harassers with a
$500 fine and/or up to three years in prison. The bill passed the
House of Delegates
unopposed, 138-0, and is currently at the Senate level for approval
before becoming a law.
One small victory for Jayne Hitchcock and the beginning of a crusade
to get similar laws
passed in other states and nationally, if possible.
Although House Bill 778 did not pass the Senate on 7 April 1997, Jayne
Hitchcock plans on
rallying for the bill again next year. This time she hopes to have a
hand in amending the bill's
wording so that it will pass in 1998.
As reported by the Maryland State Police to Jayne Hitchcock and her
lawyer: 
A woman identifying herself as Ursula Sprachmann called the Maryland
State Police and
complained about the Jayne Hitchcock HELP Fund. This woman claimed the
HELP Fund
was a fraud, that people were getting ripped off and the money was
just going to help Jayne
Hitchcock sue her (Sprachmann) and to line Jayne Hitchcock's pockets.
The Maryland State
Police Sergeant who spoke to the woman claims he told her he didn't
see anything wrong with
the HELP Fund. He mentioned that even President Clinton has a legal
expense fund set up
for him. The Sergeant then invited the woman to have her lawyer or
anybody who thought
they'd been "ripped off" call him back. Neither her lawyer nor any
purported "victims" have
called. 
In addition, this same woman contacted the Baltimore Computer Crimes
Bureau of the FBI
with the same complaint about the HELP Fund. The complaint was
forwarded to the FBI
Agent assigned to Jayne Hitchcock's case, who is located in Annapolis.
Special Agent
Murphy promptly placed the complaint in Jayne Hitchcock's case file. 
On 18 April 1997 at around 5 p.m. (E.S.T.), Jayne Hitchcock's lawyer,
John A. Young,
received a disturbing phone call at his home. Both Atty. Young and his
wife picked up the
phone at the same time, in different rooms. A man asked for 'John
Young' in an officious
manner, so Mrs. Young hung up and let her husband take the call. 
"The man then asked if I were John Young and, after I confirmed that,
asked if I were
handling the case for Miss Hitchcock," Atty. Young relates. "After I
also confirmed that, he
said to me, 'You'd better drop that case -- or I'll come and fuckin'
kill you.' When I asked
'And who might you be?' I got a click." 
Atty. Young reported the incident to authorities, including his local
police precinct and the
FBI, and has advised Jayne Hitchcock that he is not about to drop her
case. 
Jayne Hitchcock also alerted the Maryland State Police and her local
police department, as
well as the FBI, about this latest development. 
Jayne Hitchcock has been appearing on local and national television
and radio shows about
cyberstalking and her own personal side of this issue. She appeared in
a segment about
cyberstalkers on the May 2nd edition of Unsolved Mysteries .
Jayne Hitchcock has recently become the target of a spate of spams
allegedly from the
Woodside Literary Agency, who are questioning the H.E.L.P. Fund.
Another group of spams
target Jayne Hitchcock, Jack Mingo, "et al." There are also many
people supporting Jayne
Hitchcock who are receiving unwanted e-mails from the Woodside
Literary Agency. Anyone
who receives an e-mail from the Woodside Literary Agency is asked to
forward the e-mail
with full headers to Jayne Hitchcock's lawyer, or if anyone has
questions or concerns about
the H.E.L.P. Fund, they are also asked to contact her attorney, John
A. Young .
It looks like "Unsolved Mysteries" may have done some good -- Jayne
Hitchcock's lawyer
notified her on 13 May 1997:
"Got a copy of an affidavit in the mail today -- by John Lawrence, on
behalf of himself and
The Woodside Literary Agency. He says he lives on the first floor at
the Woodside Literary
Agency location in Woodside, New York and claims that: 'I only
recently learned from Ursula
Sprachman about the above captured (sic) action against me, ...'
The affidavit arrived by certified mail in an envelope with Woodside's
return address printed
on it, and with no other accompanying papers. It looks like it was
sent to the court and
recites at the end that copies are being sent to Horowitz (lawyer for
Sprachmann and
Leonard) and to me 'certified mail.'
The affidavit claims that Lawrence is appearing 'pro se', which is
legalese for 'representing
himself.' It also claims he is representing Woodside 'pro se,' which
is logically impossible
unless, perhaps, he claims that Woodside is a sole proprietorship
owned entirely by him." 
A person named Scott Holstad noted in the latest issue of his
electronic newsletter, Tek Thots,
the following information: "*Since I'm ranting about spam, try this
out. Familiar with the
notorious Woodside Literary Agency spams? If not, be glad. These
creeps have spammed the
entire Usenet with bogus ads seeking writers for publication. People
who send manuscripts
are typically accepted, and then cash is demanded, repeatedly, for
various reasons. 
Well, this week (week of 12 May 1997), a friend of mine who is a
security-type for an ISP
tried contacting them numerous times to beg them to quit spamming
through this particular
ISP (it was being routed through illegally). What happens? Death
threat! I kid you not. Well,
the NYPD and FBI were called. We can only hope that these freaks are
put away where they
belong." 
If anyone else has the same experience Scott and his friend did,
please contact not only the
NYPD and FBI Computer Crimes unit, also contact Jayne Hitchcock's
lawyer immediately --
John A. Young.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Important Comments from Writers about Woodside
Literary Agency
Date: Mon, 29 Apr 1996 21:05:33 -0700
From: "Dzierzanowski J. Pyzynski" 
To: 
sspe...@rhino.bocklabs.wisc.edu
Subject: Woodside Literary Agency
Please be advised that this "agency" has its major business
collecting "reading fees" and attempting to collect a $500 fee to
represent the inexperienced for a year.  Furthermore, their contract
states that they receive 15% of all revenues from all sources
whether they make the sale or not.
I realise that you cannot police every agency on your page but must
depend on reports from users.  Thanks for your service to writers.
I hope to see Woodside driven from the business, starting with your
page.
Thanks again,
Jim Smith
Date: Sat, 27 Jan 96 14:22:27 -0800
From: Carl Frederick 
To: 
sspe...@rhino.bocklabs.wisc.edu
Subject: Agents on the Net / John Lawrence
First of all, I commend you on providing the Agents on the Net pages.
It is however, important that the individual agents act properly.
I sent John Lawrence (Woodside Literary Agency) a few chapters of my
new
novel, and received a reply that they were interested in it. They
invited
me to send the remainder of the manuscript along with a $75 reading
fee.
Their Net pages made no mention of a reading fee. I believe this is
unethical conduct.
If John Lawrence does not correct his pages, it will reflect badly on
him
and ultimately also on the Agents on the Net service.
Have you considered having reader comments on the service rather in
the
nature of those in www.thelist (the list of Internet service
providers.)?
Date: Tue, 13 Feb 1996 06:44:54 -0500
From: "Jayne A. Hitchcock" 
To: 
sspe...@rhino.bocklabs.wisc.edu
Subject: Literary agent
I was solicited by an agent on your list, Woodside Literary Agency, to
send in
a manuscript
proposal. I was asked for three sample chapters and a bio and that's
all. I
sent it in and
received a letter yesterday asking for a $75 reading fee, which was
NOT
mentioned previously. I
feel this is misleading and unprofessional. I also notice they do not
mention
the reading fee in
their listing with you. I would like to suggest that this needs to be
added to
your listings for
agents so that other writers don't get caught up in schemes like this.
And no,
I am not going to
pay the reading fee.
--
Jayne A. Hitchcock 
              Shiba Hill, Ltd.
Date: Wed, 31 Jan 1996 13:02:21 -0500
From: 
CHIC...@aol.com
To: 
sspe...@rhino.bocklabs.wisc.edu
Subject: Re: Agent fees
Dear Stephen:
[...misc. stuff deleted...]
I was
wondering if you might put me in touch with the other person that
complained.
 I am curious as to whether this is a form letter.
I wanted to let you know that I have written a critical letter to John
Lawrence, and indicate my distaste for scams.
                                               Cindy