Conned By Literary Agent

[jackson9]

I moved from Australia to Ohio 2 years ago. Prior to when I left Australia I had a literary agent (who "gave up her business") who had possession of a manuscript I wrote. Without permission, she sent the manuscript to an associate of hers in the US. I owed her a sum of $140US, which I paid over a month ago, as she said that if I did not pay her within a 72 hour period, I would not see my manuscript again. To date, it has been a month and I have not received my manuscript. I have called on several occasions and she will not release the information of her associate and will not attempt to follow this matter up to locate my manuscript. As I said, she sent it to someone without my authority and since I paid her money I did owe her for typing it, (which was also never done), I feel that she has cheated me and committed fraud by saying that these people have it when they may not. It does not take 4 weeks for a manuscript to be sent by US Mail across the US, and I want to take this action further and sue her for damages and future income loss that she has caused.

Any ideas and comments would be really appreciated.

 

[ALawyer]

You've likley been had, but the amount is trivial.

Hopefully you kept a photocopy.

 

[jackson9]

I did not keep a photocopy of the manuscript. I did, however, keep the receipt from when I paid her by western union. It is now April 1st. I paid her on February 22nd.

What should I do to order to be compensated for this?