As CEO of Authorlink®, I have an apology to several literary agents, and a warning to all those who rely on technologies like Chatbot and their alternatives to augment real, human knowledge.

In a newsletter we distributed to a limited number of industry insiders, we reported that seven literary agencies have closed in recent years. The information was entirely false! All seven agencies are alive and well.

In our haste to provide relevant information in our newsletter (not on the website), and due to our short staff, we decided to try chatbots to help cut the time to gather information.  Please do not trust information returned on any chatbot without verification. This was the most painful lesson of my long career. I have always prided our company on an ethical operation.  We strive for accuracy. I promise this won’t happen again.

Again, my apologies to the seven alive and well companies:

–Fuse Literary (open)

— John Brockman’s literary (open)

— The Jane Rotrosen Agency (open)

–The Corvisiero Literary Agency (open)

–Andrea Brown agency, more than 30 years in business (open)

–Hurst & Associates literary agency (open)

–The Dystel, Goderich & Bourret literary agency is alive and thriving after more than 25 years (open)

If any of our Authorlink readers spot an error on our website or in our newsletters, please email me and we will promptly address any issues.

We should all keep a more watchful eye on the chaos and harm technology can cause.

Thanks to Miriam Goderich, Katharine Sands, Peter Rubie, and a few others for alerting me to misinformation in the report.

Dystel, Goderich & Bourret LLC is a dynamic literary agency boasting an impressive client list and a sterling reputation. Led by Jane Dystel, who founded the company in 1994, our agents are smart, hardworking, compassionate, and focused on their authors’ success. They are a full-service enterprise known for its business savvy and integrity.

Katharine Sands is a literary agent with the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency, Katharine has worked with a varied list of authors who publish a diverse array of books.

Peter Rubie is the author of the critically acclaimed novels Werewolf and Mindbender. He is a partner at L. Perkins Associates literary agency.

The Andrea Brown Literary Agency is a mid-sized agency specializing in children’s and adult literature, celebrating thousands of titles sold since founding in August 1981 by Andrea Brown.

Thank you all for your understanding. And please “bot not.”