NEW YORK — Mystery Writers of America (MWA) will co-sponsor the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) Writer Beware program, which exposes publishing scams, educates writers on how to protect themselves from fraud, and maintains a massive database on their website of questionable literary agents, publishers, editorial services, and literary contests.

“We are pleased to be able to support the important work that Writer Beware is doing on behalf of all writers, professional and aspiring, by exposing scams aimed at defrauding authors,” said Frankie Bailey, executive vice president of the Mystery Writers of America, which is giving SFWA a financial grant of $1000 and providing other resources, such as inviting Writer Beware representatives to share their booth at BookExpo and supplying volunteers to speak at writing conferences about fraudulent publishing practices.

Like the SFWA, which launched Writer Beware in 1998, the MWA is not only concerned with the issues that affect professional authors but also with the problems that face aspiring writers.

“It’s vital that organizations like SFWA and MWA team up on these kinds of challenges. We can accomplish far more working together than we can working on our own, and I hope other organizations will see this as an invitation to join in these types of group efforts,” said Russell Davis, President of SFWA.

Up until now, Writer Beware has been the public face of SFWA’s ground-breaking Committee on Writing Scams. But with this unprecedented partnership between the two organizations, that has changed.

“We are not only showing our support and making Writer Beware stronger, but sending a message to scammers that we won’t stand by and let them take advantage of authors,” said Lee Goldberg, the MWA board member who will act as the MWA’s liaison with Writer Beware. “All writers organizations, no matter what genre they represent, share a common interest in protecting writers from literary and publishing scams. We hope our sponsorship will inspire other organizations to join us in supporting the important work that Writer Beware does for all writers.”

Writer Beware’s efforts are not limited by country or genre. Their website can be used by any writer, regardless of subject, style, genre, or nationality. . .or professional standing. The Writer Beware blog offers up-to-the-minute information on specific scams and schemes, along with advice for writers. And Writer Beware offers free research service for writers with questions about agents, publishers, and others.

“We’re thrilled that MWA has joined our original sponsor, SFWA, in the fight against the many schemes and scams that prey on authors. Although awareness of writing scams is much higher than it was ten years ago, when Writer Beware was founded, new technologies and the expansion of the Internet have vastly increased the possibilities for fraud, making it more urgent than ever to expose scams and educate writers. We thank MWA for recognizing the importance of this genre-transcending issue, and look forward to working with them to fulfill our mission into the future,” said Ann Crispin and Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware.