I can't see why it is wrong to pay an agent money to promote your book, even if the agent might not get you a book deal. I don't think you can claim book agents and Harvey Weinstein are wrong for the same reason. The same applies to most agents, sports included.
After about 2 years of lurking (ever since the end of Slate Star Codex), I dont know why this is the factually inaccurate thing that got me to finally register and post, but real book agents do not charge you money to promote your book. Anyone claiming to be an agent who asks for money in order to have your book promoted is scamming you (and yes, there are scams where people do this edit: to clarify, they take the money but don't actually promote your book). Real agents only take on books that theyre fairly certain they can sell and make money from their commission.
Not really, no. Unless, again, you're talking about scammers. Anyone looking to publish is warned about agents asking for money to represent you, and publishers would be unlikely to work with such people. If by "disreputable agent", you're talking about someone who takes your money with zero chance of it leading to actual publication, then we're just splitting hairs over our definitions of scammer.
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