STATUS: I’m a little annoyed so I would like to say here, despite an anonymous poster on Thursday Nov. 30, 2006 suggesting that I am liar, I have never lied or exaggerated a posting on deal lunch. I think it’s important to set that record straight.
What’s playing on the iPod right now? WINDSWEPT by Bryan Ferry
The Mahvelous ladies at Writer Beware have done it again. Victoria and Ann have taken down another scammer after years of unpaid, often times unthanked perseverance.
And the story rivals anything you’d see on CSI or Law And Order. Check out the play-by-play on their blog (here and here) and do me a favor, send them an e-card thanking them for all their hard work.
They make the world of publishing a better place and so often get little recognition for it. Let’s flood their email box with great electronic cards telling them how much we appreciate their efforts to keep the writing world safe.
I don’t blame you for being angry, but I hope you know that that isn’t the common feeling around here. If you were a liar, your posts would attract far more flamewars and far fewer comments about what a service you are doing to writers by explaining the process.
In short, I heart Kristin.
I don’t blame you, either!
There’s been a lot of cowardly anonymous posts on blogs lately, and I find it sad that folks have to hide like that.
I don’t blame you one bit for being angry. You have every right to be.
I saw that and thought it was a pointless dig without an ounce of substance. Ignore it. I think you’ll find that your readers will too.
Thank you, Kristin! We really appreciate all your support.
It doesn’t really look like that person called Kristin a liar- the poster just seemed to assume that agents will talk up their game a bit, like any other business person in the world. Give ’em a break, folks… Kristin’s been doing this since what, 2001? That’s not a real long track record, and she’s got to use some smoke and mirrors now and again to make sure people know she’s in the game. Why do you think that more than half of her “rants” are about either her clients’ work (advertising masquerading as advice) or about how you can be an excellent agent even if you aren’t in NYC?
Stop kissing her ass, you biddies. Have some backbone, think for yourselves and realize that other people have their opinions– and like it or not, they can air them in any public forum they encounter. Everyone’s had enough of “blog fans” protecting the reps of the bloggers.
Rarely does anything good come from a cynical outlook.
Oh, by the way, signing as anonymous is not a way to hide for some. There are a few who do not have blogs and still visit blogs and there are others who would not like to have links to their own blogs.
:laughs:
:offers a cup of hot chocolate:
anonymous 1:
If you will read the comments, they say, “I don’t blame you [Kristin] for being angry.” They don’t say anything about disallowing certain comments or opinions. We can disagree with each other without wanting those dissenting views blocked.
Like you, we are entitled to our own opinions. So enough with the name calling, ok?
Opinions are one thing, but to basically assume Kristin is exaggerating her facts with no basis to make that claim is just wrong. Even anon posters should show a little more respect than that instead of hiding behind the anonymous mask to flame folks. I hope others here, Kristin included, give no credit to anonymous flames.
If you want to post some kind of disparaging assumption then you sure as hell better lay down a little factual basis for that instead of the general blanket comment that ‘every agent does it.’
Coming to someone’s defense for unsupported assumptions that put down their business practices isn’t ass kissing. It’s just being a decent person. So get off your high f’ing horse, Anon. Folks here are plenty capable of thinking for themselves.
Get your facts straight, anon1 – out of the last 7 posts only 1 has been about Kristin’s client and/or being outside NY. Perhaps instead of spewing unsupported “evidence” you should practice your math. Even as a “biddie” I can calculate that one.
Opinions are great, they add to the color of a blog, but don’t pretend to support opinion with fact when it’s your own ramblings. The only ass you can kiss is mine.
Okay. I understand someone disagreeing with those who don’t blame Kristin for being annoyed by this comment, but saying we have no opinions and that we should think for ourselves? Sheesh. Before I or anyone else is accused of kissing up YET AGAIN just because we’re being sympathetic and nice, let it be known that I do not have an ms out with Kristin right now, nor will I for several months, and I don’t even plan to mention in my query that I read the blog and the name I post under. So I don’t know how the hell this could be misconstrued as kissing ass. I also don’t understand how letting Kristin know that we sympathize is equivalent to not having an opinion of our own. Listen, you may disagree with our opinion, but how arrogant to say that you’re so superior because unlike us, you’re smart enough to think for yourself!
This is getting ridiculous. You know, I was annoyed by that comment the first time I read it in the comment trail, before Kristin even mentioned it, but didn’t say anything because I was afraid of being accused of something just like this. I’m so sick of being afraid to post comments just because a few people want to start fights. Something else that gets me is the fact that some people get on the internet and lose all sense of decorum. They say things they would never say to someone’s face. Why? Just because you can’t see a person doesn’t mean that they’re not real and can’t be hurt or annoyed by rude comments.
Okay, I’m going to stop now…
Ditto everyone but the rudies.
And the anonys saying deals might be exaggerated…don’t you think if an agent started posting “very nice” deals when in fact they were just “nice” deals, or whatever, word might get around? Why would an agent deliberately set out to make editors think s/he is a liar?
And I’ve never queried Kristin and don’t have a query in with her at the moment either, and don’t know that I’ll ever write anything that interests her. I just like her. We Missourians have to stick together.
Anon 1,
I bet that you are upset that you probably cannot even get an agent, or better yet, you are one of the scam agents mentioned everywhere. Is this Sammy K.? If so, get a life. And if you’re not, get a life anyway. Your jealousy is painfully obvious. If you don’t like Kristin’s blog, don’t come back. Since I am not a nice person like the lovely Kristin, I can tell you something that she won’t…get lost!
~Tasteful Anon
I personally have never known an agent to “fabricate” a better deal. Of course, I’ve only associated with good agents and those that are good at their jobs do not need smoke screens and slight of hand to sell themselves.
Also, if anon was actually “in” with published writers he would know about these things as they’re happening and be close enough to other writers to know the deals are not exaggerated. I’ve seen some of the checks, people. This is not hype. It can really happen.
And for the record – Kristin never lies, even though I sometimes wish she would about my proposals. 🙂
When I saw that comment on Nov. 30th I just dismissed it completely. Kristin Nelson is so honest and open I’d worry about her if I didn’t suspect she was just as tough.
This is far from ass-kissing, you idiot anonymous, because Kristin has nothing I want. It’s only ass-kissing when you want something from someone, you dumb f*&k. All I want from Kristin is information, and she gives me that with each honest, intelligent, FREE post on this blog. And I think that goes for most people who read this blog, and thank Kristin for her honesty and willingness to share information that only empowers us.
BTW, I was wondering how a publisher’s market place sale could even be exaggerated. You’d have to get the publisher behind the exaggeration along with the agent and author and all the other people involved in a contract. *snort* Not going to happen.
We love Ann and Victoria! Yea!!
Really, they provide such an incredible service in a mostly thankless environment. I think they are AWESOME!!!
And I dismissed the Anonymous comment without even a millisecond’s thought. Of COURSE you don’t do that. Most of us know you better than that.:)
Maprilynne
The green-eyed monster raises its head – yet again in the guise of anon, no less. How painfully funny and in some ways sad.
It seems that people who actually do care about people in general, may be subject to the criticism of certain self-centered me, me, me – types, who think everything has to have a hook.
And to set the record straight – I have submitted and BEEN rejected.
It’s not personal. It’s just business.
You go Kristin! And, thanks for all that you do!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Just FYI:
It was MY book deal Kristin posted in her blog. And so I can tell you for certain, not one word was exaggerated. I did get a very nice deal and I have a very nice agent who would never lie about such a thing. 🙂
MARI
May I just note to the anonymous blogger that this is actually NOT a public forum? Kristin owns this blog and has every right to delete your overblown posts, WHICH SHE HAS NOT DONE. If this were an agent with something to hide, and a need to exaggerate her importance, surely she would have done so.
From someone who already has another agent, so dismisses the biddie comment, as well.
don’t feed the trolls, folks… 🙂
Kristin, I love this blog. Thank you for sharing your expertise and opinions with us.
Sometimes someone is anonymous because they have no identity, or any worth having. The most pathetic simplification of cyber-life.
I choose anonymity over identity as a way of being honest. It can be frightful at times to see what happens when people speak with any honesty… a flamewar awaits at the end of every true-spoken sentence.
Anonymous One, as the miscreant be known, at first defends the words of another anonymous voice. He/she was right to, for if you study the passage in question you find no mention of lying… merely the assumption that all agents might exaggerate claims in order to look more successful, in the interest of gaining a larger list of clientele. This claim may be erroneous, and probably is. As there was no malice in the claim, it is better to let it fall unheard, without response.
I do offer this to Ms. Nelson; make this a registered posting area, if you can. That way, the more disillusioned of web-goers might rant within the spaces of their own homes, and leave the conversation space to the initiates who hold her in such high regard.
And to qualify my own posting, I am a writer with little interest in what Ms. Nelson sells. My main reasons for reading this blog so often is to guage the mood of the agent community. Ms. Nelson has proven to be an excellent barometer thus far.
Since when does disagreeing with an agent (no matter how sweet) or her fans automatically count as sour grapes and jealousy? People are just people, no matter what they call themselves. Publishing seems to be filled with the intelligent refuse of society- dreamers and unemployable a-holes. Writers can be hard to take, and agents are one group that actually goes out of its way to hang out with them. Give them a break, be nice to them, but don’t put them above everyone else.
I read my “Guide to Literary Agents” and all the articles in Writer’s Digest, and found most of it to be a crock of stinky brown. If you listen to one agent, they have one opinion- the next will have an entirely different take on things. Agents are like every other group of people, with differing opinions and attitudes.
Lighten up, Francis.
FL
Seriously. If an agent is that thin-skinned that she gets freaked out over a post that states an opinion, then grow up. It’s the world, people. $hit happens. Opinions happen. And just because people have them doesn’t mean they’re jealous or have sour grapes. That’s just a knee-jerk reaction to anything and everything. Yes, there are agents who do exaggerate their sales. It happens. I have friends whose deals have been stretched a little to make the filem rights more tempting and whetting of appetites. Does that make it dishonest? Probably not. Does it make it how the business is? Probably so. Ms. Nelson offers her advie and take on certain things. Leave it at that. Expect posts and opinions to vary — that’s the way of the world.