There’s a cat fat brewing between the two most popular agent blogs in the blogosphere.
One of the first agent blogs came out a few months ago from someone who named herself or himself Agent 007. S/he quickly became required reading as she described the publishing business from the vantage point of her old job – as an editor – as well as from her new occupation as a new agent.
Almost at the same time a female agent in New York started a wildly amusing blog called Miss Snark and it quickly became just as popular. (Agent 007 is linked to 108 sites, according to Technorati and Miss Snark is linked to 102) Miss Snark earned the devotion of many aspiring authors when she invited them to submit the first page of their novels, which she then critiqued. During the last few months Agent 007 has been kind of sleepy, but on Wednesday s/he roared back with a vengeance – and took a jab at Miss Snark.
Agent 007:
“Unlike some bloggers, I cannot churn this out every day, and since my first duty is to my authors, that will never change. But it may get even more sporadic in the coming weeks. I write when the inspiration hits, and right now, nothing is hitting me. I am simply too preoccupied.
In the meantime, maybe you want to check out Miss Snark. I only agree with about 10 percent of what she says (and if I were looking for an agent, I might avoid women altogether just to guarantee I woud not end up with her), but she posts several times a day and seems to have plenty of time to answer questions.”
Well, Miss Snark never takes anything lying down, unless it comes from George Clooney. Here is her response:
“It sounds to me like 007 wanted her blog to be serious, read seriously, taken seriously, and a vehicle for the improvement of all mankind...or at least publishing. Her posts reflected that. They were long, detailed, well reasoned, carefully thought out. Then along comes Miss Snark: loud, profane, absolutely irreverent, acerbic, snarky, fast, short and worst of all...frequent. I can see where this blog would drive her crazy...if those kinds of things mattered.”
Readers have posted comments to Miss Snark proclaiming their devotion to both blogs.
OPRAH
Oprah’s contemporary book club is back! The Queen of Print is abandoning the classics this month to recommend James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces. Could her change of heart be a response to the letter she received months ago by a group of writers known as Word of Mouth? They asked her to reinstate her club.
Oprah’s imprimatur has already boosted the book to the #1 slot on Amazon.
The book was well received when it was released. When Nan Talese, the legendary editor, got Frey’s proposal, she read the first pages and knew instantly she was going to buy it.
2 comments:
I don't know if it's quite as antagonistic as you're making it out to be. As someone who recently stepped away from blogging routine to reconfigure his own priorities, I can absolutely see where Agent 007 is coming from.
I'm glad Oprah's revved back up. As for the dueling agents, it is sad when someone has to attack another person online, who cares if another blogger posts more or less?
If I like their blog I'll read it and link to it, if not I won't. It seems petty to waste time complaining that someone else blogs differently than you do.
And to tell people to avoid female agents is super silly.
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