Literary Agent Sues Sites for Ruining Her Reputation

Shelagh wrote:

"...a rose by any other name..."

"To each his own . . ."

To Each His Own

Words & Music by:
Jay Livingston & Ray Evans

A rose must remain with the sun and the rain
Or its lovely promise won't come true
To each his own, to each his own
And my own is you

What good is a song if the words just don't belong?
And a dream must be a dream for two
No good alone, to each his own
For me there's you

If a flame is to grow there must be a glow
To open each door there's a key
I need you, I know, I can't let you go
Your touch means too much to me

Two lips must insist on two more to be kissed
Or they'll never know what love can do
To each his own, I've found my own
One and only you

I remember slow-dancing to that beautiful old song. Of course that was back in the dinosaur age.

I think the term pedantic could be considered degrogatory by some people.

I would to, but all my comments get deleted, while the moderator's stay posted so you probably won't read this.

I read it.

I read it. Must be a cousin around.

I saw it too. And a few more besides.

Just a quick correction. Miss Snark did not write, generate, or develop the "20 Worst Agent List" (now known as the "Thumbs Down Agent List").

Victoria and I developed it, utilizing the complaints we receive via the Writer Beware email and snail mail addresses, where writers who have encountered questionable agents can send us copies of their documentation.

Obviously, certain unsavory members of the agenting profession are high profile, such as WL, ie., Robert Fletcher. Anyone mentioning agents to avoid would tend to include his operation, and the same goes for the other "high profile" fee charging agents. That probably accounts for the confusion regarding who actually developed the list.

-Ann C. Crispin
Chair, Writer Beware

Thank you for the clarification, Ann.

I use to have LeAnn Murphy of Desert Rose Literary as my agent, reason I say this is because she knew and was friends of Miss Baur. Strange because they both charge fees. Of course I find out later she was on the List. LOL
It's also kind of funny Ann is on this site because LeAnn use to call her Satan.

Heh, heh.

LeAnn Murphy calls me Satan, PublishAmerica has named me Public Enemy No. 1.

It's so nice to be loved!

-Ann C. Crispin

Hey, anybody who an agent calls Satan is OK with me.

One thing I've often wondered about... and you seem in a unique position to know... is the degree to which literary "whistle blowers" can be shut off or intimidated by litigation or even the threat of it.

I've had articles turned down by people who were afraid of lawsuits. Not of losing, but just of having to spend the money and energy to defend.

I have written in the past about several lawyers who rope in clients questionably injured by some sort of tortbait, just to feesplit a settlement.

The first time I saw a website dissing literary scamsters I thought, Uh, oh, God help this guy.

I'll leave it an open-ended question: what effects to you see of "shut up lawsuits" on trying to wise writers up to the sharks in the pool?

certain unsavory members of the agenting profession are high profile, such as WL, ie., Robert Fletcher

Ironically, the outfit most likely to show up in google ads on writing sites: often a banner over posts denouncing scam agents.

I notice the ones in Blue on search engine most likely are the scammers...

Actually I would say that ANY agent who pays for advertising is a scammer.

Or any publisher that advertises to writers.

Lawsuits can be costly:

http://writersnewsweekly.com/kuzminski.html

Lin, it happens.

More than that I cannot say, by order of counsel.

I hope to have a report to post on WB's website very soon now, so I'll drop a note here to check it out when it appears.

-Ann C. Crispin

Ah... understood.
Please do let us know, I think it's a pretty interesting situation for any writer or publisher.

Tort law is such a mess compared to criminal law. Even experts don't really know whether any given action might draw a judgement or not. And somebody can sue you (I'm talking USA, here) without even having a prayer of winning, just to shake you down or cost you money.

I was involved in a suit like that: former employer sueing new employer over hiring me. It was laughed out of court. Literally laughed, which is rare since courts aren't exactly the humor repository.

But it cost a lot of money. And the former employer was big, slick, rich and had a firm on retainer. The new company was small, scrappy, and cash-challenged. I don't know if they could have withstood a dozen such suits. Especially if they were on murkier grounds like defamation.

By the way, I handled the problem by going to the press. Called some buddies at the Post Intelligencer (soon to be the post-Post Intelligencer if rumors are true) and the former outfit started getting requests for comment and interviews. One guy was beautiful: asked if they could provide pictures of the CEO's three sailplanes since the shots they currently had weren't very high quality.
And how did it feel to be living in a mansion of Lake Washington and suing a guy living in a trailer to keep him from working.
That was the last we heard of it.
But not everybody has newspaper reporters on retainer.

Ann C. Crispin wrote:

Heh, heh.

LeAnn Murphy calls me Satan, PublishAmerica has named me Public Enemy No. 1.

It's so nice to be loved!

-Ann C. Crispin

You seem to be respected, at least, according to this:

http://kg184613.bravejournal.com/entry/34980

Interesting article, Shelagh, one I hadn't read. Thanks for finding it.

I can't really comment on the DK vs. VC suit, either.

Except to say that I wish it hadn't happened. Watchdogs have to be very, very careful with what they post on a public forum.

-Ann C. Crispin

In case anybody wondered who watches the watchdogs... the answer seems to be attorneys.


Bummer, huh?

Ann C. Crispin wrote:

I can't really comment on the DK vs. VC suit, either.

Except to say that I wish it hadn't happened. Watchdogs have to be very, very careful with what they post on a public forum.

-Ann C. Crispin

They do Ann, and moderators have to be careful about what they allow to be posted.

I remember a few scandals in the '90s. So-called literary agents scamming people with one scheme or another - asking for a reading fee was quite popular, and another was the editing scam. Even a couple of the well-known agents got sucked into that one.

I'm glad we have watchdogs today.

At most of the writers' conferences I've attended, many of the published authors passed out lists of the good, reputable agents who'd sold to the majors.