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If in fact this assitant is "bespeaking" as you suggest than he's a blatant idiot and has never heard the expression don't shit where you eat.

However, I've seen enough self-righteous comments on blogs to know that Victoria's Secret Catalogue is considered offensive to some of you out there in the flyover states so this is hard to judge. If it is so awful, I think his boss will find out very soon and take care of it quickly; if it's not you'll just have to stop reading it.

On a personal level, as a woman I would not exactly be charmed by this kind of attitude. If I spotted it before querying, then I would not query this agency. If I spotted it once a client and it was bad enough to make me feel uncomfortable, I would raise it with the head of the agency. This man may be indiscreet and stupid; or he may be more than that.

I may be a bit extreme in my reaction. I say all this as someone who was stalked by a former boss many years ago. It's made me very wary of any hint of inappropriacy in anyone that I have a professional relationship with.

Um... Anonymous, I don't think flyovwer states, just because they're seen as (gosh, shall I say the dirty words... Christian and white) have freakouts over Victoria's Secret catalogs. Now THAT's narrow minded.

Wow, that might be the idiot of the year (well, 2007 is still young, but...) Has this guy never heard of potential employers googling job applicants? Sure, a lot of people have embarrassing college homepages with pictures of them doing keg stands or whatever. But to be in your late 20's and create a page that makes you look like a nitwit means...you are a nitwit.

Seriously, if you MUST be a misogynist/porn fan, at least don't bring your employer's name into it. If this guy worked for me I'd be a little annoyed.

Out of interest, Miss Snark, supposing you were that young man's employer, and a writer mentioned their concerns. How would you react?

I'm actually curious to know who it is...just to see for myself whether or not the page is so awful. His page is public, after all (unless marked private than it doesn't matter anyway).And the person who wrote Miss Snark certainly can remain anonymous.

Sooo, what agency is it? Or, how about the link to his page? Anyone?

Save others from this idiot, please.

What this says about the agency:
1. They don't google themselves. Ever.
2. They don't really know who they hired or
3. They don't require professional behavior of those who work for them.

I'm sure they get a lot of resumes of people who would love to have his job. He's too arrogant, stupid or resentful to be working there.

Hang on, let's not all rush to judge the guy too harshly; we don't know all the circumstances. All we've heard is that he linked to 'adult' sites; the author doesn't quote any of his stated opinions, and 'adult' could mean anything from hardcore degradation to a Hundred Greatest Swimsuit Moments website. In which case, it's not exactly classy, but it doesn't make him a ravening beast.

If he's going to treat his private MySpace page as the page of a private citizen (which seems likely if he's recommending adult sites), then he's ill-advised to bring his professional commitments into it as well - he should keep the two separate - but I don't think there's enough evidence to assume he's a total disgrace. Let's be a bit cautious before we start calling people names and calling for their sacking on such sketchy evidence.

However, I've seen enough self-righteous comments on blogs to know that Victoria's Secret Catalogue is considered offensive to some of you out there in the flyover states so this is hard to judge.

One assumes, then, that you're from one of the liberal, enlightened, "sink two professional incomes into getting a 1200 square foot flat" states on the edges of the country?

Let's leave aside the issue of whether or not the website we can't see was really problematic.

And stop tossing around the regional insults.

The basic question seems to be:
How does extreme personal blogging by an employee effect people's perception of his workplace?

Mckoala sees it as a sign of a lack of professionalism.
Which seems also to be the feeling of the original poster.

Well,I'm not sure that an employer *can* require that its staff do not mention their workplace by name on a personal blog.
Or how they would enforce it.

Can we lay off the inter-state insults as well? Appealing for calm here...

Agree with yxlbx.

I don't know many examples, but I was under the impression that it's usual to conceal all identifying details if you're 'extreme blogging'. (Nice idea, yxlbx.) The entertaining Porn Clerk Stories (http://www.improvresourcecenter.com/mb/tpcs.html), for example, always referred to the video store as '[My Store]' and used false names or initials for everyone mentioned. This may have had something to do with the fact that when the author's employers found out about the blog, they didn't fire her.

On another occasion, a Waterstones employee blogged about his 'evil boss'. He didn't identify which branch he worked at or name names, but he did identify the chain. Amid controversy, he was fired. See link: http://technology.guardian.co.uk/online/weblogs/story/0,14024,1388466,00.html

'A degree of caution saves a pack of trouble' seems to be the lesson here.

Was he unprofessional? Well, he's discomfited an agency client, which isn't good. A man has the right to have and disclose whatever sexual tastes he wishes, assuming they're legal, but hearing about the sexual tastes of a professional colleague is generally more information that we really want to hear. Saying 'I work for a small established agency, henceforth called Agency X' would have done his MySpace page little harm, and would have avoided this problem.

Enforceable? Well, if I were his boss, I might have a quiet word with him about linking the company's name with adult websites, and ask him to disguise the agency's identity. Now thatwould be an uncomfortable conversation. But I think only a very contentious person would refuse such a request.

On the other hand, I don't think it makes the agency look unprofessional, or not disastrously so. If the CEO or star agent was recommending adult sites, that would be a bigger issue, but an assistant doesn't represent the company.

Original poster here:

I don't think anybody should be fired. I don't think he's a rampaging beast. I think he's shown no judgement, zero class, and he risks making a total fool out of himself.

An example of what he does: he puts in a link, alluding to it, archly, as an aid to masturbation. The link is to a gallery of glossy, big titty/shaved pubis shots, and carries heavy advertising from AdultFriendFinder.com, "the world's largest sex/swinger classifieds". .. his membership became visible, by mistake, for a teen model (legal) soft porn site.

The issue isn't so much how X-rated his page is or is not: it's about his immaturity and lack of judgement in listing the employer's name alongside any and all of this. An adult nearly 30 years old should know better. He's not in the rock n' roll world - he's in publishing.

The judgement issues on his page haven't just been about sex sites. Somebody hoping to work in publishing once dissed a blog entry the assistant had praised, whereupon the assistant angrily informed the critic that the critic would never be successful in the publishing industry; the the agency's name was attached, via the assistant's page.

For a while after that, the page became private (maybe somebody said something, I don't know) - but then it went public again. Even when made private, though, the security on these sites is not reliable.

My hope is that he'll remove the employer's name from the page, and always keep the page private. And try to grow up. And wash his hands very very carefully before we next meet....

Yikes. I can see why that would make you question his judgement - quite aside from the fact that no one wants to know about a professional acquaintance's wanking habits, the fact that he'd be that rude to a poster he didn't like suggests that he's not quite the diplomat one would hope, given his choice of career.

I guess one conclusion is that if anything ever happens to your agent (touch wood not), and he's an agent himself by then, you'll know to look elsewhere for representation!

Good luck with finding a publisher, by the way, and congratulations on having an agent :-)

But what if Kristin Nelson didn't say, "Get back to me by April 1st"? What if she just said, "Oh, let me know when you've contacted the other agents with your full," or something like that. I wouldn't want to lie by saying she had told me April 1st, would I? Isn't the #1 rule in querying, "DO NOT LIE NO MATTER HOW TEMPTED YOU ARE"?

So I understand that your last sample is not considered a deadline, even though it's strongly implied.

J

20 worst literary agents? Is there a list somewhere? (Apologies if you've discreetly linked to it before...) Good to know.

I understand the writer's excitement, having also acquired representation recently. Having someone who seems as excited about your book as you are seems like you have a ready-made friend. But your agent isn't your friend.

Do try to resist. Just remember that time spent answering your emails is time not spent selling your book.

Can't they at least be pen pals?

watch out, miss snark! this ugly little shrew is moving in on mr. clooney:

http://thebosh.com/archives/2007/02/george_clooney_takes_out_reese_witherspoon.php

I think this is just the cutest post written in the cutest voice. Not a good idea to land on your agent's doorstep with an overnight bag and two tickets to the Ice Capades, but you'll be able to use this down the road when you write your how-to-get-an-agent-and-keep-her book.

Thank you, Miss Snark. The materials have been mailed.

I love telling hubby, "See? I was right!" :)

Sounds as if your hubby (who I'm sure is a dear man) had the wrong idea about the kind of negotiation this was. If you're in an adversarial negotiation, a bit of discretion on the details may work in your favour, but your agent is more like your lawyer: they speak for you and your interests, and so full disclosure is going to be required once you've signed up. That being the case, being honest with your agent from the get-go is starting as you mean to go on, which is sensible.

Agents negotiating with publishers, on the other hand, may well decide that an element of need-to-know may help push the price up. But that's for later in the game. At this stage, you're looking to find an ally, not close a deal.

So I think your excellent husband had a sound principle there, but he was using it in the wrong place.

Liz Scheier rocks!

Okay, it's just my opinion (and perhaps beside the point)...

Kit,

Why yes, he IS a dear man, and wise in the ways of the corporate world. But you're right, his experience in the business world does not match up with what goes on in the agent/client world. I knew this all along, of course, but hubby knows how I esteem Miss Snark's opinion, so when I told him I would ask for her advice, he was all ears (he loves her chutzpah, at any rate!).

I had a Very Bad Agent experience a couple of years ago, so I think the bitter memory of all that probably played into my husband's ultra-caution. At any rate, all has been handled properly, and now the waiting game begins!

Well, good luck! And regards to your fine husband, who is clearly on your side, a splendid thing in a partner.

I had the same thing happen to me at CAA and the new agent they tried to assign me to put me to sleep selling himself to me - and I had brought them a TV pilot I had already sold!.

Listen to Miss Snark and find an agent who is in love with your work and hwo knows how to convey that.

New writers should also realize you hear of this sort of thing every now and then, and it's not uncommon. New associates don't usually make much money and unless they can secure a few good deals in the first year they start looking for realistic financial options (just like writers). This is especially true in Manhattan where the cost of living is ridiculous. There are agency owners literally worth millions (always on the sly, too. To listen to them you'd think they were paupers; but they pay more to fly in private jets than they pay the associates per year). You really can't blame the associate; it's a real life Cinderella story for some of them.

I have a strange feeling I know the associate your talking about, and the agency. Tough break, but don't hesitate to move on as nicely and quickly as possible to secure your own future. These people won't lose any sleep over you, trust me on that.

Hey Miss Snark, speaking of things in an agent contract - do you have a short list of things that often appear in contracts, but shouldn't? And things that are often left out that an author should insist upon?

Oh, wow, what a drag for that to happen after all the work you went through to secure just the right representation. Nevertheless, such is life. Best wishes in finding new representation.