6 Comments

  1. As the editor of Writer’s Market, I just wanted to say thank you for the shout out for the book. It means a lot.

    Also, thank you for sharing that story, which is unfortunately more familiar than it should be. You did the right thing by offering your advice over your contacts.

  2. bobbi

    Hi, thanks so much for the comment! I love Writer’s Market and think it is the single best initial resource for starting any kind of writing career.

    Yeah, I’ve had a few examples of “those stories”, as have many of my friends, so I thought I’d put it out there. That one was particularly stunning.

    All the best – feel free to tell people about the How To Write Shop – lots of great stuff here! ;o)

  3. Mel

    I don’t mean any offense here, but your shock at Kelly’s attitude betrays the length of time you’ve spent living by one set of rules. To someone outside the publishing industry, her response is not shocking at all. In many other fields, your response would be the shocking one. I’m a scientist, for example, and if I asked a colleague to introduce me to someone important to their career, it would be VERY poor form for him to say “No, and in fact it’s rude of you to ask.” I understand your perspective AFTER you’ve explained it, but I also understand hers. Maybe you should re-evaluate your perspective in light of her experience in another arena of life. Cheers!

  4. Bobbi

    Thanks for your comment, Mel. I think the point is, I told her gently that her behavior was inappropriate in this world – that those were “this world’s rules” and she responded by getting angry at me for this world having these rules. In a world such as yours, and hers, I can understand why she would feel like this world was strange, or unfriendly. But she broke a rule in “this world” and I let her know, kindly, that she’d transgressed, and had offended a published author, and she was very rude to me. I still believe she was ungracious. I’m sorry you disagree.

  5. I like to help people as much as possible and I’m often asked to hand over my media contacts. This requests usually comes from novices, people I don’t know well and/or the brassy & the bold. For example, my contacts at Fox and Friends.http: //www.youtube.com/watch?v=53brww0aN8A
    Producers, editors, agents, speaking event planners and others give us proprietary information to
    include their contact info. I would never dream of jeopardizing my future opportunities in a field by revealing proprietary info. My agent also knows that if I send someone to him (at a writers conference or via his website) I will tell him ahead of time. Once, he had a writer at a conference sit down for a 15 minute appointment and the writer announced (without my permission) that “Ellie Kay has sent me to you and recommended me.” My agent said, “Ellie wouldn’t do that without letting me know ahead of time. This means you’re not telling the truth and this interview is over.” A cautionary tale indeed!

  6. Bobbi

    Wow, Ellie! Thanks for the comment. That woman defines brash!

    Great segment, and thank you for your work supporting our troops.

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