Hmm. This is interesting. It seems there’s a bit of a kerfuffle brewing among the on-line writing community (i.e., folks involved in or aspiring to professional writing and the publishing industry, and who also have blogs) because a shady literary agent named Barbara Bauer — who is number three on SFWA’s list of the 20 worst agencies — threw a tantrum and got a Website called Absolute Write shut down. Teresa Nielsen Hayden has the details.
If you’re scratching your head, wondering what in the hell I’m talking about, here’s the background: Absolute Write is, or was, in Hayden’s words, “one of the leading sites for information on writing and publishing, especially the scam versions thereof”; Hayden is an editor with Tor, one of the bigger publishers of science fiction; SFWA is the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, a professional organization for such folks; and Barbara Bauer is apparently one of those types who responds to having their scams revealed by turning aggressive. Now, to be fair, I have no idea why Barbara Bauer‘s name is on that list. However, I trust that it is there for a good reason; I have faith in both SFWA and Teresa Nielsen Hayden to call a spade a spade. I also have little patience for those who would prey on people’s dreams — I’ve had some minor experience with this sort of thing myself — or for those who would silence an entire Web community to assuage a wounded ego. That’s like dropping an atom bomb on Minnesota to get revenge for a mosquito-bite on your butt. In short, it’s overkill, and it’s the revelatory of a poor character.
And so I’ve decided to chip in with the community’s effort to smack Ms. High-and-Mighty Barbara Bauer upside her metaphorical head. I’m doing this by linking her name to the 20 Worst List as many times as practicable in order to sway the associations Google makes when someone searches for her name (as suggested by a guy named Jim C. Hines in this entry on his LJ.)
I don’t know if it will accomplish anything — Absolute Write will probably be back on the air in a day or two regardless, and Bauer may or may not feel any bite from a bunch of no-name bloggers complaining about her — but it feels good to strike back against those who think they can get what they want by being assholes.
“Now, to be fair, I have no idea why Barbara Bauer’s name is on that list.”
Nobody makes the 20 Worst Agents list by accident or inertia. The competition’s brisk, and the people who put the list together are scrupulous about documentation.
As I understand it, Barbara Bauer’s on the list for a fairly typical set of reasons: charging substantial fees to the authors (legit agents receive only the comissions on sales they make on behalf of their clients), and having little or no history of legitimate sales. Bauer’s history of being aggressively unpleasant may also come into it.
You can read here an editor’s account of a manuscript he or she received from BB.
Hi, Teresa – thanks very much for your comment. Sounds like Barbara Bauer is bad news indeed. I hate a bully and a scam artist, and I’ll happily do whatever I can with my meager resources to put her in her place.
I also encourage any fellow bloggers who may be reading this to participate in the google-bombing action — just mention Barbara Bauer in an entry and link her name to the Twenty Worst Agencies List. Use this address in your link:
Let’s strike a blow for all those naive aspiring writers who may have given their money to a predator like Barbara Bauer and gotten nothing out of it except disappointment. I came very close to falling for the “draw up the standard rich-and-famous contract” schpiel myself, once, many years ago. Luckily, my spidey-sense warned me off before I signed the check, but I know that a lot of others aren’t so fortunate. I’d love to see com artists like Barbara Bauer out of business…
I heard about this today at Miss Snark’s blog too; Miss Snark gives some more reasons for Barbara Bauer to be on that list.
Well, Jen, that little bit of info just convinces me all the more that Barbara Bauer deserves all the google-bombs we can throw at her. At least it’s easier to find out about this sort of thing these days. I was contacted by one of these BS “agents” back in the pre-Internet days. I received a (to my youthful eyes) very impressive-looking letter inviting me to submit my manuscript, which this individual would be happy to review for a nominal fee (I think it was $50, which was a lot to a theater usher) and even happier to help make publishable (for no-doubt less nominal fees on down the road). I came very close to falling for the line, before some little bell went off in the back of my mind. Slime bags…
Hi Jason,
TO be honest, I don’t know how much of an impact the whole googlebombing thing will have on Barbara Bauer’s rankings either. I’ve seen some movement, but nothing as dramatic as I’d hoped.
On the other hand, at this point I think thousands of writers have heard of Ms. Bauer and seen the top 20 list, thanks to everyone’s angry blogging. I figure that alone makes it worth it. If we can make her place on that list a bit more obvious in the ol’ search engines, that’s a bonus.
Best,
Jim
I agree, Jim – as long as the word gets out that she’s bad news, this will have been worth it.