Because of the nerve-wracking horror of waiting to see if *yours* was one of the two partials requested this week?

maybe they've decided that getting published just isn't hard enough, so want to limit themselves even more?

Because you're of the (deeply flawed) opinion that bloggers are pixel-stained-technopeasant-wretches?

*blinks*

That just sounds...odd. I would think an agent's blog would help give more insight to what that agent might like. And not sending to blogging agents does reduce the number of agents you have to choose from.

Why would anyone want to reduce the pool of possibilities when representation can be so hard to find to begin with?


Makes no sense to me.

Because if you're blogging, you're not reading *their* manuscript?

Apparently there are those who believe (saying this is the first Battlestar Galactica voice over voice) that agent who blog are not selling things.

But that saves you having idiots submitting and taking up your time, right?

Di

I've run into at least one published writer who complained of waiting quite a long time for a query response from an agent who blogged most every day about the amount of slush they needed to read, etc. The feeling was that someone who blogs instead of working is someone who won't be a good agent. Because they'll be blogging instead of working.

I'm guessing that the statement you're referring to is a variation of that.

I can't imagine why anybody would say that. If anything, I'm more likely to query agents whose blogs I read, because in whatever small way, I know more about that agent than I do about an agent who doesn't blog.

Weird. I like openness and communication, but that's just me.

I think it's a crazy choice, but I do know people who have subbed to agents, only to see a few weeks later a blog entry about the agent being sick of (for example!) "penguins who dream of being assembly-line workers"--when that's exactly what they subbed. Kind of stings. But they would have been rejected whether or not the blog existed!

Well, I'm brand new to this querying thing, so what do I know?

But I would expect that agents who blog might just get more queries in general. Looking for an agent feels like online dating to me. You're trying to find someone you think you could get along with, and figure out what image of yourself you want to present to entice them.

An agent who blogs gives you a chance to "get to know" them in a sense. It's hard enough to send your little "please like me" messages out; you feel a little better knowing something about the person you're sending it to.

So, I would think, odds-wise, an author might have a harder time getting the attention of an agent who blogs, since so many other rivals are also vying for their affections.

Maybe the petulant commenter just doesn't like the odds?

If I were an agent, I'd consider blogging (about agent/publishing/writing issues) part of my job.

Maybe this person doesn't like the possibility of being singled out for a query-gone-wrong during query roundups? Even though agents are pro enough not to name names or titles, perhaps this person is afraid of reading into the numbers and finding their query among the "bad" ones?

This happened to me once. I sent requested material to an agent, agent blogged about something someone did wrong, and I realized I'd done the thing. Still, I'd much rather know I'd goofed and be able to fix it next time around.

Personally, I'm much more inclined to query an agent who blogs regularly, or at least gives frequent interviews. I need to see if my work is relevant, how to make it better, and if I feel connected to them in any way.

And I benefit a lot from the Query Wars posts. Don't think of stopping them!

Those who don't know about the amount of time agents/editors/writers spend online these days might not think of said agents/editors/writers as "serious," particularly if the people in question have a low opinion of the web. I'd particularly expect this to be true of writers getting business and market advice from dated sources.

Perhaps the person is concerned that an agent who blogs... may find the author's blog or livejournal, filled with all the angsty ramblings and cursings of the process of writing those razzin'-frazzin' query letters. Add in a few comments of "Shot down by X!" (with "the illiterate luddite!" possibly thrown in for good measure), and an author might be quite paranoid of an agent who doesn't seem to be properly kept in a cave that is well stocked with manuscripts and tea.

That's my guess, anyway, aside from the chance of anonomized public humiliation, should the agent complain about Yet Another Vampire Tomato Story.

I go with the "They think agents who blog aren't spending enough time being agents" vote. With a side order of overly thin skin in some cases.

If I have a sudden fit of writing in a genre that requires an agent, I'll be only too happy to submit to agents who blog. For one thing I'll have a better idea of whether I'm wasting their time and mine before I seal the envelope or press send. No, I don't particularly want to read a few weeks later about the agent being sick of submissions about penguins who dream of being assembly line workers, but I've seen enough reviews of my small press published stuff to grow some hide.

Add my voice to the chorus of confusion here; a regularly or even semi-regularly updated blog puts an agent higher in my query order, not lower!

Also, please add my thanks to those for your Agent Manners posts and the query wars ones as well. They are most helpful, and most appreciated. I've been learning a lot from reading them, as well as similar posts on other agents' blogs. :)

Actually, agents who blog are at the top of my query list because I have a sense of who they are and their wonderful personalities.

By the way, Jennifer. Did I tell you that you rawk? ;O)

~Tyhitia
http://obfuscationofreality.blogspot.com/

I pulled an agent from my list because I didn't like what that agent was posting on the agent's blog. It might be something along those lines.

Otherwise, it is a mystery.

Because they know that their query letter is so bad that the agent will post it on their blog as mockworthy?

Seriously, though, it's a puzzlement. But I've also heard writers say such things as "I'd never submit to an agent who already had several published clients because that means they wouldn't have time to work with me." In this case, being a successful agent was apparently a bad thing....

Dunno.

For me, blogging would determine an electronically savvy agent, and I would also prefer to know agents as people, rather than monoliths who send form letters.

So, I'm off to read the rest of this thread and ascertain the whys of this meself.

Catherine

Agents are perceived as having no lives outside of their jobs -- along with teachers and professors, it seems. I'm sure my students would be mildly startled that I occasionally blog instead of reading their papers (and we won't even mention that whole fiction nonsense.)

My first thought was that they're terrified of appearing in the agent's blog as What Not To Do.

Self preservation! :)

They may possibly worry that an agents who blogs will try and force them to develop a "web presence" and they are terrified of the prospect?

Or...

The only agent I have decided to not submit to because of her blog, was one who stated that she wasn't looking for the kind of book I write (right genre, wrong mood). This brings up the possibility that the author who puzzled you has heard from so many agent blogs he has read that they don't want whatever it is that he is writing, that he assumes that no agents who blog like it, and he has decided that this is because they are blogging, not because he has written something unsalable.

But frankly, I'd bet on the, "if they are wasting their time blogging..." theory rather than either than mine.

I just like coming up with possibilities. >:)

That's odd. I would personally like an agent that blogs. I could keep up with when they are busy and when they are not without pestering them, and I could get a sense of their personality (if we could work well together) before even querying them.

Maybe they're afraid of being mocked in the blog, if their query is bad?

That seems remarkably silly. I've found myself preferring agents who blog because it's easier to get a view for what kind of person they are and if you'd be a compatible business match. Sometimes this knocks them off my list, but not in a negative way--just things like, "Well, she says she represents commercial fiction, but judging by her blog her interests are heavily chick lit. So, this probably wouldn't work out." Blogs are handy!