 Cool authors' agent.
Chris Tipperary published his own book, It's Okay to be Happy. He knows publishing. He writes, "As far as the contract goes, it's not unheard of for
an agent to ask for an exclusive deal, but it shouldn't be a 'Colonel Tom
Parker'. Parker took a percentage of Elvis' money in perpetuity.
If the contract is exclusive for a particular book, that doesn't sound unreasonable."
That was the last piece of data I needed.
I turned down Agent John's offer of exclusive representation.
This weekend, Agent Andrew contacted me. We spoke on the phone this morning. Untraceable accent. He loves the Darwin Awards. He has references. He is established at a reputable agency in New York. He talks and talks! A nice, well-rounded man.
He even shed some light on Agent John's extracurricular activities. The publishing industry has been merging. There were 75 layoffs last week alone! Lots of editors want to segue into another level of the industry.
Tomorrow I will call Agent Andrew's references: a famous wreck diver, a Smithsonian Museum curator, and a novelist in the San Francisco Bay Area. My life is so cool!
Oh well, it's a cool life if one can ignore the impending confrontation between < good and evil...>
11 October 1999
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