Electronic Hookups

My buddy Chuck Sambucino was writing on this a couple of days ago and I thought I would jump on the bandwagon here.

What about hooking up electronically with the agents and editors that you would love to write for. I'm talking here about links on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and the like.

IMHO, this is a complete waste of time.

As an agent (and someone who is online a lot for various reasons) I completely avoid situations where someone could try to take advantage of the situation. This is one of the reasons why I have refused (and will continue to) be hooked up on Facebook and MySpace. The thought that some people believe this will give them an advantage in the long run when it comes to publishing is far from a reality. In fact, when I get submissions from someone that has frequently "followed me" I actually hold them at higher expectations. They should know what I like or don't like. Most of the time, they make the biggest mistakes.

So what should you do?

I say go ahead and read what these people talk about. Get to know them. But please don't ask them to be your friend or your contact. This will simply put you on their "radar" of someone to avoid.

Scott Eagan