> Some people are rude.  Fact of life, Quinn.

When I was one and twenty, I returned from Montreal with my wife and
child, and became very interested in publishing from the "other side"
... rather than just as a writer. I more or less put my own writing
aside for a while, and set out to do something that I had discovered I
was good at: editing.

I found that I really *enjoyed* helping other writers with their work.
I had been through years of scrutiny in school, and well ... just had
an eye and a feel for it, I guess.

This eventually led to an interest in agenting. When I discovered that
my province had no literary agents, and that I was about to get voting
membership in the Freelance Editors' Association of Canada, I decided
to do a ton of research and be British Columbia's "only literary
agent." (I was bolder and stupider back then.)

So anyway, during this time, I arranged publicity for my clients in
any and every way I could think up. This included getting a 45 minute
spot on SFU student radio every week, where my writers would read
their short fiction aloud. (We also had others doing some reading.)
There were 16 shows in total, which I announced and produced.

Anyway, some friends of my wife asked me what it was I did, and I
said, "I am an editor and literary agent."

"Literary agent?" asked Joanne.

"Yes."

"That's interesting," commented Joanne's husband.

"The only one in British Columbia, as far as I can tell."

Some time (months?) later, Ryan (Jo's husband) took me aside and said,
"Quinn, you have to stop lying to people. You're too young. You can't
be a literary agent. You don't have a degree in journalism even. You
don't have to lie to impress us."

I was aghast. I wanted to find the two page spread I had finagled in
the local paper for one of my clients. Under her picture (client was
on the phone), was the caption: "Yvette Edmonds on the phone with her
agent, Quinn Tyler Jackson."

I decided against digging up the press coverage.

I was an awful agent ... oh well ... live and learn ... but I didn't
lie about being one.

Years later, shortly after the publication of my third (actually 10th
or so) novel, I was told by "Rick" in public that I was not a
novelist. Having thrown so many novels away, having spent so many
years on Succubus Sea ... to be told I wasn't a novelist because
PlaneTree is POD, or whatever ... I don't know ... it went beyond
typical rudeness.

I sometimes would like to send this link to my detractors:

http://www.iscid.org/archive.php

and ask them to critique the paper that is currently up for
peer-review, to see if they fare any better on it than the Cambridge
UK scholar who said it was too far above his head to offer any useful
feedback.

Though I have moments where I would *like* to stand my ground ... I
pull back, asking myself, "Why? For your ego, for your honor, or for
truth? Which of these is worth it?"

Just as I asked myself the same question when Ryan's accusation could
have been put away with a simple two-page newspaper spread.

Because I *know* of my ego and self-absorbed thinking, I sometimes
counter by slinking away ... perhaps in an attempt to keep myself in
check.

--
Quinn Tyler Jackson
http://members.shaw.ca/qjackson/
http://members.shaw.ca/jacksonsolutions/

--- Rachel's Little NET2FIDO Gate v 0.9.9.8 Alpha