Miss Snark

[Anglican Jedi]

I am Anglican Jedi, saying hello to everyone here in the Novel section. I've been lurking around here for months, just reading these things and learning a lot.

So, anyone know who Miss Snark is?

[icerose]

Meaning her real identity? No.

[Duncan J Macdonald]

Meaning her real identity? No.Well, technically, she does. At least when she hasn't been hitting the gin pail too hard.

[David McAfee]

Well, technically, she does. At least when she hasn't been hitting the gin pail too hard.

Killer Yapp knows. :)

[Bartholomew]

I know who she is.

And I'm never telling.

[Homer]

I think a lot of people must know who she is. I'm only a recent and very casual skimmer of her blog, but even I see there are plenty of clues as to her identity. Apparently Ms. Snark is a woman. She's in New York. She works alone. She seems to be a fiction specialist. Except for that she claims to love Pynchon apparently she favors mainstream commercial fiction. I don't see much evidence that she handles any genre stuff. My conjecture is that her taste for Pynchon is personal, and not a model for her client list, nor does she represent him. She seems to dislike controversial or disturbing works. She won't consider long novels. She's very businesslike and bottom line oriented in her outlook. She has a taste for mysteries. Her ostensible infatuation for George Clooney as well as reverence for Pynchon suggests to me someone past 40. This is what I've picked up skimming only her blog for a few weeks. I may be wrong on my facts here and there, but I'm sure those who have read her longer and more closely than I have could identify other clues.

The stuff about the poodle and the gin seem to me likey props. She may have a poodle someplace and she may occasionally enjoy a martini, but I doubt it's like she says. But stuff like her gender, her favorite books, her predilections as an agent, where she works, her ideal man, I doubt she'd lie about just to preserve her identity. The fact that her identity is ostensibly unknown and rarely speculated upon seems to me to say more about culture and norms in the publishing industry (I don't claim to know what they are) than how hard it would be to unmask her if someone really cared to do it.

[Homer]

I know who she is.

And I'm never telling.

Just as I said, I'm sure there are many who do.

[Bartholomew]

I think a lot of people must know who she is. I'm only a recent and very casual skimmer of her blog, but even I see there are plenty of clues as to her identity. Apparently Ms. Snark is a woman. She's in New York. She works alone. She seems to be a fiction specialist. Except for that she claims to love Pynchon apparently she favors mainstream commercial fiction. I don't see much evidence that she handles any genre stuff. My conjecture is that her taste for Pynchon is personal, and not a model for her client list, nor does she represent him. She seems to dislike controversial or disturbing works. She won't consider long novels. She's very businesslike and bottom line oriented in her outlook. She has a taste for mysteries. Her ostensible infatuation for George Clooney as well as reverence for Pynchon suggests to me someone past 40. This is what I've picked up skimming only her blog for a few weeks. I may be wrong on my facts here and there, but I'm sure those who have read her longer and more closely than I have could identify other clues.

The stuff about the poodle and the gin seem to me likey props. She may have a poodle someplace and she may occasionally enjoy a martini, but I doubt it's like she says. But stuff like her gender, her favorite books, her predilections as an agent, where she works, her ideal man, I doubt she'd lie about just to preserve her identity. The fact that her identity is ostensibly unknown and rarely speculated upon seems to me to say more about culture and norms in the publishing industry (I don't claim to know what they are) than how hard it would be to unmask her if someone really cared to do it.

You're thinking about this entirely too hard. :)

[rugcat]

Hey, everybody likes a mystery and a challenge. It's fun to speculate, and I think Homer's right - if it were really important and you had the time, it wouldn't be that difficult to establish who she is. I can think of several avenues for investigation off the top of my head.

I hope no one who already knows outs her though, and I hope no one else bothers with it. It's more fun to have her anonymous.

[expatbrat]

I've decided to own up... It's me.

ETA: The gin pale is a prop, I'm not allowed to drink right now.

[veinglory]

You just need to google snark and real name to get who most people seem to think she is.

[PattiTheWicked]

I think many of us have our suspicions. If she's who I think she is, she sent me a very un-snarky rejection letter a couple of years ago.

[Cav Guy]

I must be one of the minority who doesn't care who she is.

[stormie]

I suspect she's in her 40s, works in NYC, is Catholic (lapsed or not), not snarky (it's just her alter-ego), and doesn't drink gin. Wow, this sounds like the game "Clue."

[Begbie]

I'm with you, Cav Guy. I just like reading the blog.

[NeuroFizz]

My feeling is she's someone who cares about her profession. She uses humor and sarcasm very effectively to make her points. Humor and sarcasm in the right hands are very effective ways to make useful comments. Sarcasm in particular, in the wrong hands, can be very mean. I don't see anything mean here. And, I don't care who she is as long as she keeps entertaining and instructing.

[steveg144]

My feeling is she's someone who cares about her profession. She uses humor and sarcasm very effectively to make her points. Humor and sarcasm in the right hands is a very effective way to make useful comments. Sarcasm in particular, in the wrong hands, can be very mean. I don't see anything mean here. And, I don't care who she is as long as she keeps entertaining and instructing.

Exactly right. I've learned more from her snarkalicious posts than I have from all the many megabytes of earnest, well-thought-out posts everywhere else. Yanno?

[Cathy C]

I hope nobody ever truly outs her, because with anonymity comes the ability to tell the TRUTH about a sometimes very personal industry without stepping on toes that she may have to work with the next day. While the industry is impersonal, the people who work within it aren't. I know people who know who she is (and I trust them not to b.s. about it,) but they won't tell and I would never press them to.

But it is fun to speculate. I suspect she's actually the owner of a dozen cats... ;)

[Celia Cyanide]

The only thing that's ever made me wonder is a certain other agent's blog. He claims to know who she is and her real reasons for writing it. He may or may not be full of crap, but his statements made me curious. I don't really care who she is, and I don't know if I believe this other guy, but I do wonder why he believes she writes her blog.

[Manxom Vroom]

My guess is that Miss Snark isn't one person, but a group of agents who post under the Miss Snark identity. She's a character who is "played" by someone at a given time, much like Batman has been played by Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney (Snarkly reference) and Christian Bale.

The thing that makes me think this is the sheer volume of posts she puts out. I find it hard to believe that one person could be THAT prolific and a working agent at the same time.

[Scarlett_156]

Hello back to you! :)

[Stacia Kane]

I don't care, either. I think it's fun not knowing.

And I suspect that other agent is just having fun with the whole "real reason" thing. Part of his act.

[Miss Java]

I'm here! I'm here!

(Raises hand and jumps up and down.)

Wait a second...did they say....Snark?

(Slowly lowers hand.)

Ahem...never mind.

(Creeps away to get a cup of coffee.)

[Kate Thornton]

I love reading Miss Snark - she's my second-favorite blog (Evil Editor has got to be #1)

I guess I don't care about her real identity, except that lunch in New York with her would be such fun!

[badducky]

I admit it... I know who the real Miss Snark is:

She's actually a "He", and a clever fellow that likes to smoke and confuse people.

I know we've all suspected for years.

The real Miss Snark is William H. Haskins.

;)

(As writers ourselves, shouldn't we respect the intended anonymity of the author? I know I think it's important to do that.)

[zornhau]

Miss Snark is a brilliant resource for us wannabes.

If anybody outs her, that resource goes away.

So, please... shut up.

[MajorDrums]

Please...get her name right. It's Miss, not Ms. I learned she absolutely does NOT like to be called Ms. in another thread.

[Celia Cyanide]

My guess is that Miss Snark isn't one person, but a group of agents who post under the Miss Snark identity...I find it hard to believe that one person could be THAT prolific and a working agent at the same time.

That was one point that this other guy made. "Real agents do not blog ALL THE TIME." He's got a point. She does blog fairly often for someone who has lots of work to do.

[Andrew Jameson]

The only thing that's ever made me wonder is a certain other agent's blog. He claims to know who she is and her real reasons for writing it. He may or may not be full of crap, but his statements made me curious. I don't really care who she is, and I don't know if I believe this other guy, but I do wonder why he believes she writes her blog.This certain other agent is full of crap.

I might not know much about publishing, but I do know a bit about critical thinking. Anonymous persons on Teh Internets may or may not be a reliable source of information. When their statements match similar statements from people who are known to be experts, it's a good bet they're reliable.

When their statements *don't* match similar statements from people who are known to be experts, they're unlikely to be reliable. When the same anonymous person's statements are pretty much vehicles for non-specific self-aggrandizement, that goes double. When same anonymous person claims to be the only person who Dares! To Speak! The Truth! and everyone else is a member of a huge conspiracy to feed the public Lies! Lies!... well, the likelyhood of reliability is relatively low.

[stormie]

My guess is that Miss Snark isn't one person, but a group of agents who post under the Miss Snark identity. She's a character who is "played" by someone at a given time, much like Batman has been played by Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney (Snarkly reference) and Christian Bale.

The thing that makes me think this is the sheer volume of posts she puts out. I find it hard to believe that one person could be THAT prolific and a working agent at the same time.
You're right. Maybe she has her underlings post using her snarky attitude.

Or she's dead and she has to help us poor struggling writers as a kind of penance.

[JeanneTGC]

But the same could be said for Miss Snark. There are certainly things she (or the collective, or whatever) have said on her blog that could be construed as wrong, or as her grandstanding.

If someone posts anonymously, then they do leave themselves and what they say open to the very real issue of whether or not the reader can trust them at face value.

I enjoy reading Miss Snark's column, but I verify everything I read there with other sources (Theresa Neilsen <sp?>, and AW for starters) before I change what I'm doing. No one, not even Miss Snark, is infallible or right 100% of the time.

[Julie Worth]

I think many of us have our suspicions. If she's who I think she is, she sent me a very un-snarky rejection letter a couple of years ago.

I had the same suspicion and sent her a query. Got back a handwritten note, rather complementary, giving me the name of another agent I should send it to. Unfortunately, I'd tried that agent first, and got a pass on a partial.

[Celia Cyanide]

This certain other agent is full of crap...When their statements *don't* match similar statements from people who are known to be experts, they're unlikely to be reliable. When the same anonymous person's statements are pretty much vehicles for non-specific self-aggrandizement, that goes double. When same anonymous person claims to be the only person who Dares! To Speak! The Truth! and everyone else is a member of a huge conspiracy to feed the public Lies! Lies!... well, the likelyhood of reliability is relatively low.

I gather from your post that you know who I am talking about? ;)

Let me make it clear that I do not take anything this person says seriously, nor do I necessarily believe he is a real agent. I just wonder about who he thinks she is, or who he SAYS she is, and what her mysterious reason for blogging is. Still, I would never believe it.

[TwentyFour]

She may be a big brash male in Canada...don't expect the wrapping to be see through...hehe...

[TwentyFour]

Or she's dead and she has to help us poor struggling writers as a kind of penance.That would make a great Christmas story for the holidays!

[LeeFlower]

I guess I'm one of the people who doesn't really care what her real name is. I appreciate what she's doing and all--if I met her at a party, I'd want to shake her hand-- but I respect that she doesn't want to be outed. But then, it's easy for me to take the 'high road' because she doesn't represent my genre(s). I can imagine the temptation to figure out who she is if you think you might want to submit to her/think you may have already.

Theresa Neilsen <sp?>

If you mean the Tor editor and matron of Making Light (http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/), it's Teresa Nielsen Hayden. She and Patrick have two last names (unhyphenated). You can read about their name here (http://nielsenhayden.com/name.html).

(Sorry, I'm not trying to be a snarky nitpicker. It's just a pet-peeve of mine, as I also have two last names, and they are also unhyphenated).

[Stacia Kane]

I gather from your post that you know who I am talking about? ;)

Let me make it clear that I do not take anything this person says seriously, nor do I necessarily believe he is a real agent. I just wonder about who he thinks she is, or who he SAYS she is, and what her mysterious reason for blogging is. Still, I would never believe it.


Actually, I'm 99% sure that other guy is a real agent, and that I know which one he is, too, which is why I think he's using his blog to let off some steam and mess with people and nothing more.

[aruna]

Yes; he's a real grump.

[Bartholomew]

The most common suspicion is dead wrong.

[JennaGlatzer]

You guys are all awesome. If'n you don't mind, I'm going to close this thread because eventually, someone is going to come along and turn it ugly and try to "out" her (happened here twice already). She's done a world of good for the writing community and I don't ever want to see that compromised.