Heacock Hill Literary Agency

Parametric said:

These letters are so repetitive we could play bingo with them. Pick your numbers! Are you:

1. Guilty of threats of violence
2. Guilty of actual violence
3. Guilty of murder
4. Psychotic, delusional and/or depressed
5. Fired from every job they've ever had/ditched by every friend ditto
6. Racist and/or anti-Semitic

I'm glad my suspicion that everyone Tom Dark dislikes is actually a murderer has been confirmed.

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Tburger said:

LMAO - yeah, I've always wondered about these damn mods. (just in case: I'm kidding!)

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priceless1 said:

Unless this "third party" is banned, I'm guessing Victoria and I have "letters" coming as well.

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M.R.J. Le Blanc said:

Tom Dark can't sell books, but we're the bad guys?

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Old Hack said:

I always thought that your eyebrows were too close together, M.R.J. It's obviously all your fault.

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DaveKuzminski said:

Have you sold any books to any legitimate, reputable commercial publishers as an agent? If so, would you please post the title, author, ISBN, and commercial publisher's business name in this topic?

Thank you.

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nokiauser1 said:

It is now time to delete the ENTIRE content of account for "NOKIAUSER1" once and for all.

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I've learned a lot on how the industry works being here. If I ever write a book, I'll have some idea of what to expect in this world.

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elvikingo said:

This is a snip of Tom's letter that he wrote me yesterday:

"You can post any replies seperately,
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Tsk!

although the truth
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TD thinks truth sides with him. He's wrong. The best that any of us can do is to side with truth.

will show that all you need to reply with is an apology.
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Firing him was such a good idea.

I'm copying this to observers, so that you can no longer hide the illness you've shown with this rash of lies --"
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Can this guy ask for a favor, or what?

If his "observers" exist, I doubt they're doing more than skimming his bcc's.

But as I said before he spends his time fighting battles like this one on this board and with editors and clients like me who question how he does things, instead of creating positive relationships with people in order to sell their books.

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Agents, like editors, are people who have many of the same gifts as writers, but are primarily interested in reading, polishing, promoting, and selling other people's writing. Tom Dark fails on all counts.

(Then Elvikingo quotes from another letter by Tom Dark)

TD: Say... could you do me a little favor?
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Words cannot begin to describe how improper and inappropriate it is for an agent to be making such a request of his client. By report, Tom Dark makes a habit of it. It still makes me uncomfortable to say this, but that man should not be working as an agent.

TD: There’s a website called Absolute Writers.com,
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Carelessly getting a name wrong yet again.

TD: in the “watercooler” thread, where I’ve been getting some SERIOUS badmouthing.
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How much of his work time is he wasting on stuff like this? His clients are his employers. They should not be putting up with this unproductive and unprofessional behavior.

TD: I know who these creeps are.
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And vice-versa. Do you suppose it ever occurs to him that it's a bad sign when the people badmouthing you know you?

TD: Catt stumbled across it today.
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I suppose it's possible, but it wouldn't surprise me if Catt turned out to know nothing about it.

TD: One of the badmouthing is by a quite dishonest editor who’ll likely be going out of business, and the other are two genuine cocksuckers I’ve known for 30 years.
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Tom Dark: You wish, boyo. You just wish. And I'm not talking about the editor.

TD: They’re jealous because I cut them off – and because of what I’ve had to say about “channeling.” So they’re trying to get even.
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No one's jealous of Tom Dark. In the real world, he gets into fights with people he perceives as having rejected him, and he reacts by trying to get even with them. It's seriously crazy behavior. There are ways you can be crazy and still be an effective agent, but his way isn't one of them.

TD: One of my guys, Lance Frank, found it but hadn’t mentioned it. He answered it.
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Didn't he just say that Catt had discovered it that morning?

Personally, I think Tom Dark was the one who discovered it. He just doesn't want to admit he was egoscanning instead of getting real work done.

TD: Thanks for sticking up for me. Everybody would. I'd like these buzzyflies off my back.
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There are so many things wrong with this letter that it seems almost petty to point out that its text wouldn't pass muster in Composition 101.

Repunzel said:

Okay. I've changed my mind. (I originally posted a comment saying I believed this exchange should be deleted: too much information.) Now, I think the letters from this agent should be posted in as many places as possible so that writers, setting out on their query journeys, will understand what many bloggers have said repeatedly: You're better off with no agent at all than signing with an agent who is wrong for you and your career, not to mention your sanity.

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Yup. We've been watching TD fail to cope with a simple rejected submission, plus some criticism from ex-clients. Both of those things are dead standard parts of an agent's week. Now imagine what's going to happen if Tom Dark somehow manages to sell a book by one of his authors. He will thereafter be its agent of record. He'll negotiate the contract. He'll receive all payments from the publisher, subtract his appropriate commission, and pass the rest on to the author. He may handle subrights sales. If some question comes up later about the provisions of the contract, he'll intermediate all the discussions. And that's just scratching the surface of his job description. Being an agent is a complicated task.

Now think about the fact that this arrangement will stand for as long as the book is in print from that publisher, even if the author has long since moved on to another agent.

A bad agent is truly worse than no agent at all.

I know there are scammers galore out there. And there are agents who are nasty and rude and incompetent and stupid. But I had no idea there were agents like this. Shiver. What an eye-opener.

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Most agents are honest, competent, and sane. Trouble is, the ones who aren't can do real damage to their clients' careers.

DaveKuzminski said:

And the answer I received is essentially the equivalent of the dog ate my homework and I can't get rid of the dog because I need it to eat my homework.

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That's the single best comment I've ever seen you post.

Anna Magdalena said:

I hope all those of you have have been on the receiving end of these abusive and threatening emails are getting together and giving these to the police and or lawyer. I don't know how the law works in the US but it seems pretty straightforward top me. In the UK, he would be issued with an injunction to stop. If he continued to flout this ruling--again the evidence needs to be collated--he'd end up in court. If he then continued, he'd be jailed.

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Evidence should definitely be collected and collated.

Since Tom Dark appears to be intercepting Catt LeBaigue's mail, I think it would be a good idea for one of the agency's clients to contact her by phone and tell her she's got a serious problem that needs to be dealt with. If she lets Tom Dark go unchecked, he's going to damage her agency's reputation.

Tom Dark's disaffected clients should also write to the AAR and explain the situation. This is one of the circumstances where saved e-mails and other documentation will come in handy.

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By watching us respond to a pathological quasi-agent?

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James D. Macdonald said:

Catt LeBaigue needs to change all of her passwords, now.

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escritora said:

Does Catt LeBaigue actually exist?

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