Circle Literary Agency (Sam Vargo)

[Sassenach]

If he wasn't a total idiot, he'd know that Priority Mail envelopes have a flat rate. Obviously, he's trying to make some $$ on postage.

 

[Popeyesays]

Dear Sam,

'twarn't me what ratted ya out to P&E.

Regards,
Scott

Charter Member and past president of the Sam Vargo "Whiner's Club" at Circle Literary Agency.

 

[Popeyesays]

I got a call from Sam today. He quite honorably offered to send me back the MS on his own dime. I said it wasn't necessary, cause it isn't. If I want to submit elsewhere I should use a new clean copy anyway.

I agreed with him that he should call when he gets his first sale, and I'll announce it here. We digitally spit in the palms of our hands and shook on the deal.

I have finished almost 18,000 words of the projected 24,000 for the novella to go to eXtasy Books and am plugging away at the story for G.U.D. and still pursuing agents and publishers for Sword. I haven't made any progress on the WW I novel the last ten days, that's because I have some paying gigs to finish. So I'll live.

Regards,
Scott

 

[Popeyesays]

Okay, I am torn between two impulses.

Should I write to Sam and tell him I got a firm offer from a small press yesterday for the book I sent him, or should I just let it go.

I promised I would post here if he got his first sale to announce it. Is this tit for tat or just a malicious impulse which should be stifled.



Regards,

Scott

 

[CaoPaux]

*snerk* Let it go, luv, he's not worth the effort.

 

[Popeyesays]

+You guys will never guess who I heard from on the phone at 11:20PM Central Time!

Yup! Sam. He accused me of writing all over the internet about him, though I don't think I've written anything new about him since last July or August. The latest I found googling on site was July 13th. Here it appears to be August 17th, when I mentioned a quandry about telling him I sold the book before he got his first sale.

Anyway, he threatened me that since I was writing about him all over the internet he was going to critique my stuff on-line--with hostility I would assume. I guess he means the Erica Steele stories.

Heck, fine with me--any publicity is good publicity, right? Though if he continues to call, I'm going to see my lawyer about it.

To think I had stopped signing everything with "Founder and Past-President of the Sam Vargo Whiner's Club." Guess I can start again. The Absolute Write thread about him is number two on Google after one of his short story sites.
Maybe I can bump it up to #1 with a bullet.

I guess he might be unbalanced after all.


Regards from the Founder and Past-President of the Sam Vargo Whiner's Club,

Scott

 

[bexromo]

Sam "The Nutter" Vargo!

Hey Guys,

I am so happy to have found this outlet for my anger and frustration at the man known as "Agent" Vargo! I can't wait to get home (at work right now) so I can post the bizarre, paranoid emails I've gotten from him. He's been my agent for a year ... what a waste of time. Here's a goodun to keep your whistles wet ... I followed up on an email and started it, BTW ... wait till you see his response asking, "Who is this BTW? You have VIOLATED our contract!" etc. etc. It's hysterical.

More later ...
RR

 

[bexromo]

Poor SV -- he's obviously not quite right, as me dear old Mum would say. I'm getting threatening phone calls now, and emails stating that I went behind his back and ruined deals he was working on with publishers. Pure fabrication. The phone calls are so nasty, my ten year old son asked, "Is he coming here to hurt you, Mum?" Nice. I post this in the hopes that you tell anyone and everyone you know to steer clear of this madman.

Good luck to you guys,
RR

 

[bexromo]

BTW (what got me into trouble in the first place!!!!) that's not me in the picture! It's my son and one of my three dogs, Andy Millman (anyone watch "Extras"?) our dearest little Min Pin.

Have a great day!
RR

 

[xhouseboy]

Poor SV -- he's obviously not quite right, as me dear old Mum would say. I'm getting threatening phone calls now, and emails stating that I went behind his back and ruined deals he was working on with publishers. Pure fabrication. The phone calls are so nasty, my ten year old son asked, "Is he coming here to hurt you, Mum?" Nice. I post this in the hopes that you tell anyone and everyone you know to steer clear of this madman.

Good luck to you guys,
RR

The man doesn't sound very savvy at all.

He could just cross the line with the wrong target, and when the knock comes at the door suddenly remember that the person he abused also has his contact details.

It's been known to happen.

 

[victoriastrauss]

RR, how about some details? How you hooked up with Mr. Vargo, what your experience was with him as your agent, what led to the situation you've described above.

- Victoria

 

[bexromo]

Details

Sure -- got ya. I had submitted my 2nd book to about 100 agents and had decided to give it a rest and concentrate just on writing and improving. I subscribe to FirstWriter.com and received an update re: The Circle just as I was sitting down to write. I thought, 'what the hell' and sent a query. SV respnded quickly asking for the first three, which I sent, and then the full ms which I also sent. He was always desperately wordy, and I would receive lengthy emails in reply to a one or two sentence email from me. Every so often, I would email just to check in and say hi, and now he's saying that I'm "self-loathing" and "neurotic" and "always needing validation ... I quote: It's a damned shame to see someone so self-loathing that they need constant validation. I mean emails every other day? Get a life. Get a pen pal. I probably sent him six-to-ten emails just to say 'hi' over the course of a year. Hardly every other day, but then, he's obvioiusly gone over the edge, so anything he says is dodgy at this point.

The following is part of yet another hateful, vitriolic email received this morning. For the record, I never contacted anyone he was working with or otherwise. I left it entirely up to him for almost a full year. He gets all this from that BTW (By the way ...) email I told you about, when he thought I'd sent it to him by mistake and BTW was a code name for another agent! Bizarre.

I know about another book deal I had worked so diligently to nurture and how you overstepped me, contacted the editors and tried to sell them three of your books. A veritiable unknown with some writing skill trying to be a space hog with one of the biggest publishers anywhere. Well, well, well. I still don't understand how you knew your book was there. It's a shame - your double dealing phoniness killed all I've worked for. As soon as you found who was holding your ms. this time, who needs me, right? I really don't want to feed into this insanity of yours, but such ugly lies must be addressed somehow.

So ... the next step is a restraining order if he contacts me again. Please warn everyone you know. This man is proving to be ... well ... you get the picture. BTW, how cute is that of Andy and my boy? Hehe!

Now, get to writing, and good luck! Have a happy, productive day.
RR

 

[victoriastrauss]

Oy, Firstwriter again. That site, which does not vet the agents it lists, is responsible for sending many writers into the arms of disreputable people.

RR, some questions if you don't mind--

- Did Mr. Vargo submit your manuscript to publishers? Did he tell you which ones?

- Did you get any evidence of submission, such as copies of rejection letters?

- Did he tell you anything about his background, clients, or sales he'd made?

- Did you pay him anything, such as an upfront fee for submissions expense?

Thanks. If you want to forward me any of the emails for my files, feel free--my email address is [email protected] .

- Victoria

 

[bexromo]

Hi Gang,

Since the Vargo fiasco, my writing has come to a grinding halt. I'm sending out queries of course for a sane agent this time, but I can't seem to get back in the writing groove. Any ideas? Does anyone know of a writing group in Orange County California?

Thanks!
RR

 

[baileyday]

I feel your pain. Went through a similar experience. All I can add to this is to agree with what McDonald said, "Start at the top, work your way down."

I'm also beginning to believe that the better your query is, the better your chances are of landing a reputable agent.

Don't give up.

 

[bexromo]

Thanks BD ... I won't, but I sure am having a tough time right now. I'll wake up at 4 one morning, start writing and won't be able to stop!

Good luck to you.
RR

 

[batgirl]

Bex, you might want to explore some other forums here on AW, like Share Your Work and the Novel Writing thread. There are some threads that are prompts or challenges, which might help spark your writing by having a bit of fun. There's a flash fiction sub-forum, if you'd think shorter forms might be less intimidating just now
Good luck!
-Barbara

 

[AussieBilly]

More on the subject of Sam "the man" Vargo

Thank you, one and all ... I had submitted a crime story to him, along with a number of other agencies, and received a 'send me the whole ms' email, along with added comment 'Please keep in mind that a full ms. read is very good news for any writer, but the author-agent contract is still in the air. If you'd like the ms. back, include a large container with proper postage affixed.'

I rechecked his agency with P&E and was directed to Absolute Write and now I suppose I'll be added to his no longer welcome list. Anyway, thank you all for your comments. I think I'll save the postage and not attempt to deal with Mr. Sam.

BTW, does anyone have any info on an agent in the UK named Jeff Banks?
I inadvertently send him the same query (don't ask how that happened) and rec'd a 'send me the three chapters' response. However I can't find anything on the man/agent/agency. Anyone have any site like P&E that covers agents way over there?

Again, thanks all ...
billy

 

[DaveKuzminski]

BTW, does anyone have any info on an agent in the UK named Jeff Banks?
I inadvertently send him the same query (don't ask how that happened) and rec'd a 'send me the three chapters' response. However I can't find anything on the man/agent/agency. Anyone have any site like P&E that covers agents way over there?

P&E is attempting to cover all agents but we're highly dependent upon receiving reports from writers who know about those businesses, good or bad. So please encourage your writer friends to let us know. If it's bad information, they should include any documentation they have.

 

[bexromo]

Thank you so much for the head's up. I haven't really had time to explore the site, but that's partly because of the dreaded block I think. I shall however, heed your advice. Thanks! And, good luck.
Bex

 

[bexromo]

No, sorry. Even though I'm from that part of the world, I'm not familiar. Best you move on if you can't find anything on him in a search. Not a great first sign!

Good luck,
Bex

 

[nancyadams]

Has agent SAM VARGO improved over the last year???

Nearly a year ago, there was nothing flattering to say about agent Samuel S. Vargo: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34350 I just got home from a funeral after being gone for five days, and have a bite from him concerning my query. Has anyone had a positive experience with this guy since then?? Or should I assume he's still a loser??

Nancy

 

[James D. Macdonald]

There is no reason to assume that he's an agent.

Why in the world did you query him?

 

[nancyadams]

There is no reason to assume that he's an agent. Why in the world did you query him?

Because when I was sending out queries from a list I had, I didn't know he had such a reputation. And I do believe he's a l[SIZE=-1]iterary agent with Circle Literary Agency. Why in the world didn't you know that?

Question still stands: has anyone had a positive experience with this guy since last year? Because if not, I may just have to ignore his bite. [/SIZE]

 

[nancyadams]

Major bowing down apologies, as when I started this below, I didn't see that there was a second page to this string!! I see that he continues to have unflattering comments in 2007. Ah well. He was the little light in my morning when I read my new emails. Now the light has dimmed. Onward and upward with the queries.

Nancy

Nearly a year ago, there was nothing flattering to say about agent Samuel S. Vargo: http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34350 I just got home from a funeral after being gone for five days, and have a bite from him concerning my query. Has anyone had a positive experience with this guy since then?? Or should I assume he's still a loser??

Nancy