?
Sorry, have I missed something? Who's faulting his writers?
Wow. Did I miss this earlier in the thread because I was so distracted by all the other distressing tales? Or is this the first time that the verbal contract concept has been mentioned?
In either case, that seems . . . not to hold up as a contract. I know very little about contract law and am not a lawyer, but to me this at least raises concerns. Both parties certainly need to be aware that they're entering into a formal agreement and need to be aware of the details, eg that submission will begin very shortly and there may not be any communication about it before it happens. An agent-author agreement just doesn't seem to be something you can do via verbal contract . . .
ETA: That message from the AAR seems to indicate they're concerned about that same thing.
Follow that link (I don't know how to post a screenshot, sorry). And the writers aren't being faulted, just implicated, or put in an awkward situation.
For example:
@KateMoretti1 Do you know that your agent Mark Gottlieb was expelled from the AAR for violating its code of ethics? He has falsified contracts, blackmailed and many other predatory types of behavior.
@NickYetto Do you know that your agent Mark Gottlieb was expelled from the AAR for violating its code of ethics? He has falsified contracts, blackmailed and many other predatory types of behavior.
@MarcoRafala Do you know that your agent Mark Gottlieb was expelled from the AAR for violating its code of ethics? He has falsified contracts, blackmailed and many other predatory types of behavior.
Edit: I do think his clients should be notified, if they aren't already aware - hopefully privately, via email. I just think calling them out on Twitter sucks. Maybe I'm the only one?
...Yeah. That's shitty behavior because it's worded in such a way that makes it sound like they're part of the problem.
It seems the same author/writer also tweeted, "...You harm more authors with your complicity."
I don't know; I understand that's harassment, but don't they have a point, since, apparently, despite being removed from the AAR, Mark Gottlieb is still allowed to be a literary agent, have clients, etc., and at least one of his authors still thanked him recently, for publishing their book when he retweeted about it? It seems he's been blocking everyone who mentions or tweets a link about his removal from the AAR. Along with that and continued praise from his current clients only being allowed on his social media, isn't it possible that more authors/writers might continue to be conned by him, perhaps convinced that, since his current clients are praising him, that that must mean he's changed his ways?
I can understand that author/writer's frustration and anger, because, it still seems that Mark Gottlieb hasn't been punished for what he did at all, if he's still allowed to be a literary agent, as plenty of other legit literary agents aren't required to be a part of AAR, and it's even more surprising that he still has clients who not only are staying with him, but continuing to thank him and are refusing to acknowledge or empathize with the pain and frustration of the other authors he conned. (Although, to be fair, their comments were before the AAR's verdict was released). But I'm guessing it might feel to them as though those authors and Trident are siding with him, rather than their fellow authors, which probably hurts.
So, what would you do if you were one of those caught up in this guy's industrialized submissions sweep? Would you be able to take the same project to another agent-even if you never got submissions info from Gottlieb?
So, what would you do if you were one of those caught up in this guy's industrialized submissions sweep? Would you be able to take the same project to another agent-even if you never got submissions info from Gottlieb?
So what's the consensus on other agents at Trident? I see that Trident, the company, has been responding badly, but it's a large company and the other agents presumably have little control over that. (Yes, leaving the agency would be the most respectable choice--but that not only leaves them out of a job, it leaves their current clients in the lurch.)
Have there been reports of other Trident agents treating their clients poorly, or is it all the company's behavior that's the reason the agency as a whole is now deprecated?