Social media research - agents and editors beware

Like all authors chasing a publication deal, part of my studying the market includes following potential agents and editors on Facebook and Twitter.

One of my Facebook 'friends' is the agent Carole Blake.  She is a prolific poster to Facebook, and through her posts I've learned a great deal about the life of a top UK agent.  In Carole's case, the thing that stands out is how hard she works, and what long hours she puts in.  She's often doing agency emails late at night, or at weekends.  And she often ends up working on her holiday time.

There are other agents who have totally turned me away from submitting from them because of the tweets they put on Twitter.  I don't want a 'girly' agent who tweets mostly about her pyjamas and dresses.  It makes me wonder how professional she is in dealing with editors.

Part of my fussiness is down to, let's say, being mature.  And also because I worked as a Solicitor (lawyer) for a decade.  My work experience was in a serious business where everybody wore pin-stripe suits and spoke formally to their clients.  Some of that was definitely overkill, but I do want to see a touch more professionalism and formality in my agent's or editor's on-line presence.

We're always told that agents will Google us when we submit to them.  We're cautioned against putting stupid things on social media.  And I want the same kind of common sense from a prospective agent or editor.

If you have an offensive Twitter handle (one otherwise suitable agent does), if you tweet things that I find offensive, or if you're downright silly in your on-line presence, I'm not likely to want to work with you.  Agents and editors need to take a good hard look at their social media presences too.  I wonder if some of these 'girly' agents put off editors with their social media presences, or worse, are considered a pushover because they're so casual on-line.  Sorry, but I don't want a pushover agent.  I want one who'll get the best deal for me, and considering their social media presence forms part of the decision of whether to submit to them or not.

Wendy Metcalfe is the author of Panthera : Death Spiral and Panthera : Death Song, and the short story collection Otherlives.  Find out more at www.wendymetcalfe.comx