Once upon a time, deep in the vibrant heart of New York City, a busy literary agent decided to write a blog. But not just any blog.
You see, this agent was tired of poorly-written queries, and writers with wildly unrealistic expectations of the publishing world. These writers needed someone to lay out the truth, in all its un-sugar-coated glory.
Who is Miss Snark? For 2 years (and with 2.5 million hits and counting), the witty and wise-cracking remarks by this anonymous agent shocked, stung--and made writers stop and think before shooting off a half-baked query.
She improved the query world.
Sadly, as of May 2010, Miss Snark's blog went dark. It was a blow to writers everywhere. Here's a quote from Miss Snark herself (whose profile lists herself as Satan's literary agent):
"Yes, Miss Snark has run out of new things to say. Yes, the blog will stay up cause I'm pretty proud of what we did here. And by "we" I don't mean just me and Killer Yapp, I mean you too. You sent me questions, trusted me to snark your work, made "crapometer" an industry term and most of all, you gave me perspective on what it's like to be on the other side of the slush pile.
Thankfully, those of us who came late to the party can still join in. Miss Snark's blog is preserved for all to peruse, though the comments feature is no longer active.
Miss Snark was a prolific blogger. After 4000 posts, it can be daunting for a new visitor to find what they need among all those entries. Fortunately for us, there is a site where Miss Snark's posts have been organized and indexed in The Snarkives.
Who was Miss Snark really? Only a few people know. But you can read about Chuch Sambuchino's clandestine meeting with the Snark herself.
Many writers have lamented her disappearance from the blogging world. There are odes to Miss Snark all over the web.
She will be missed, but she will live on in the blogosphere.
And writers will write better queries ever after.
The End
I can't wait to bounce over and check this out!
ReplyDeleteI think you'll enjoy it!
ReplyDelete