News on Creative Media Agency

Well, those of you keeping track of agent changes will be interested to learn that heavy-hitter Paige Wheeler of the Creative Media Agency is merging her agency into the new Folio Literary Management . It is indeed a merger, and more details can be found on MediaBistro's site.

The agency will have offices in both New York and Washington, D.C., with plans to expand to Los Angeles.

I asked one of Paige's clients, Linda O. Johnston (Nothing to Fear But Ferrets), if she would be following her agent Paige to the new agency. She will indeed, as will all of CMA's clients and staff. According to MediaBistro, Folio has a new vision of what an agency of the future should be: their vision is to deal with all aspects of a client's ability to generate an income stream, enabling them to "brand" their work more effectively. Sounds interesting.

The common wisdom has it that it's always a good idea to try to get in on the ground floor of a newly formed agency, as they tend to be more receptive to submissions at that time. That may or may not be true for this agency, given that the agents themselves are experienced and likely have their own stable already, but the fact that they have a new focus might suggest that. They haven't posted their submission guidelines as of this writing, so we'll have to wait and see.

TJB

Tis the New Year

Been taking a well-deserved break for a while, doing the Christmas "thang" and celebrating the new year in a new home (well, new to us) with my family. I received way more wonderful gifts than I bought, so I guess I cleaned up. Then, I literally cleaned up, banishing the final cardboard moving boxes in the house to the recycle bin.

While going through old Christmas cards to look for addresses to send out our annual (well, occasionally annual) family newsletter, I came across a priceless card from a friend that I will always treasure as one of the best gifts I ever got. It is a list of "10 Things to Say about a Christmas Gift that You Don't Like." I believe the material was original (knowing my friend's sense of humor), so I thought I'd shamelessly steal from him, and post his list on this site. Let me caveat this by saying I didn't find the need to repeat anything from this list at Christmas this year--all my gifts, yes, each and every heartfelt one of them, was thoughtful, beautiful, and/or useful to the extreme. I appreciated and/or loved them all.

Now, with full credits to Barry Merrill, and apologies to David Letterman, on to the sarcasm:

10 Things to Say about a Christmas Gift that You Don't Like.

10. Hey! There's a gift!
9. Well, well, well...
8. Boy, if I had not recently shot up 4 sizes, that would've fit.
7. This is perfect for wearing around the basement.
6. Gosh, I hope this never catches fire! It is fire season, though. There are lots of unexplained fires.
5. If the dog buries it, I'll be furious!
4. I love it - but I fear the jealousy it will inspire.
3. Sadly, tomorrow I enter the Federal Witness Protection Program.
2. To think - I got this the year I vowed to give all my gifts to charity.

And the Number One Thing to Say about a Christmas Gift You Don't Like:
1. "I really don't deserve this."

Hope you had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

TJB