I like bonus points:

Barbara Bauer - Congratulations! You've found the mystery link. Ms. Bauer is #3 on the Writers Beware

This is a great idea! My blogger doesn't deal much with writing, so I think I'll update it to read what you've posted on your site so it'll still count toward the rankings. Thank you!

If the icon was available in lj-land, there would be a happy Snoopy dancing here! :) Thank you for the future rep point! :) I can't wait for AW to be back . . . I admit, I'm an addict.

artist_writer, Spotter of Stealthy Links

Yay! A happy Snoopy never fails to capture the moment best! :)

Aside from the ethical qualms, how does it feel to come up with something like this, then watch it spread like a snowball turning into an avalanche?

Sure Why not?

I'll do a review of it on my site once it's out~! (sorry I have NO traffic), but @ least I will buy the book .. haha...

thanks for the post.

last1.blogspot.com
(my reviews blog, only romance, but what they hey~!)

I added a link to my page.

Just a warning--the stealth link is highly frowned upon by Google. If you do a stealth link and they find it, I believe their response is to yank all references to the offending website for a few weeks. Here's a link: http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=40052

Kewl. Just didn't want a horde of writers to have their sites yanked because their Righteous Wrath drew the wrath of Google! ;)

I've suggested a couple of additions to the concept on my other blog that many of the Absolute Write bloggers visit - feel free to pass them along.

Dawno
Absolute Write Blogging Forum Moderator

www.dawnonowyouseeit.blogspot.com

Please do remember, Barbara Bauer is #3 on the Twenty Worst Agents list because it's in alphabetical order.

She may be a vindicitive (insert appropriate euphamism here), but there are actually worse scammer out there. NYLA, Desert Rose and several others have probably done worse over time that Barbara Bauer.

She and Cris Robins are just the noisiest.

But, she does seem to draw attention. Apparently between Miss Snark and Making Light and here, the entire list is getting the attention it deserves.

As an aside, how does it feel to be in that company?

I can't speak to the others, but I do know even for all of Boppin' Bobby Fletcher (and his myriad of sockpuppets)'s threats, cajoling and drive-by pooping on Absolute Write, he's never gone out of his way to draw attention to himself the way that Barbara Bauer has.

. . . Yet.

"You know, I actually felt a few ethical qualms as I watched this thing spread."

Commendable, but bugger that! Not that I'm suggesting people go do bad things, but someone has to stand up to BB's brand of crap, ESPECIALLY since it's a brand of crap that's all too common nowadays. And all we're doing is telling the truth, nothing more.

Though I do understand the "holy shit" reaction. Mass Internet movements are usually the sort of thing I read about. Participating (even peripherally) in one is a new experience.

It’s a natural defense mechanism for Mrs. Bauer to react like this. Nobody has put her on this list, but herself through her own shoddy business practices. The fact that she is fighting it so intensely is only giving people a reason to look at a list that would have other wise gone unnoticed by all but the observant. Such is the way of things; she has no one to blame but herself.

Also I found your blog Via Miss Snark. I hope you don’t mind if I add you.

I had something up bright and early yesterday, but thanks for promulgating such a useful link format. :-)

We are just a small group...only 75 members but I've posted the list and link. We'll help spread the word about her and her kind too. I'll be updating my blog in a bit also.


Special thanks to all those who watch out for us writers so we have time to do the writing:--)

Jean

www.storycrafters.net

I do think there are some ethical issues to take into consideration, here. Google bombing someone you dislike in order to hurt them is probably unjustified meanness. Googlebombing someone in retaliation for something that they've done is qualified meanness. There is, however, an argument to be made that this particular agent preys upon new writers, and therefore increasing awareness of her predatory nature by linking her name to a published list of predatory and exploitive literary agents is a positive piece of activism. The fact that it also has the effect of discouraging her from using threats of lawsuit to suppress free speech is a secondary effect. The fact that it may be very satisfying is a very small tertiary effect. ;-)

I would like to say, though, that these pile-ons can sometimes get out of hand. I'd encourage everyone to think carefully before attempting to contact this woman, and before writing extensively on the subject, and before making personal or disparaging remarks. Her professional record should be sufficient. Providing useful information is one thing. Much as we dislike this person, she does have some basic right to go about her business. In fact, we'd all like it very much if she'd mind her own business, which should not, in any way, be about limiting what information others can share about how she does her business.

In light of all this, I feel comfortable participating in this pile-on, but I am getting out of it if it turns into a lynching.

More what I had in mind when I say "business" is walking the dog, balancing her checkbook, washing her car, checking her email, calling her mother, etc. I've seen these things spiral way out of control, so am just expressing a hope that everyone stays at the level of facts and professionalism. I'm not sure she has any right to continue working as a literary agent. If it were a profession such as medicine, where one could have ones license revoked, I think it would have been.

added a link to my blog

It was a great idea, Jim - the blogosphere has just exploded. :)