They’re Called GOOGLE ALERTS, and Yes We Have Them

This is a "Blast From the Past" post. To celebrate the GLA Blog's 2nd birthday, I am re-posting some of the best "older" content that writers likely missed.

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If you've never heard of Google Alerts, they're just about the best thing ever. You tell Google a word or phrase, and Google will alert you daily when that phrase is used on the Internet. For example, whenever someone writes the words "Chuck Sambuchino" on a page or blog, Google will tell me.

Agents have these, too, so when you're praising an agent online, or badmouthing them, or simply discussing them - an agent may very well know. Check out this story from Jenn Nixon, a blogger and agent-seeking writer:

"Well, the weirdest thing happened to me yesterday.

I logged onto my website email account, which I hardly use because it's ALL spam. There was one email in it. A real one. So I read it. It was from a literary agent. Apparently her google alerts told her I wrote her name down. She read my blog about agents who didn't respond, and asked me to resubmit.

Shocked?

Yeah, so was I. She actually took the time to write me so I'd take her off my list! Wow. Okay, so I sent her the submission again.

She didn't like it so much.

But she did say "You've got skill, I'll give you that."

I've heard that so many times before. *sigh*

I took her name off, I'll add her to the rejection list. Ah well. It's still an interesting story, huh?"

Crazy story. So the agent found her and asked her to resubmit the work for a yes/no answer. Ultimately, this paid off for Jen - and gave her a second chance (although that second chance didn't pan out).

Let this be your warning: Google Alerts exist, so be careful what you're saying on the Internet. You never know who's listening.