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1. So, at the Worldcon this year there was a person who was going from panel to panel, bothering panelists by trying to get them to "collaborate" with them on a project and sliding the proposed project to them on a piece of paper. Folks, I cannot stress to you how obnoxious this sort of thing is.

Yeah, they hit me up and I tried “I have contracts through 2028,” and then they asked if I needed any help on those contracts (!!!) and I told them to talk to my agent. They said, sounding baffled, that they’d heard that a lot and should they be approaching agents? Fortunately then the panel started

(Actually what I said was “My agent would have me killed.” They didn’t laugh.)

Do they know something about the murderous tendancies of your agent?

Were…were they 14? (Please tell me they were 14)

Was their proposed book "The AI of Argon"?

3. If some random presents me with anything in the hope of collaborating with me, I AM NOT TAKING THAT SHIT. I'm not even looking at it. It's an open invitation for that random to attempt to sue me later for "stealing their idea" or whatever. Also, fuck you, random, for putting me in that position.

Many of us learned this lesson during @straczynski.bsky.social 's time on USENET; one of the rare pleasant phenomenon to emerge from the September that never ended.

A bit more info with a link to a bit more: babylon5.fandom.com/wiki/Passing...

4. When, in fact, this person showed up at a panel I was on and tried to slide a paper at me, I did not take it and I immediately shut them down with "No," and a refusal to have anything to do with them. I have the advantage of notability that I can be blunt and curt, but not everyone does.

5. I did not look at the paper presented to me but others who looks at theirs told me that what they had seen there had all the hallmarks of being "AI" generated, so that's somehow even more obnoxious; this person bothering panelists couldn't even be bothered to come up with their own bad ideas.

Is going up to someone and asking for that agent/representative's details out of line?

Depends, but realistically that's just searchable information on the Internet. Like he says, authors aren't at a con to do this kind of work, and authors don't typically collab without going through their agents. You're better off making a decent reputation for yourself and putting work out.b

I ask because I often would like to invite industry pros onto my podcast - but is it out of form to ask directly or are such approaches best done thru agents and representatives? And how is it best to get *their* details? Google will only get me so far, surely it's best to ask the talent themselves.

I would be very uncomfortable doing so because not all agents/representatives are constantly taking on new clients, particularly if they have an existing big client list to manage. If agents are actively seeking new clients to represent, they will be happy to let you know.

I ask because I often would like to invite industry pros onto my podcast - but is it out of form to ask directly or are such approaches best done thru agents and representatives? And how is it best to get *their* details? Google will only get me so far, surely it's best to ask the talent themselves.