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perrybond
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I was a bit bored. Well OK I was very bored. I went through all the agents who never replied (11 months) and sent them another email. Anyway I have had a couple of bites from American agents. Well I'm English, living in England (the nice bit*) and was wondering what your thoughts are of having an agent on a different continent? *by the nice bit, I mean the lovely soft south. Not the grim north (winchester is north to me!) not the wet west, or the flat east. Not 'London-the only place to be), but in the forest, by the sea.
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BillMc
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I hope you do well. I am the reverse. An American who lives in Europe trying to find a UK or Irish agent. I have had a few British agents say no simply because of my nationality even though I live permanently in Europe. I really hope the American agents are more understanding for you. Great writing is great writing. Best of luck with it! Bill
This post was last edited by BillMc, 29 Sep 2010, 21:10
Author of "Lenin's Harem: A Novel" McCormick Author FacebookGoodreads
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perrybond
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Great writing is great writing, but for the rest of us, we need a lucky break. My advice is, with the agents, don't say you live in Europe, it sounds, kind of....sorry if this appears rude, but it sounds kind of American, be more specific and anchor yourself to a place, even if it is Belgium! (Whoops, that's twice tonight I've been placeist!)
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Turnip
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And you have to remember that Britain isn't in Europe. Well, okay, it is but Brits don't think it is. The Irish think Ireland is, which is interesting. Two islands, two attitudes. I've just papered a wall of my office with US agent rejections, but then my query letter was rubbish (not the book or the plot, of course, hmmm but makes me wonder...). Queryshark.com is great for shaping up US query letters, although Perrry your book is obviously shining through anyway. I just submitted my sharked-up query to query shark and only afterwards realised she was one of the agents that blew me out back in June with the crap query letter. Ho hum. Back to the drawing board.
This post was last edited by Turnip, 29 Sep 2010, 22:24
Back to my roots.
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notleyab
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Quote: Turnip, Wednesday, 29 Sep 2010 22:20And you have to remember that Britain isn't in Europe. Well, okay, it is but Brits don't think it is. The Irish think Ireland is, which is interesting. Two islands, two attitudes. I've just papered a wall of my office with US agent rejections, but then my query letter was rubbish (not the book or the plot, of course, hmmm but makes me wonder...). Queryshark.com is great for shaping up US query letters, although Perrry your book is obviously shining through anyway. I just submitted my sharked-up query to query shark and only afterwards realised she was one of the agents that blew me out back in June with the crap query letter. Ho hum. Back to the drawing board. Just doing a bit of raking here - are you actually an Irish turnip or a Brit export? Living in madrd, I understand why the Irish, like the Spanish are so pro-European, all those lovely EU funds to squander. Ah the good old days.
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Marita Hansen
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Quote: perrybond, Wednesday, 29 Sep 2010 20:58I was a bit bored. Well OK I was very bored. I went through all the agents who never replied (11 months) and sent them another email. Anyway I have had a couple of bites from American agents. Well I'm English, living in England (the nice bit*) and was wondering what your thoughts are of having an agent on a different continent? *by the nice bit, I mean the lovely soft south. Not the grim north (winchester is north to me!) not the wet west, or the flat east. Not 'London-the only place to be), but in the forest, by the sea. My bites are from America too. But I don't have much choice about sending out to a different continent. Originally from NZ (stuff all lit agents) and now in Singapore (no lit agents for my type of writing). I'll take a look at the Aussie lit agents. However, my story is distinctively Kiwi, so I'm not sure how they will respond. I suppose I can only give it a try.
This post was last edited by Marita Hansen, 30 Sep 2010, 01:47
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willow55
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Quote: Marita Hansen, Thursday, 30 Sep 2010 01:42Quote: perrybond, Wednesday, 29 Sep 2010 20:58I was a bit bored. Well OK I was very bored. I went through all the agents who never replied (11 months) and sent them another email. Anyway I have had a couple of bites from American agents. Well I'm English, living in England (the nice bit*) and was wondering what your thoughts are of having an agent on a different continent? *by the nice bit, I mean the lovely soft south. Not the grim north (winchester is north to me!) not the wet west, or the flat east. Not 'London-the only place to be), but in the forest, by the sea. My bites are from America too. But I don't have much choice about sending out to a different continent. Originally from NZ (stuff all lit agents) and now in Singapore (no lit agents for my type of writing). I'll take a look at the Aussie lit agents. However, my story is distinctively Kiwi, so I'm not sure how they will respond. I suppose I can only give it a try. Marina - there are very few Aus agents either. Curtis Brown Australia will accept unsolicited mss (last time I looked they would, anyway) but most of the others (only a handful) usually say their lists are full. I tend to approach the UK ones - along with everyone else ...
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Marita Hansen
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Quote: willow55, Thursday, 30 Sep 2010 06:06Quote: Marita Hansen, Thursday, 30 Sep 2010 01:42Quote: perrybond, Wednesday, 29 Sep 2010 20:58I was a bit bored. Well OK I was very bored. I went through all the agents who never replied (11 months) and sent them another email. Anyway I have had a couple of bites from American agents. Well I'm English, living in England (the nice bit*) and was wondering what your thoughts are of having an agent on a different continent? *by the nice bit, I mean the lovely soft south. Not the grim north (winchester is north to me!) not the wet west, or the flat east. Not 'London-the only place to be), but in the forest, by the sea. My bites are from America too. But I don't have much choice about sending out to a different continent. Originally from NZ (stuff all lit agents) and now in Singapore (no lit agents for my type of writing). I'll take a look at the Aussie lit agents. However, my story is distinctively Kiwi, so I'm not sure how they will respond. I suppose I can only give it a try. Marina - there are very few Aus agents either. Curtis Brown Australia will accept unsolicited mss (last time I looked they would, anyway) but most of the others (only a handful) usually say their lists are full. I tend to approach the UK ones - along with everyone else ...  I've just sent a query to Curtis Brown America. I can also try the Australian one. Thanks.
This post was last edited by Marita Hansen, 30 Sep 2010, 06:23
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taggie01
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Marita, I'm in Oz and the pool of agents here is miniscule. As is the pool of publishers. I got a partial sub request from Curtis Brown (Australia) a few weeks ago, and should hear one way or the other soon (they said a month). Once with another novel, I was part of Cornerstones UK's 'Hot 25' that they were endeavouring to sell-on and one of the agents they approached on my behalf, said that because I lived on the other side of the world, it would be too difficult to do business. This was four years ago and we had email, Chatzy, Skype and video-conferencing and I found it an amazingly short-sighted attitude. Whatever the case, one can only hope if the novel's good enough they'll want you anyway!
http://www.pruebatten.com/
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BillMc
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Perrybond, do you think there is a difference in the style of query letter wanted between American and British agents? Queryshark is fantastic for American but she recommends you maximize the length of 'the hook' and minimize publications and accomplishments (like a writing MA). I've heard the British is different. Only one or two lines for a hook, and show off your qualifications. But I could be completely wrong. What is your experience with the difference? Best, Bill (who has an MA from Manchester so I'm practically British, right? He said rather pathetically...  )
This post was last edited by BillMc, 30 Sep 2010, 17:40
Author of "Lenin's Harem: A Novel" McCormick Author FacebookGoodreads
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