Querying an agent in a different country?

Emerald · Jun 21, 2013

Is this possible? Say I live in Australia (which I do) and I find several agents I really like the sound of that work in the US. Can I query them, is it advisable, would they even accept someone's query outside the States?

Corinne Duyvis · Jun 21, 2013

Yes. Not a problem. So sayeth the girl from the Netherlands with a US publisher and US agent.

Drachen Jager · Jun 21, 2013

Yeah, what she said. You can also look at UK agents, though some of them prefer to keep their clients within the isles.

Mr Flibble · Jun 21, 2013

My agent lives on a different continent to me, that is I'm in the Uk, he's in the states
Oddly, my main editor (who he negotiated the book deal with) lives about 30 miles away...

You're cool.

Steven Hutson · Jun 30, 2013

Note: In the event of a legal dispute, you could have some difficulty serving the other party with a summons. It happens. Many agents and publishers choose not to work internationally, for that very reason.

Terie · Jun 30, 2013

Steven Hutson said:
Note: In the event of a legal dispute, you could have some difficulty serving the other party with a summons. It happens. Many agents and publishers choose not to work internationally, for that very reason.

Rubbish. No publishers or agents worth submitting to refuse to accept manuscripts from authors in other countries.

Seriously. Name five top agents and five top publishers who don't work internationally.

tesla · Jul 1, 2013

Steven Hutson said:
Note: In the event of a legal dispute, you could have some difficulty serving the other party with a summons. It happens. Many agents and publishers choose not to work internationally, for that very reason.

One of the reasons I signed with my agent over others offering was because of the strong international presence her agency had. Because of her international experience, she was able to secure me deals in the UK and Germany as well as the US. I would have made substantially less money if she'd had no international connections and just sold world rights to my US publisher.

Old Hack · Jul 1, 2013

tesla said:
One of the reasons I signed with my agent over others offering was because of the strong international presence her agency had. Because of her international experience, she was able to secure me deals in the UK and Germany as well as the US. I would have made substantially less money if she'd had no international connections and just sold world rights to my US publisher.

Good agents and agencies always have co-agents or offices to handle their international rights. This is a basic requirement. I'd be very wary of agents and agencies which don't have a way of dealing with foreign and translation rights.

Querying an agent in a different country?

Emerald

Corinne Duyvis

My New Cat Is Too Big for Shoulders

Drachen Jager

Professor of applied misanthropy

Mr Flibble

They've been very bad, Mr Flibble

Steven Hutson

Terie

Writer is as Writer does

tesla

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman