I'm at the slightly awkward point of thinking about my SECOND novel. The first is in queryland, but I'm not holding my breath. After several failed attempts to write a book I decided I would write something I wanted to read regardless of its commercial appeal. I'm proud of what I wrote and it's rather good (if I say so myself) but way too long and possibly too obscure to have a realistic chance of being published.
So, my goal for my next novel is to write something which builds on all the skills and habits I've learned but which is more likely to connect with the market. I don't want to spend months on a project only to find myself once again with something that is too boutique to have a fighting chance of getting picked up.
All of which brings me to the reason for posing this question. I have a very clear idea for a book. It would be set in the contemporary US and somewhere abroad. The 'somewhere abroad' would be a made-up country sharing the aspects and history of several real ones, without being constrained by the exact reality of those places.
My question: Is this a viable idea or something which has already been done to death? I'm posting in this forum, because I specifically want to know about the reception this device would have within the literary genre.
I know there are classics which use it (e.g. Nostromo) and it crops up a lot in film, but I don't want to delve into writing this if every agent is going to look at the eventual query letter and immediately be put off on reading the synopsis.
[Without going into too much detail, the reason I want to use a made up country is that a major part of the plot revolves around politics, palace intrigue and revolution and therefore it just does not seem right to pick on a real country.]
So, my goal for my next novel is to write something which builds on all the skills and habits I've learned but which is more likely to connect with the market. I don't want to spend months on a project only to find myself once again with something that is too boutique to have a fighting chance of getting picked up.
All of which brings me to the reason for posing this question. I have a very clear idea for a book. It would be set in the contemporary US and somewhere abroad. The 'somewhere abroad' would be a made-up country sharing the aspects and history of several real ones, without being constrained by the exact reality of those places.
My question: Is this a viable idea or something which has already been done to death? I'm posting in this forum, because I specifically want to know about the reception this device would have within the literary genre.
I know there are classics which use it (e.g. Nostromo) and it crops up a lot in film, but I don't want to delve into writing this if every agent is going to look at the eventual query letter and immediately be put off on reading the synopsis.
[Without going into too much detail, the reason I want to use a made up country is that a major part of the plot revolves around politics, palace intrigue and revolution and therefore it just does not seem right to pick on a real country.]