American v English Agents

Lifelongdagger · Aug 3, 2009

Hi all.

I've got a little dilemna. I've had a request from an American agent for the full manuscript of my novel. Thing is, I'm from the Land of Old Blighty, and I wondered if having an American agent would preclude me from still trying to get an English agent. The novel itself is very, very English, and I would question how it might translate to the American market. I might be getting ahead of myself here, but a little advice would be very much appreciated.

Warmest regards,

Ian

IfNotNow · Aug 3, 2009

I've investigated this, being from the UK as well.

What I found out was that having a US agent doesn't mean you CAN'T have a UK agent, but a US agent would handle foreign rights sales, if they weren't included in your book contract with a US publisher, so a second UK agent wouldn't be necessary.

I came away from my research with the impression that you should look for an agent in the country where you are looking for your book to be published first - a UK agent has contacts in UK publishers, a US agent knows the US ones. Where you actually live is a different issue.

That being said, the US market is bigger and certain genres sell better there, so where do you think your book stands the best chance?

Miss Snark answered a question about UK agents for US writers, but it still might be helpful.

http://misssnark.blogspot.com/2006/05/uk-agents-for-us-writers.html

gothicangel · Aug 3, 2009

You say English agents. Does this mean you're not considering Scottish or Irish agents?

Lifelongdagger · Aug 3, 2009

Are you trying to tell me there are actually Scottish and Irish agents?

Blimey. There's a thing.

Lifelongdagger · Aug 3, 2009

Hi INN.

Thanks for the info.

The book itself is quintessentially English. Loads of London slang and swearing. Funnily enough, though, the handful of Americans that have read the whole thing have claimed to be absolutely blown away by it. Leaves me thinking that there might be half a chance that an American agent might pick it up. Apparently, Janet Reid, the agent in question, is quite sought after. Might be worth a shot.

All the best,

Ian

K. Andrew Smith · Aug 3, 2009

Janet Reid's a killer agent. You'd be fortunate to work with her.

aruna · Aug 3, 2009

You won''t have two agents. If you get a US agent that agent wil have a sub-agent in the UK, who will sell the rights over here. They are not two separate agents. When your UK agent sells your book in the UK the US agent will charge a higher commission, usually 20%, and pay the subagent out of that.

2Wheels · Aug 3, 2009

IfNotNow said:
Miss Snark answered a question about UK agents for US writers, but it still might be helpful.

http://misssnark.blogspot.com/2006/05/uk-agents-for-us-writers.html

Now THAT was interesting, albeit a few years old. I'm going to start querying at the end of August (or die in the attempt) and I've been giving serious consideration as to whether I shouldn't just start sending to UK agents first (I'm an ex-pat Brit in Canada). The general opinion here (AW) seems to be that I don't stand a snowflake's chance in hell of getting a US agent (with my MS), but if I go into a bookstore and look for equivalent books in the SFF genre, I keep picking up recent UK ones. Canadian agents for SFF don't exist, as one of the commenters on that blog post says - it really does seem to be beneath their dignity here to look at genre fiction. ANY genre! And yet genre fiction sections take up a major part of the floorspace of the big bookstores here.

The fact though, that getting a UK publisher might not include any distribution in Canada is a little disturbing - I don't know if that is something that can be negotiated, or even who would negotiate it - the agent with the publisher, or the publisher period.

aruna · Aug 3, 2009

2Wheels said:
The fact though, that getting a UK publisher might not include any distribution in Canada is a little disturbing - I don't know if that is something that can be negotiated, or even who would negotiate it - the agent with the publisher, or the publisher period.

The way it happened with me is: I sold British and Commonwealth Rights to a UK publisher. Now, though the Commonwealth includes Canada, it does not for publishing purposes. I would have had to sell separate North American Riights for my books to be published and sold in the US and Canada, and since I (my agent) was not able to sell those rights it just didn't happen. That's the risk you will take with getting a UK agent/publisher. But surely being published onl in the UK is better than not being piblished at all?

2Wheels · Aug 3, 2009

aruna said:
Now, though the Commonwealth includes Canada, it does not for publishing purposes.

Typical!

A UK deal would be better than none, definitely - I'd consider myself VERY fortunate to get even that!!

Samantha's_Song · Aug 3, 2009

That's great news, Ian, but as I said to you on FaceBook, I hope you're brilliant story isn't going to end up 'Americanised'. If it does, the Brit agents have let something great slip straight through their fingers.

aruna · Aug 3, 2009

2Wheels said:
Now THAT was interesting, albeit a few years old.

The fact though, that getting a UK publisher might not include any distribution in Canada is a little disturbing - I don't know if that is something that can be negotiated, or even who would negotiate it - the agent with the publisher, or the publisher period.

From Miss Snark:

I've never heard of a US author being represented only by a UK or Canadian agent. Maybe I'm off base here (and with the Yankees this season well...off base is pretty much the norm) but I don't see the advantage.

I was going to reply to this right here and then I saw this in the comments thread:

Mallory's Oracle by - um, I forget the author - was first pubbed in the UK. She thought the market would be easier to get into and it was. She got a 6 figure advance for it; I remember reading that way back when in Writers News. And then it was sold in the US.

..by a certain Kiskadee. Hee hee -- Kiskadee is me!

gonovelgo · Aug 3, 2009

Lifelongdagger said:
Are you trying to tell me there are actually Scottish and Irish agents?

Blimey. There's a thing.

Unfortunately, Irish agents are few and far between

Either that or there are tons of them and they're just a real pain to find online.

2Wheels · Aug 3, 2009

On the OP's question - I can't see any harm in letting the US agent look at it. Sometimes the most "British" of things can be hugely popular here. If the agent came back to you with a whole bunch of proposed changes that you feel would compromise the feel of the book, then you can always say 'no thank you'. If it's popular here, then chances are someone in the UK is going to go looking for the UK pub rights.
Does this agent state that they have subagents in the UK? That might be the best way to go.

Lifelongdagger · Aug 3, 2009

Great points, 2wheels. They seem a pretty upstanding agency, and she seems a pretty sought after agent, so I presume they must have a pretty wide net. It's just great to even be in a position to begin to contemplate those sorts of questions. Long way to go yet. Just the first little nibble.

And Samantha, if I decide to sell my soul to the Yanks, you'll be the first to know

Samantha's_Song · Aug 3, 2009

Thanks Ian!

Lifelongdagger said:
And Samantha, if I decide to sell my soul to the Yanks, you'll be the first to know

angeliz2k · Aug 3, 2009

I've seriously considered *trying to get*a UK agent. I'm actually planning to study there for at least a year and might spend even longer. Plus, my MS might have more appeal to a British than an American audience, since it's a historical set in Roman Britannia.

In fact, the argument seems pretty good to go for a UK agent, except that I'm a Yank (lol) and decided to give the Yankee agents a chance (one partial so far). To be honest, it's in large part because the American market is bigger, but as was said above, being published just in the UK would be fantastic even if it never made the jump to North America. I'd be over the freaking moon to think it was published at all, even if it never reached bookshelves in my own country.

Samantha's_Song · Aug 3, 2009

Don't wory about that, Gal, we'll help you with your spelling of the English language.

angeliz2k said:
In fact, the argument seems pretty good to go for a UK agent, except that I'm a Yank (lol)

Toothpaste · Aug 3, 2009

aruna said:
Now, though the Commonwealth includes Canada, it does not for publishing purposes.

Actually when my UK agent sold Commonwealth it included Canada. So I think it just depends on your agent and the publisher really.

From what I've heard if you are an author in the UK then they tend to include Canada. If you are in the States then the States takes Canada.

But nothing is absolute.

angeliz2k · Aug 3, 2009

Samantha's_Song said:
Don't wory about that, Gal, we'll help you with your spelling of the English language.

Oh no you DIDN'T!

Haha, I've always thought those extra u's were quaint, but I gotta say, living "in" a street makes no sense at all whereas living "on" a street is sensible. I'll give you "lift" over "elevator" though, since lift is shorter and I (generally) like fewer syllables.

aruna · Aug 3, 2009

Toothpaste said:
Actually when my UK agent sold Commonwealth it included Canada. So I think it just depends on your agent and the publisher really.

From what I've heard if you are an author in the UK then they tend to include Canada. If you are in the States then the States takes Canada.

But nothing is absolute.

Could they have negotiated Candian rights separately, because you are Canadian? That would fit in with your last sentence. Because I was told the opposite; that Canada goes with the US, which is why it is called North American rights and not US rights. I know that for my publisher (HarperCollins) it was a standard contract: they even had a list of the Commonwealth countries as part of the contract and Canada was not on it.

ETA: article on Canada's dodgy status: http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/oct/17/canada-australia-commonwealth-frankfurt-publishers

Toothpaste · Aug 3, 2009

I don't know, they could have maybe but they didn't. In my case Commonwealth included Canada, and everything my Canadian publishers got came through the UK publishers. It wasn't separate.

Lucky Jim · Aug 3, 2009

2Wheels said:
Canadian agents for SFF don't exist, something that can be negotiated, or even who would negotiate it - the agent with the publisher, or the publisher period.

Unfortunately I've lost touch with the guy, but I did know a reader for a small Canadian publisher, and he asked me if I wrote SF. (I wasn't at the time.) Try direct contact with Anvil Press 278 East 1st Avenue, Vancouver; or Arsenal Pulp Press 200 - 341 Water St. Van. They don't publish many books, but it's worth a try if you've got a good one and have no luck elsewhere.

When you've exhausted all other avenues, you might want to try this place for e-publication, with a chance at hardcover if it sells well:

http://www.virtualtales.com/

Lucky Jim

Lucky Jim · Aug 3, 2009

aruna said:
The way it happened with me is: I sold British and Commonwealth Rights to a UK publisher. Now, though the Commonwealth includes Canada, it does not for publishing purposes. I would have had to sell separate North American Riights for my books to be published and sold in the US and Canada, and since I (my agent) was not able to sell those rights it just didn't happen. That's the risk you will take with getting a UK agent/publisher. But surely being published onl in the UK is better than not being piblished at all?

The Harry Potter stuff was published by Raincoast Books, Van., who snagged the rights after realising no one in Canada had them. As far as I know, they have now abandoned publishing in favour of just distributing.

Lucky Jim

aruna · Aug 3, 2009

Lucky you! I'd have loved to have had Canadian rights, as there is a large Guyanese population in Canada and they would all have bought my books.

Toothpaste said:
I don't know, they could have maybe but they didn't. In my case Commonwealth included Canada, and everything my Canadian publishers got came through the UK publishers. It wasn't separate.

American v English Agents

Toughen up.

On a wing and a prayer

Anachronista

On a wing and a prayer

Anachronista

At least I don't need backing-up

On a wing and a prayer

Anachronista

At least I don't need backing-up

never mind the shorty

At least I don't need backing-up

THE RECKLESS RESCUE is out now!

never mind the shorty

On a wing and a prayer

THE RECKLESS RESCUE is out now!

On a wing and a prayer