Would publication in a foreign language count towards the UK/US market?

I've been mulling about a question while I've been watching the snow fall and the thermometer hover around -10 to -20 here in the auld country.

Given that the competition in the english speaking market is so fierce, would a novel published in - say Swedish or French or Hungarian or any other language - count as a valid credit when approaching agents and publishers in English speaking countries?

On one level, it is of course a credit. There aren't THAT many novel writers in Sweden, despite the evidence of the NYT best-seller lists at the moment. The industry is smaller. The competition is not as fierce. The method of getting published, the publishing process, and so on is the same in Sweden as in the rest of the world. The industry has its quirks, of course. It's not an agented system, and publishing houses still frown upon agents. They want a working relationship with authors, and don't want a middle man. So, on that physical level it helps - but for more intangible values of being published in a foreign language?

There are only two MAJOR publishers in Sweden - Nordstedts and Bonniers. There are many smaller publishers, and the two major ones have several imprints.

You would have to write your book in Swedish, of course, and it would have to be relevant to the swedish market.

Basically, as I understand it, you send in a full manuscript to the publisher's slushpile, and then you want 2-6 months for a reply. Agents aren't very common, except for foreign authors guarding their rights in Sweden. There are some literary agencies, but they are on the fringes of the industry, and have no clout in the business. Editors and publishers tend to view agents with suspicion. They tend not to want a middle man between them and the writers.