UF set outside the US

Mr Flibble · Jul 28, 2011

So, I got this idea....and it's itching at my brain. ANd I was wondering, is there much of a market for UF where the U in question is a city that isn't in the US? Most of (read virtually all) the UF I've read is set in US (real or fictive) cities.

Am I hampering myself, marketing/selling it, if I set it somewhere else? Because I don;t think I'd could write about an American city realistically. I might use google maps etc, but it'd be the slang, the shop names, the brand names etc that would stymie me.

Now, I have read a couple of UK based UF books, but I don't think they've been widely distributed in the US, whereas UF set in US cities is all over Waterstone's bookshelves.

Is this street one way?

If I write a UF set in Brighton, would it appeal to a US audience do you think (I'll try to keep the obscure slang to a minimum

)

Adam · Jul 28, 2011

American based UF appeals to UK readers, so I don't see why it wouldn't work the other way around. Perhaps I'm looking at it too simplistically though.

Adam, who has two UFs set in the UK.

dolores haze · Jul 28, 2011

I used Paris for a wee UF short I did. And I think Edinburgh would make an amazing setting. A Brighton setting would appeal to me, but I'm hardly your typical American reader.

Tasmin21 · Jul 28, 2011

Simon R. Green's Nightside series is set in London, and Sergei Lukyanenko's Night Watch books are all set in Moscow. Granted, both of these authors are native to their environments, and were published there first before finding popularity abroad.

Ekatarina Sedia's The Secret History of Moscow is also Moscow-based UF, and was released in the States first.

I have heard, however, of an author who wanted to write a UF based in a Canadian city and received the advice to just make it an American city because no one in the US would buy a book set in Canada.

I think, basically, the message is, no one knows the answer, but if it's a good book, it'll sell regardless.

Mr Flibble · Jul 28, 2011

received the advice to just make it an American city because no one in the US would buy a book set in Canada.

This is what I was afraid of.

yttar · Jul 28, 2011

The Riley Jensen guardian series takes place in Australia.

Yttar

veinglory · Jul 28, 2011

Tanya Huff's very popular urban fantasy vampire books are set in Toronto.

Kitty Pryde · Jul 28, 2011

I want to read your UK UF! We have a handful of UF set in London readily available here, I think. That Sixty One Nails series or whatev, Neverwhere, The Marbury Lens, Midnight Riot series, Felix Castor novels, The Enemy/The Dead by Charlie Higson, Soulless by Gail Carriger. Robert Rankin and Tom Holt novels are even starting to be half-assedly available here in the states. Have you read The Brightonomicon? Just saying.

And Zoo City has done really well, set in JoBurg. Oh, and Snake Agent--UF set somewhere in China I believe.

Mr Flibble · Jul 28, 2011

Nice reccs

I was wondering more about stuff that released in teh US before or same time as elsewhere, or initially by a US publisher (Zoo City for instance is pubbed by a Brit publisher). I'm not sure whether any of those were US first?

Kitty Pryde · Jul 28, 2011

IdiotsRUs said:
Nice reccs

I was wondering more about stuff that released in teh US before or same time as elsewhere, or initially by a US publisher (Zoo City for instance is pubbed by a Brit publisher). I'm not sure whether any of those were US first?

Soulless, The Marbury Lens, and Snake Agent were all published in the US first, from USian authors. And one more: No Hero (expat author living in the US, US publisher). I feel like Nightshade and Angry Robot would be the most likely places for books like this (AR is a UK publisher but they are very widely available here in the US unlike most others).

Mr Flibble · Jul 28, 2011

Ah, right, excellent, so it wouldn't be a total wash out. Yeah Angry Robot did Zoo City, and have some excellent books.

Of course the one person I could ask and would give me a definitive answer is away at a conference

I shall ask when he's back.

Just wanted to know on market etc before I get too into it, or whether I should concentrate on something else.

Yāoguài · Jul 28, 2011

In London, we have Kate Griffin's Matthew Swift series, Mike Shevdon's Courts of the Feyre, Caitlin Kittredge's Black London series, and Mike Carey's Felix Castor.

Karen Marie Moning's Fever series is set in Dublin.

Kelley Armstrong's Bitten is set in Toronto.

bettielee · Jul 28, 2011

You know some of us are Anglophiles. And the gritty streets of London or Manchester or {insert name of gritty city in the UK} are perfect for UF!

But you know I'd read a laundry list set in the UK, so....

Adam · Jul 28, 2011

* Spuds
* Crisps
* Meat 'n potato pies
* Proper cheese
* Irn Bru

You're welcome.

ETA - Wait, that's a shopping list not a laundry list...

Still, I'm not deleting it. I own up to my stupidity!

veinglory · Jul 28, 2011

You forgot the Jaffa Cakes.

bettielee · Jul 28, 2011

Adam said:
* Spuds
* Crisps
* Meat 'n potato pies
* Proper cheese
* Irn Bru

You're welcome.

ETA - Wait, that's a shopping list not a laundry list...

Still, I'm not deleting it. I own up to my stupidity!

you know how to sweet talk a girl, Adam.

Adam · Jul 28, 2011

veinglory said:
You forgot the Jaffa Cakes.

*Slaps forehead.*

bettielee said:
you know how to sweet talk a girl, Adam.

How'd ya think I snagged Brain "future Mrs. Slade" Storm77?

Slightly more on topic - Loving the suggestions for non-US UF! I need more UF on my Kindle.

Mr Flibble · Jul 28, 2011

Thanks guys. I shall run with it for now.

Also: Jammy dodgers!

Yāoguài · Jul 28, 2011

Tanya Huff's Blood series is also in Toronto.

serabeara · Jul 29, 2011

I like Simon R Green's Nightside series, set in London.

Parametric · Jul 29, 2011

Mine is set in Bristol.

Sophia · Jul 29, 2011

Kitty Pryde said:
Soulless, The Marbury Lens, and Snake Agent were all published in the US first, from USian authors.

Snake Agent is by Liz Williams - she's definitely a Brit.

Snake Agent (and the others in that series) and Zoo City are my recommendations, too. Doing a quick Google search, I see links to agents and magazines specifically saying they're looking for urban fantasy set outside the US. That might be one reason to be hopeful that it will be a section of the genre that will gain in popularity in the near future.

I don't know about the US audience, but I'd love to read urban fantasy set in British towns and cities, or anywhere around the world.

Polenth · Jul 29, 2011

It seems such books are more likely to sell first (rather than after success elsewhere) in the US when they're written by a US author (so filtered through that cultural lens, rather than a native approach). The Carriger books are a good example, because it's blatantly obvious to me she's not from the UK, but many US readers don't see it. It's a case of wanting other locations, but still wanting them Americanised.

Personally, if I had a UK-based novel idea I really wanted to write, I'd do so anyway. But I've used the same approach to shorts and my more obviously British stories have always gone down like lead balloons in US markets... so I can't say the approach has worked for me so far.

Mr Flibble · Jul 29, 2011

Good points there

I shall be stalking a few Americans to beta read for me, see if they get the lingo

If it makes sense to them in context, hopefully that would help!

I know that Bettie didn't get my saveloy reference the other day

Stormhawk · Jul 29, 2011

Mine's set in Brisbane (Australia), and a decent percentage of my readers are from Europe - who have said they like the break from reading a US-based story.

(My challenge though, is actually convincing other Aussies to read it. >_>).

UF set outside the US

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Not dead.

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practical experience, FTW

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