English and Australian agents/publishers

efreysson · Aug 28, 2007

So, I finished a dark fantasy novel about a year ago, and enjoyed a long streak of absolutely no success in finding representation. This spring I decided to take a break from it, and started editing, tweaking and rewriting the novel, which I believe has improved it substantially, as well as shortening the word count from 160.000 to about 140.000. Now, rested and filled with greater confidence in my work, I'm ready to get back into the game.
Thing is, so far I've almost exclusively contacted agents found on agentquery.com, and maybe it's time I widened my search pattern. Could someone be kind enough to recommend agents and publishing houses in other english-speaking countries, or point me towards a good source of information?

Sandi LeFaucheur · Aug 28, 2007

Try this

http://www.bloomsbury.com/WritersArea/AgentsUK.asp

waylander · Aug 29, 2007

http://writersservices.com/agent/uk/index1.htm

This is a general listing of UK agents.
There are less than 10 agents worth querying about F/SF material

Carmy · Aug 30, 2007

Have you checked out the listings on this site: http://www.writers.net/agents.html?PHPSESSID=e1c80495c44a50a49777586f100dfea0

efreysson · Sep 10, 2007

Thanks guys.

Mac H. · Sep 10, 2007

One thought - what kind of 'non-success' have you had?

Did your query letters get good responses, but people weren't interested after reading the sample pages?

Or were your query letters not getting people to request the pages?

If it is the latter, then it might be worth doing a critique on your query letter as well.

Good luck,

Mac

waylander · Sep 10, 2007

Mac H. said:
One thought - what kind of 'non-success' have you had?

Did your query letters get good responses, but people weren't interested after reading the sample pages?

Or were your query letters not getting people to request the pages?

If it is the latter, then it might be worth doing a critique on your query letter as well.

Good luck,

Mac

Doesn't quite work like that with UK agents, Mac.
The standard submission package is letter + 3 chapters and your letter is nothing like a US query letter, you don't need a hook.

efreysson · Sep 10, 2007

waylander said:
Doesn't quite work like that with UK agents, Mac.
The standard submission package is letter + 3 chapters and your letter is nothing like a US query letter, you don't need a hook.

Oh? What do I need to do differently in contacting UK agents?

Carmy · Sep 12, 2007

I'd like to know the difference, too.

waylander · Sep 13, 2007

What I have done when contacting UK agents is send 3 chapters + synopsis with a covering letter. The letter is pretty basic, listing my contact details, a brief description of the novel, the word count, whether standalone or part of a series and my short fiction credits.

The brief description is much more along the lines of "it's a fantasy adventure with a strong romantic subplot" than the classic 'hook' as endlessly debated in SYW and elsewhere.

The idea is that the writing sample and synopsis is what they read.

English and Australian agents/publishers

efreysson

Closer than ever

Sandi LeFaucheur

waylander

Who's going for a beer?

Carmy

efreysson

Closer than ever

Mac H.

Board Visitor

waylander

Who's going for a beer?

efreysson

Closer than ever

Carmy

waylander

Who's going for a beer?