G'Day

Helix said:

There are several Aus-published authors on the forum, as far as I know. I've had non-fic published by Allen & Unwin.

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Congrats. I guess I ask because from what I've read, getting published in the US and elsewhere seems to involve acquiring an agent and whatnot... however if you want to be published in Australia it seems like you generally just submit directly to the publisher and take your chances.

I'm working on an Australian 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' essentially, so I wish to target Australian publishers... I can't see the yanks or anyone else being that interested in it.

Cliff Face said:

I'm not published anywhere, but I know some Aussies in here have been published. I'll defer to them on answering your question.

And welcome!

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Thanks for the welcome!

What follows is my largely uninformed 2c worth:

I submitted the non-fic directly to the editor (starting with a query, then outline), but would like an agent for the fic that I'm currently not working on because I keep getting distracted.

There are three paths, as I see it:
---> agent; or
---> publisher; or
---> publisher ---> agent

Those last two options are made a bit easier by the submission policies of some of the publishing houses, which nominate set days for online submission.

The first option is constrained by the relative numbers of agents (not many) and authors (a lot). (I have no figures to back that up, btw. That's pure out-of-the-backside statistics, but there's an air of truthiness about it.)

My WiP #1 is also very Australian, so audience is going to be an issue!

Helix said:

My WiP #1 is also very Australian, so audience is going to be an issue!

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Yes I think that will be one of the biggest hurdles once I finish the novel... finding someone in Australia who is interested in touching it. And the novel.

Welcome, arkanis50!

I went through a Sydney agent, who sold my trilogy to RH.

Having said that, finding an agent isn't compulsory here. Quite a few Aussie publishers have unsolicited submission processes (eg. Pan Mac’s ‘Manuscript Monday’ or A&U’s ‘Friday Pitch’). I think most publishers have a submission info page on their website.

Best of luck!

There are very few Australian agents, yes. I don't know exact numbers across the board, but I seem to recall something like 10 or fewer Australian agents who handle fantasy. This in contrast to the hundreds of American agents who handle fantasy.

However, today's literary world is a lot more connected than it once was. The only issue I see is marketing to an Australian audience, which would probably require an Australian publisher. Otherwise, there's nothing stopping you from querying American/British/elsewhere agents.

I think the big difference between here and there is the *size* of the market. Fewer agents, fewer publishers, fewer readers, fewer chances. (Though that last one is relative - more writers in America competing for more chances may well have the same probability of getting an acceptance.)

SkyeOhWhy said:

I went through a Sydney agent, who sold my trilogy to RH.

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That's awesome, congrats.

Thanks, arkanis. It's been an exciting time!

When's the next one coming out, Skye? Not that I need more books, but I enjoyed part 1.

Aww, thanks Cliff! It came out a few weeks ago (Jan 1st).

Ooh, okay. I'll have to keep my eyes open for it.

SkyeOhWhy said:

Aww, thanks Cliff! It came out a few weeks ago (Jan 1st).

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Was looking at my Twitter feed and just saw a tweet from booktopia involving you pop up... small world.

SkyeOhWhy said:

Welcome, arkanis50!

I went through a Sydney agent, who sold my trilogy to RH.

Having said that, finding an agent isn't compulsory here. Quite a few Aussie publishers have unsolicited submission processes (eg. Pan Mac’s ‘Manuscript Monday’ or A&U’s ‘Friday Pitch’). I think most publishers have a submission info page on their website.

Best of luck!

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Oh! My daughter is reading your books I thought I recognised the covers! She loves them.

Hi everyone!
I'm back. I've been away for almost a year. I got a great job which is also very hectic and was quite draining to start with so the writing was put to one side. I'm keen to get back into it now and will hopefully be back here fairly regularly as well.

Welcome back, Franky.

Hope everyone is well! I'm glad that the 40+ heatwaves are mostly over, although it looks like it might heat up again next week.

arkanis50 said:

Was looking at my Twitter feed and just saw a tweet from booktopia involving you pop up... small world.

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Haha, that's cool! I was in Sydney this week and got to visit the Booktopia warehouse. They're lovely people! (But now I have "It's a small world after all" stuck in my head!)

Anna Spargo-Ryan said:

Oh! My daughter is reading your books I thought I recognised the covers! She loves them.

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Oh wow, really? Thanks so much for telling me -- that made my day.

franky_s said:

Hi everyone!
I'm back. I've been away for almost a year. I got a great job which is also very hectic and was quite draining to start with so the writing was put to one side. I'm keen to get back into it now and will hopefully be back here fairly regularly as well.

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Welcome back, franky!

I made plans to meet a friend in the city this coming Friday. Then I saw that it's supposed to be 40C here that day. Ack! But it's the only time she's really free to catch up, so I'll endure the heat.

High 20s here. I see the BoM's predicted some cyclone action next week, so I'd better refill the cyclone supplies that I ate when I was bored over Xmas.

Happy Australia Day! I hope everyone has a great time celebrating our most amazing country today. Given the number of people there were in Woolies yesterday, I suspect there are going to be a lot of BBQs around here today.

Happy Australia Day! Have spent my last few hours in a pool, drinking, and had snags for tea...can't get much more Aussie than that

Yay, Straya Day!

It looks like the Aussies are about to win the cricket (absolutely no idea how they've managed to pull that off), and the tennis is actually quite interesting...

I'm proud to say that someone I worked with until recently has picked up an OAM (well deserved), and it's been a fine sunny day.

Tea was snags, steaks, chops, and I did my best to jam them into a soft roll with salad and an egg and beetroot with enough sauce to drown the cow the steak came from.

I think that the real test is going to be the massive heat wave that is apparently coming our way this week, but it's a good day to have a Monday off!

I'm not very Australian, it seems... No sausages for dinner. We picked up KFC.

Had Thai, possibly the most Australian of cuisines.


Beach was visited twice (two separate beaches!), not a bogan was glassed and all was curiously right with the world.

Seriously, I don't think there is a shopping strip in this scorched land without at least 10 Thai restaurants, with pun names all. And that is good.

When I own my own chain of Thai restaurants they shall be titled Hepa-thai-tis A, Hepa-thai-tis B, Hepa-thai-tis C, etc.