British vs American English

I've never mentioned it specifically in the query.

I reckon the address is a giveaway, along with the words you use and how you spell them. And possibly that your query ends in their inbox timed at 3am

You don't need to 'Americanise' your manuscript (just in case you were pondering that question), and you don't need to say anything about it in your query. Loads of UK writers query US agents and publishers, so they're quite used to it.

Oh, and good luck!

Zombie Kat said:

I have neither the ability nor patience to go through my entire book and deliberately spell things 'wrong'!

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Neither do I....and I'm an American living in the UK! (Well, I mean I don't have the patience; I obviously have the ability.) I just figured I'd stave off that question, which gets asked pretty regularly.

I don't think it really mattered. In any case, I guess your spelling should reflect where the action takes place (for contemporary)??? If it's a fantasy, who cares?

And I'm a Canadian and straddle both spellings. I finally decided to write everything in American, much to the chagrin of my Canadian spellchecker and my inner English teacher. My current readership is mostly American. We Canadians are spelling bi-polar, in any case.

If the book is for the US market, I'd Americanise it. If it's for the British market, and you're just querying US agents because some of them are awesome, leave it in the form you wish it to be marketed as.

I wouldn't worry about it until you hear from an editor or agent.

It's a trivial thing to change, and you might not need to.

This isn't even a bit unusual.

And if you DO need to change it, it's better to work within editorial guidelines and the house style sheet, so you can make all changes at once.

If your book is set in a US high school and features students "ringing each other up" on their "mobiles", I would encourage you to swap localization edits with a US writer working on a book set in the UK.

If your book isn't set in the US, there is no need to use US spellings or US-specific vocabulary.

And before you say "oh, nobody would do that" I have seen the equivalent more than once (and vice-versa, of course, including a book by a US writer that had a tough Scotswoman threatening to spank her son on the fanny (!)).

IceCreamEmpress said:

... including a book by a US writer that had a tough Scotswoman threatening to spank her son on the fanny (!)).

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GlobalJane said:

And I'm a Canadian and straddle both spellings. I finally decided to write everything in American, much to the chagrin of my Canadian spellchecker and my inner English teacher. My current readership is mostly American. We Canadians are spelling bi-polar, in any case.

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1. ouch

2. we're just bi-polar.

IceCreamEmpress said:

If your book is set in a US high school and features students "ringing each other up" on their "mobiles", I would encourage you to swap localization edits with a US writer working on a book set in the UK.

If your book isn't set in the US, there is no need to use US spellings or US-specific vocabulary.

And before you say "oh, nobody would do that" I have seen the equivalent more than once (and vice-versa, of course, including a book by a US writer that had a tough Scotswoman threatening to spank her son on the fanny (!)).

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he he. wonder do many Americans get that reference?

Interesting thing about the 'mobile' bit, as my recent opus has a lot of that

as regarding OP. I have had no prob/ comments. And changing a spelling doesnt change cultural difference as IceCream is essentially pointing out.

so, imo, change nuthin'.

he he. wonder do many Americans get that reference?

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Probably none. But it's interesting--my Scottish grandmother used the word "fanny" to mean buttocks, not vagina. I guess the meaning has changed?

I'm Canadian, but I write my manuscripts in American English since I'm aiming for American publishers and it's not hard for me to switch gears.

That said, I do agree with those who say it isn't a problem to leave your manuscript in British English. The agents can also switch gears, and none of them are going to be so unsophisticated as to think you are mis-spelling words.

My ms is in British English (which we generally use here in Oz), but I changed a few words in my query after it was in QLH and someone corrected the words to US spelling despite the fact that my profile says I'm in Australia. I figure they don't really know I'm Australian until the end of the query, so why make them think I can't spell? So I have a "correct" version of my query... and an American one!

Also, every single time I hear someone on American TV talk about someone's fanny, I giggle. Every. Single. Time.

jjdebenedictis said:

Paul said:

IceCreamEmpress said:

If your book is set in a US high school and features students "ringing each other up" on their "mobiles", I would encourage you to swap localization edits with a US writer working on a book set in the UK.

If your book isn't set in the US, there is no need to use US spellings or US-specific vocabulary.

And before you say "oh, nobody would do that" I have seen the equivalent more than once (and vice-versa, of course, including a book by a US writer that had a tough Scotswoman threatening to spank her son on the fanny (!)).

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he he. wonder do many Americans get that reference?

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Probably none.

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Right. There's not a single American, anywhere in the world, not even those who read lots of British lit or watch British TV or British films, not even those who live in the UK, who would get that reference.

Sheesh.

Oh, and for the record, the person who made the post about the word 'fanny' in the first place is -- GASP! -- American. So is the first person who replied laughing. So much for stereotypes.

melnve said:

Also, every single time I hear someone on American TV talk about someone's fanny, I giggle. Every. Single. Time.

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My grandmother's name was Frances.

Her family called her Fanny.

We had a cat named after her.

And there's an American idiom regarding "My Aunt Fanny" that appears to be tied to, err, British uses of fanny.

I came across a guy on another forum who had decided that his book set in England should be "Americanised" for a US audience - and his publishers agreed to do it for him (they also agreed to use his own hideously amateurish cover art). I can't decide if they're a wannabe vanity press or just hopelessly incompetent, since he hasn't been back since I started politely probing...

I'm an ex-pat American in Scotland. I usually adhere to British spellings, but there's a couple that still get me every time (tyre, wtf?), so I'm a strange hybrid.

My American publisher changes the spelling themselves. I've had a few arguments with them about not putting American words in my characters' mouths, though. If the book's set in Britain, there's no way the characters would use cellphones on the sidewalk. (As an example.)

Terie said:

Right. There's not a single American, anywhere in the world, not even those who read lots of British lit or watch British TV or British films, not even those who live in the UK, who would get that reference.

Sheesh.

Oh, and for the record, the person who made the post about the word 'fanny' in the first place is -- GASP! -- American. So is the first person who replied laughing. So much for stereotypes.

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Wow. That's a lot of offence taken.

But you're right. I made an over-simplification. I should have said, "Probably almost none."

I am not sure what this British English is. I write in English (and as John Constantine says 'It's you what has the funny accent' ).

Seriously, I leave it in UK English. Occasionally a beta reader or editor will quietly change something - delete the occasional 'u' or mess around with the number of 'z's or fiddle with the arrangement of certain punctuation. Unless I do an intense edit afterwards, I rarely notice and when I do notice I leave it be. They know thier own language conventions (screwed up and wierd as they may be) and since they are paying the fees I feel it churlish to argue.

If the fact you are British is not obvious from the return address, then the fact that it is in your biography (which many ask to have included in your submission package as part of the query) should be a subtle clue as well

scarletpeaches said:

My American publisher changes the spelling themselves. I've had a few arguments with them about not putting American words in my characters' mouths, though. If the book's set in Britain, there's no way the characters would use cellphones on the sidewalk. (As an example.)

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It's not so much the location but the MC PoV. A British character in America would still refer to a Mobile and a Pavement whereas an American in the UK would talk about Cells and Sidewalks.

As for Fannys... I made my Canadian Beta reader laugh when I told her about that one...

I write UK English, but since most of it had to be changed for pub, now I just put the spell check setting on American English and try avoid extra work.

But yeah, it only became an issue when we went to copyedits, so don't worry about agents being thrown by UK spelling.