Putting a feeler out...

Graylorne

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I was wondering...

I'm trad. published in the Netherlands. My Dutch publisher is small print (we're a small country after all). I have retained all foreigh rights to my 3 books and I'm setting up a selfpublishing business for both my 3 NL books (selftranslated, native Eng. edited) and 3 other books (written in English, edited).

What I was wondering: would I have a chance to find an agent / publisher for my NL published books, based on the English rights only?
 

Old Hack

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The only way to find out is to try.

I'll move this to Ask The Agent, where it might get a better response.
 

Graylorne

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I know. Point is, I'm not sure I want to. I've done the rounds of waiting already and I rather like the idea of being independent. I guess I hoped someone had a brilliant suggestion I hadn't thought of myself :)
Anyhow, my thanks for moving it to the right spot, Old Hack.
 

Debbie V

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I was wondering...

I'm trad. published in the Netherlands. My Dutch publisher is small print (we're a small country after all). I have retained all foreigh rights to my 3 books and I'm setting up a selfpublishing business for both my 3 NL books (selftranslated, native Eng. edited) and 3 other books (written in English, edited).

What I was wondering: would I have a chance to find an agent / publisher for my NL published books, based on the English rights only?

I'd think sales would play into this. Were they very popular in their original language? Also, how well do they translate culturally? Will readers in another country understand the nuances? I hope the questions help.
 

thothguard51

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If I understand right, you are setting up to self publish your books, but have not self published any yet...

I would look into finding an agent or English publisher first before self publishing. You more than likely understand this could upwards of a year or more, but I think the fact that you have a NL publisher already gives you a leg up.

You can always return to self publishing if you get no hits, with nothing lost...
 

Graylorne

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@Debbie V - Well, the Dutch market is very small. No US publisher would be impressed. That's mainly why I'm going international. 300 books a year would make me a great seller over here... The books do translate well, though.

@thothguard51 - Well, I think I had a sudden case of cold feet. Another argument for selfpublishing was the freedom of it. So I'll go on and try it the other way round. Selfpublish first and if it doesn't work we'll see again.
Those long waits and the uncertainty are the worst. For my first book I waited 14 months on a major Dutch publisher and never received a definite yes or no. Finally I said 'thanks' and went to my smaller present one.
I got my first novelette back from my editor and placed it on Amazon and Smashwords this morning.
 

Corinne Duyvis

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Self-publishing first, then getting interest, is a lot harder than the other way around. Some agents don't care if your book is out online, but it'll ruin your chances with a good number of other agents.

P.S. Hi, fellow Dutch person. :)
 

Button

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I wanted to pipe in. :) Indie publishing is harder, but it can be very rewarding!

The publisher advantage is often the 'instant' reach to a built-in readership. If you're prepared to do your own marketing, and are okay with the possibility that it might be a slow crawl up the hill rather than an instant hit (happens in trade publishing, too!), then you're probably okay to self publish. :)

On a personal note, I love that I've 'crossed over'. I'd love to work with an agency who is interested in working with an author in love with self publishing. I think the feedback, support and guidance would be invaluable. If no one is interested, though, I'm okay with it. Readers love what I've written and I love giving them what they want.

I also love that I have some control over the covers and other publishing aspects. While there are days I wish I could pass off a manuscript to someone else and have it all "magically' taken care of for me, the sweat and tears in dealing with formatting and business management and taking charge of publishing decisions brings this job to another level. I respect publishing houses for taking care of so much that authors do, but I enjoy every moment that I spend on my books.

It also releases me from having to fit in within a list of other authors they're having to work with. I don't have to constrain myself to a certain word count, editing out scenes just to make it shorter, or change to a formula that's more widely accepted. ;)

It is, though, a lot of hard work. I'm constantly at my computer and my task list is a mile long. It's not just ongoing marketing but reformatting, updating backmatter, approving proof copies, and of course fitting time in to write another book.

It is very much like starting your own business. If you are okay with that, that's awesome! If you're looking to only write books and let other people handle the rest, there's a lot of benefits to working with a team (publisher) with top notch experience.

Thought I would chime in as someone from 'this side' of the fence. :)
 

MandyHubbard

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. Another argument for selfpublishing was the freedom of it. So I'll go on and try it the other way round. Selfpublish first and if it doesn't work we'll see again.
Those long waits and the uncertainty are the worst. For my first book I waited 14 months on a major Dutch publisher and never received a definite yes or no. .

Yeah, you can't self-publish and then if it doesn't go well, go sign an agent. Agents don't want to sign self-published books that did poorly. I've signed ones that sold 50-70K copies and they still were hard to sell to publishers.

If you're querying agents, you can query widely and simultaneously. No 14 month wait. Start with a dozen or so and then do another round as responses trickle in and get plenty of irons in the fire. If in 4-6 months it's not getting anywhere, THEN self-publish.