Question for agents who specialize in historical fiction

Ian Nathaniel Cohen · May 14, 2014

My one complete manuscript so far is historical adventure fiction (a pirate swashbuckler, to be precise). I've identified a number of agents who specialize in historical fiction, but it doesn't seem to be adventure fiction that they're looking for, based on the books they represent (unless it's young adult and/or part of a series - my book isn't either one of these). The agents that I've queried say that they're not the right fit for this particular project.

I'm just trying to get a feel as to whether I'm looking for the right kinds of agents or not. Do agents who represent historical fiction not typically represent historical adventure fiction specifically? Should I be querying agents who represent a different genre? (Thrillers, perhaps?)

Come to think of it, is there even any market for swashbucklers these days? I don't see that many new books that fit this genre, except for Arturo Perez-Reverte's Captain Alatriste series, and it's been a couple of years since the last one was released.

If anyone could shed some light on any of this, I'd very much appreciate it. Thanks!

Kerosene · May 14, 2014

Have you received any personal rejections from the agents specifically stating that they don't represent historical "adventure" books?
Not being the right fit can be amounted to a lot, but it's the reason why the book won't sell.

Wilde_at_heart · May 14, 2014

I've a swashbuckling novel that was published in 2010, fwiw. Not sure how 'old' you're looking for. The author is William Dietrich.

As for 'right fit', that sounds like it could easily be a form rejection and it's possible the query isn't doing much. It might be worth spending some time around here, getting your fifty posts in and trying a churn through Query Letter Hell on here, just in case.

Ian Nathaniel Cohen · May 14, 2014

Wilde_at_heart said:
As for 'right fit', that sounds like it could easily be a form rejection and it's possible the query isn't doing much. It might be worth spending some time around here, getting your fifty posts in and trying a churn through Query Letter Hell on here, just in case.

Oh, I'm not discounting that possibility, trust me. I just want to be able to better target agents once the query letter is in good enough shape.

BTW, the William Dietrich swashbuckler you mentioned wouldn't happen to be part of the Ethan Gage series, would it?

Ian Nathaniel Cohen · May 14, 2014

WillSauger said:
Have you received any personal rejections from the agents specifically stating that they don't represent historical "adventure" books?
Not being the right fit can be amounted to a lot, but it's the reason why the book won't sell.

Nah, it's a standard form rejection. Still, I'm sure I don't need to tell anyone that "not the right fit" can have so many different meanings. I'm just trying to gauge from any agents who happen upon this thread whether a lack of interest in adventure fiction that's not a series is among them.

mayqueen · May 14, 2014

My sense is that the historical fiction market isn't necessarily not looking for adventure novels. (I write HF, too, but not adventure.) I'm not sure about pirate swashbucklers, though. If your novel can be categorized as adventure fiction or some other genre, why not query those agents, too? Two years ago, I queried a historical thriller. I looked for agents who rep HF and agents who rep thrillers. I ended up writing two rounds of revisions for an agent who reps thrillers (but had no stated interest or clients in HF). So you never know! Query widely!

In the meantime, definitely head over to QLH and start critiquing some queries so that when you hit fifty posts, you can post your query. It helps to make sure the query is as strong as it can be.

Old Hack · May 14, 2014

Ian Nathaniel Cohen said:
The agents that I've queried say that they're not the right fit for this particular project.

That's a form rejection. It could mean that they don't represent the action/adventure historical fiction that you've written; but it could also mean they don't think your writing is up to scratch, or that they think your premise is weak, and so on.

If you've not got past the query stage, consider reworking your query.

If you've had partials and fulls requested and are being rejected at that stage, consider reworking your book.

Siri Kirpal · May 15, 2014

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

I'd try any agent the expressed an interest in adventure fiction, unless they indicate a lack of interest in historical.

And do get your post count up and run the query through query letter hell.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Question for agents who specialize in historical fiction

Ian Nathaniel Cohen

Kerosene

Your Pixie Queen

Wilde_at_heart

υπείκωphobe

Ian Nathaniel Cohen

Ian Nathaniel Cohen

mayqueen

practical experience, FTW

Old Hack

Such a nasty woman

Siri Kirpal

Swan in Process

Question for agents who specialize in historical fiction

Your Pixie Queen

&#965;&#960;&#949;&#943;&#954;&#969;phobe

practical experience, FTW

Such a nasty woman

Swan in Process

υπείκωphobe