UK writer potentially querying US agents

Don't try to Americanise your text: you'll miss out on a lot of details, and your book will read badly. Just query the agents who rep your sort of book. Good luck.

You have nothing to worry about. Agents, editors and publishers are very used to UK/US spelling differences and won't bat an eye at seeing it. They may want to adjust that during editing if it gets picked up of course but it won't hurt your chances.

From what I've seen, very few US agents won't consider overseas clients. The only ones I've seen do so are agencies that have a UK office. However, before you query any US agents, make sure your query letter is ready --there are differences between US and UK letter preferences.

pingle said:

Thanks guys That's all really encouraging. I feel like I've burnt 12 bridges sending out a bad cover letter (and some other rookie errors), great to know I can query to a bigger pool than I first thought. Will definitely be double checking the query letter on here first, once I get round to writing it...

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You and me both, pingle. For what it's worth, I've subbed to probably more US than UK agents (I'm still in round 1 and getting nowhere fast). All the US agents were happy to receive submissions from overseas (I'm English but currently live in New Zealand) and so were the UK. The only time I've come across an agent NOT accepting overseas subs was here in NZ or Australia, which both seem to prefer subs from this side of the ditch.

As far as the query letter is concerned, I feel your pain. I've changed mine many, many times over - mostly to suit the particular agent I'm querying but by the time I got round to sub number fifteen I realized that my first queries were absolutely terrible and I wouldn't have given me a shot either based on that alone. It's a difficult and highly frustrating process, but by far I find the synopsis the hardest thing to do.

Best of luck going forward

BTW: If it makes you feel any better, I sent out one query where I didn't even spell the title of my book correctly!!!! *bangs head on desk*

Lady Fox said:

BTW: If it makes you feel any better, I sent out one query where I didn't even spell the title of my book correctly!!!! *bangs head on desk*

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That made me laugh out loud.

For some reason I pictured Stephen King reading a rejection and thinking "Oh, shoot! How could I have called it 'At' ..."

I'm in the UK and have a US agent - not a problem.

Old Hack said:

Don't try to Americanise your text: you'll miss out on a lot of details, and your book will read badly. Just query the agents who rep your sort of book. Good luck.

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This. You'll also find that the publishing world has gotten a lot more global in the last decade. Agents and publishers are looking for good, saleable, work and aren't averse to getting it from sources they might have passed over even a few years ago.

Jeff

I was going to start a similar thread so you've beaten me to it, Pingle! Like you I'm UK based but I'm going to query some US agents when I get to querying again soon.

If I might hijack the thread a little, does anyone who has queried US agents have any tips as to how to find the most appropriate agents? There are so many US agents it's a little daunting to approach. Would you guys recommend using Query Tracker as a first port of call? #MSWL? Something else? It would be great to have any advice or insider pointers.

I'll be querying a YA novel, FWIW.

I'd use a number of different places and cross-reference what you find. You've already hit my two favorite places--MSWL and QueryTracker. Also, if you can afford the fee, I suggest joining Publisher's Marketplace for at least a month to look at the agents who are selling well in your genre.

I wouldn't use Query Tracker, or any other listing.

I'd look at books which compare well to my own; look for authors who write in the same genre, and who are successful; and then find out which agents represent those authors.

I highly recommend Query Tracker as one source. You can filter the list in a number of ways, and each agent's page includes a client list (past and present), links to the agent's MSQL, agency site, and other useful pages. I also appreciate the stats and comments pages.

I also look at Querytracker, sometimes. For me, it's useful and interesting not only to check whether an agent is legitimate, but for the comments writers leave, whether they've experienced any unnaturally long query responses (such as receiving a rejection a year-and-a-half, later), or unprofessional problems/unpleasant correspondence with an agent.

Thanks to those other writers commenting about their bad experiences with an agent who used to represent them or pretend to represent them, they helped warn other writers to stay away.

UK writer also going to query US agents. I've got most of my longlist from either Query Tracker or the MSWL website (I didn't find any British agents in the latter but they are on the former).
Now to narrow them down with more research.

pingle said:

Hey Raggy, I'm pretty sure it was you that made me aware of being able to query in the US, so hijack away. It's a good question, every time I've looked up US agents I've felt overwhelmed by the quantity and am none the wiser. It feels easy to compile the UK agents as I trust the Writer's and Artist's Yearbook to let me know who's legit.

Good luck!

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Please don't assume that the W&AYB only lists legitimate agents. They don't vet anyone they include in their listings, and I have seen several dodgy agents in there.

All of the listings publications I know send out forms to everyone they can find, and then include all the responses they receive. There's no vetting, there is a push to include as many companies as possible, and the guides are out of date before they're published.

If you want to find an agent, look for successful writers whose work is similar to yours, and then find out who represents them. It's the best way.

pingle said:

Hey Raggy, I'm pretty sure it was you that made me aware of being able to query in the US, so hijack away. It's a good question, every time I've looked up US agents I've felt overwhelmed by the quantity and am none the wiser. It feels easy to compile the UK agents as I trust the Writer's and Artist's Yearbook to let me know who's legit.

Good luck!

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It might have been me or it might have been JJ - there are quite a few "British cats" on here!

I always double check everyone listed in the W&AY by looking at their websites and then listings on Agent Hunter. There are a few agents in the Children's and YA section of W&AY I thought looked a little dodgy when I looked them up online - very few, but a couple - so double checking is a good idea. Equally I did also find some totally legit agencies by googling who aren't listed in W&AY - perhaps 15 more or so - so cross-referencing is a good idea.

Good luck to you too, Pingle! I'm quite excited to sub to the US and see what happens. My writing is VERY British, but as I can't change that, I'm going to look on it as a strength rather than something that might hold me back.

pingle said:

Wait, was it you that gave me the info, JJ? I just remember there was a Brit and a cat

I better get back on query tracker, I made an account, got confused and never returned.

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I did mention it in your other thread but there might have been more than one of us

Btw, thanks to everyone who has responded to my question about where to start with US queries - your help is appreciated.

A random mulling from Old Hack's (helpful and sensible) point about identifying agents who have represented successful authors producing work similar to one's own: Do agents necessarily want to receive and try to sell more of the same? For example, say an agent successfully sells a YA thriller. Are they necessarily going to want to take on many more YA thriller writers? Or would they consider it potentially more profitable to represent a range of texts, and not have their authors competing with each other for the same ground?

I've often wondered this - my former agent had quite a range of authors (albeit all children's or YA). She represented maybe 15 or so authors and only one of those crossed over ground with what I was writing.

Some agents do, some agents don't. The late and very great Carole Blake (how I miss her) would only represent one writer in each genre, because she didn't want her clients competing with one another; but other agents prefer to work in just one area, so they know the editors and lists inside out. Horses for courses. But you can get an idea of what each agent likes by looking at the authors they represent: even if they don't specialise in one genre there'll be a common flavour to the works they represent.