Hi, I live in Germany but write in English. Although it isn't my mother tongue, strangely, I feel more comfortable expressing myself in English and I also love the sound of the language.
I'm currently querying my debut novel, a genre-crossing YA adventure. Since it is written in English, I am obviously targeting agents in countries like the UK and the US, but so far (> 40 queries sent) I only got rejections. When people around me (not writers) hear that my work is written in English, they tell me I've put myself at a disadvantage. Even though I still don't regret it (love the way the story sounds in English and couldn't imagine it otherwise), I do wonder if this is a considerable hurdle to take. Especially since I'm not only not a native speaker - which might already be a turn-off for agents - but I also don't live in an English-speaking country, where I might at least have the opportunity of getting a reading or promoting my work by going to writer conferences or agent meet-ups.
So I wanted to ask: Is there anybody out there who is or used to be in this situation and might have some advice ? Or maybe even someone who successfully published their English novel as a non-native speaker from abroad ?
I'd be thrilled to get to know other English language writers on the forum for whom it isn't their mother tongue !
P.S. I'm aware there have been threads in the past that touch on the subject (and I've read them), but they are really old (2011/2012) and I'm looking for current advice/people, so I hope this new thread is alright !
I'm currently querying my debut novel, a genre-crossing YA adventure. Since it is written in English, I am obviously targeting agents in countries like the UK and the US, but so far (> 40 queries sent) I only got rejections. When people around me (not writers) hear that my work is written in English, they tell me I've put myself at a disadvantage. Even though I still don't regret it (love the way the story sounds in English and couldn't imagine it otherwise), I do wonder if this is a considerable hurdle to take. Especially since I'm not only not a native speaker - which might already be a turn-off for agents - but I also don't live in an English-speaking country, where I might at least have the opportunity of getting a reading or promoting my work by going to writer conferences or agent meet-ups.
So I wanted to ask: Is there anybody out there who is or used to be in this situation and might have some advice ? Or maybe even someone who successfully published their English novel as a non-native speaker from abroad ?
I'd be thrilled to get to know other English language writers on the forum for whom it isn't their mother tongue !
P.S. I'm aware there have been threads in the past that touch on the subject (and I've read them), but they are really old (2011/2012) and I'm looking for current advice/people, so I hope this new thread is alright !