I'm still several months away from putting together submissions for agents but there's one thing niggling at me already. I'm Irish, living in Norway and plan to target UK-based agents initially. I'm wondering if the fact that I live in Norway is going to automatically count against me, perhaps even stopping agents from reading my submission, because my location might be considered impractical for them to deal with. Has anyone experience, or even an opinion on this? I do have a permanent Irish address I could use but I'd still have to say that I'm in Norway most of the time, wouldn't I? It is possible we'll move back to the UK in 2010, but then again we could end up in Asia. Thoughts appreciated.
Jo

I can't see it being much of a problem, although admittedly they'll probably like it if you can pop over to the UK for the ocassional book signing and radio interview if & when the book is published. Presumbly they will hope to sell Eurpoean rights which will put you in a good spot for some local promotional work.
With regards to the Irish connection, I believe a number of UK authors moved to ireland when the Irish governement introduced tax breaks for writers and artists, which didn't seem to hurt their writing careers.


- NaomiM

Thanks Naomi.

Jo

Yes, I don't think agents would think this a problem at all. As Naomi says, as long as you can get here sometimes, they can always try to cluster things around that. And other than that, what with phones and email it really makes no difference where you physically are.

Emma

Thanks Emma. Let's just hope someone loves the book enough to ask me to travel
Jo

I live in Brussels and have experience of this. When I was submitting I used my permanent UK address, because of the reasons you cite and also because of the hassle of dealing with International Reply Coupons in lieu of SAEs. But I can't say whether it would have been more difficult without - when I initially got an agent I was living in the UK, but since then I have a new agent who I got while living abroad and she hasn't seemed to mind about me being over here. My publisher also don't seem to mind that I am abroad.I know a variety of people who were published in the UK while living in Brussels or elsewhere. And there is an author called Jeremy Duns who has just got a great deal for a spy series (forget the title) but I believe he actually lives in Norway.
I think it's one of those things that will vary agent to agent, and may even play to your advantage.

Leila,
Thanks you so much for that. I have been wondering what to do about the IRC thing (which they don't even sell in Ireland anymore but do in Norway) so am planning on stocking up on British stamps when I go to Scotland for a weekend in July. Will look up Jeremy Duns.
Thanks again. Your post has been very reassuring.
Jo

I have been wondering what to do about the IRC thing (which they don't even sell in Ireland anymore but do in Norway) so am planning on stocking up on British stamps when I go to Scotland for a weekend in July.

Good plan! Though I think even agents who normally want hard copy are often willing to consider email submissions from people who are abroad, as they understand the problem of IRCs (and as Leila says, are annoyed by them) and the much bigger postage costs.

Emma

Emma,
Thanks for your input. Do you think it is worth contacting agents to check if they will take email submissions from abroad or is that a waste of time and likely to annoy them?

Jo

Hi all,
I'm brand new to this, but I'm wondering whether many UK-based authors submit to US-based agents? There are an awful lot of agencies in the US, so it seems like it might be worth contacting some of them (if I get rejections from lots of UK-based agents) - but I can't seem to get much information on whether many of them even accept submissions from non-US authors. Is there an easy answer here? Am I better just to stick to UK based agents? With many thanks. K

Sorry to speak for her, but I'm pretty sure Emily (Myrtle) on here managed to get her UK agent whilst living in Australia, and that's about as far away as you can get! - so I think you'll be fine.

Thanks Becky. I guess I kind of had this image of people meeting agents in person before signing with them, and wondered if this was a prerequisite so that writer and agent can see if they 'click' or not but maybe I'm in 'la la land' on that one

To be honest I do think it's best to meet in person if at all possible, I certainly felt more comfortable with that. I think most agents understand that it's not always possible, though, and a good long chat on the phone should help you to see whether or not you're a good fit.

<Added>

Thinking about it, Emily might have got her agent before she moved out...she definitely got her publisher whilst in Australia, though!

Emily was already there when she got her agent. I'm sure in these days of electronic information it won;t matter too much. Good luck with the subs everyone!

Thank you all for your encouragement. Just the minor matter now of finishing the book and producing a magnificent synopsis.....

Jo