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Guest Editor Taryn Fagerness re: Did I Just Double-Cross My Agent?

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Dear Editor…

I have an agent in the U.S, and I’ve been extended an offer for representation in Turkey. I’d heard of authors having an agent for non-English speaking country aside from their agent in the U.S., so I accepted the offer; however, now, I feel that it’s somehow unethical. Can I have an agent in both countries or should I sever ties with one?

Signed,
Double Agent Girl

Taryn FagernessTaryn Fagerness represents foreign rights on behalf of North American literary agents. Before opening the Taryn Fagerness Agency in 2009, Taryn spent five years as the Subsidiary Rights Manager and an Agent at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. She’s sold hundreds of books to foreign, audio, and film markets, and has sold subsidiary rights for New York Times bestselling authors, first time authors, and everyone in between, in nearly all genres including literary fiction, thriller/suspense, commercial fiction, romance, history, self-help, business, and children’s.

Dear Double Agent Girl…

I’m afraid I need to start my answer with another question, and that is: How does your US agent handle foreign rights? All agents I know handle their authors’ foreign rights in some fashion, so that you should definitely not need to form individual relationships with foreign agents. For example, I am a freelance foreign rights manager, and I handle over 20 North American agencies’ foreign rights. I work with foreign co-agents all around the world (like Turkey) so that my agent clients (and their authors) don’t have to deal with the mess and complication of doing that all on their own. Other US agencies have an in-house foreign rights manager who handles foreign rights.

Now, foreign agencies from Turkey and Korea (don’t ask me why it’s these two territories in particular) are infamous for trolling for new clients, and they often contact authors directly saying they want to rep your book in their country. If you have a US agent, you should just forward such requests to them. Your US agent may already have an exclusive relationship with a Turkish agent. If your US agent doesn’t know how to handle such requests, it may be time for a new agent.

So, in short, your US agent should be your main squeeze. They should handle all your subsidiary rights for you (and they may work with co-agents around the world, or in the world of film to do this).

A tip for all writers seeking a US agent: be sure to ask potential agents “How do you handle foreign rights?”

Write on,
Taryn

Guest Editor Taryn Fagerness re: Are U.S. Readers OK with International Settings?

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Dear Editor…

How essential is it to place your story somewhere that’s familiar or, alternatively, exciting to readers? My story demands that it’s placed in either British Columbia, Canada, or Scotland in the UK, but I’ve read that U.S.-based readers mostly want to read stories based in places that they know or are familiar with (anywhere within the U.S.), or they want something exotic (e.g., Thailand, the Philippines). Is this really true? Would an editor ask me to change the location of my story? Has this ever happened to you or anyone you know of?

Sincerely,
Franziska

Dear Franziska…

I think plot matters MUCH more than setting, although, of course, the two are often intertwined. Stephanie Meyers chose Forks for her Twilight series for no other reason than it’s the rainiest town in the U.S. and her vampires sparkle in sunlight. If she had pitched her book solely as being set in Forks, I doubt people would have been excited, but it’s the plot that made the books great. Many authors choose a setting because it’s their hometown, they are familiar with it, and they feel they can write it convincingly. And if you’re writing historical fiction, the setting is chosen for you. But in the end, if you choose your setting for a good reason (and it sounds like you have one), write your setting well, bring the reader there, and your plot is dramatic and gripping, I don’t think it matters if your book is set in a tiny Southern town, Thailand, or Timbuktu. I’ve never heard of an editor asking an author to change settings, although I do know of a Canadian author whose work never sells in the U.S. because the books are just TOO Canadian, obviously written for a Canadian audience, and filled with nuances only Canadians would “get.” On the flipside, as a foreign rights agent, I often hear foreign publishers tell me books are “too American.” For example, YA books set in American high schools tend to get this label—foreign publishers don’t “get” American teenagers. So keep your audience in mind. As long as you write your Scottish/British/Canadian setting in a way that brings your American reader there, it should be fine.

Happy writing,
Taryn Fagerness
Taryn Fagerness Agency

Taryn Fagerness represents foreign rights on behalf of North American literary agents. Before opening the Taryn Fagerness Agency in 2009, Taryn spent five years as the Subsidiary Rights Manager and an Agent at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. She’s sold hundreds of books to foreign, audio, and film markets, and has sold subsidiary rights for New York Times bestselling authors, first time authors, and everyone in between, in nearly all genres including literary fiction, thriller/suspense, commercial fiction, romance, history, self-help, business, and children’s. She has exceptional relationships with foreign co-agents, foreign publishers, and scouts, and she handles all aspects of selling foreign rights from international fair-going to submission, negotiating, and tracking titles through publication and beyond. The territories to which she sells are: Albania, Arabic, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Catalan, China, Czech, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, UK, Ukraine and Vietnam. www.tarynfagernessagency.com