US editors only want US settings for urban fantasy

[Tirellan]

You never know. They may be looking for something unique and new. Plus diversity in setting, cast of characters, and cultures is a major pulling point these days.

Joshua Bilmes, speaking at Loncon last year, said that US editors won't buy non-US settings as they don't believe their readers want then, so he will not consider repping them.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

US editors won't buy non-US settings

I think that is a massive over simplification.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Joshua Bilmes, speaking at Loncon last year, said that US editors won't buy non-US settings as they don't believe their readers want then, so he will not consider repping them.

Whereas I had an agent who felt a UK setting was no barrier to a US sale (and had sold many)

 

[The Bluestocking]

Joshua Bilmes, speaking at Loncon last year, said that US editors won't buy non-US settings as they don't believe their readers want then, so he will not consider repping them.

If that's the case, then at least half of all SFF offerings (especially those set in other worlds like High Fantasy or Space Opera) wouldn't get a look in by editors... and yet they do.

I'm thinking that this may just reflect Mr Bilmes' particular opinion and would depend on the particular imprint's priorities. Joanna Volpe (another agent) might say different since her agency reps both Leigh Bardugo and Veronica Roth - both U.S.-based authors and massive bestsellers whose stories are not set in the U.S. but in other worlds (and Leigh's stories are based on Eastern European folklore). Then there's Keri Arthur's urban fantasy series which are set in Australia but are still bestsellers in the U.S. with her publicity handled by her U.S. publishers.

There's another thread here started by @Boneman based on feedback from his agent about how a particular submitted work of his needed a bit more diversity in it sparked a lively discussion about how agents and publishers are looking for diversity within stories these days.

This HarperVoyager open call may well skew towards stories set in the U.S. because they are particularly looking for Urban Fantasy which is usually anchored in a particular place in the real world.

However, they are looking for YA as well, so if it's a YA Fantasy/SF submission, they would probably look at other features of the story with the issue of place/setting being of less importance.

Nevertheless, I think you've done an important public service announcement here about Joshua Bilmes' preferences as folks who don't always write their stories within U.S. settings will probably steer clear of querying him now.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

He might mean that US publishers are reluctant to buy stories in non-US settings by first time authors.* Obviously, US publishers aren't going to turn down something because of its setting if it has already been a huge hit abroad and they're being offered reprint rights, or if it's by an established writer with a huge following.

____
*Though he could be wrong about that, too.

 

[Juliana]

If that's the case, then at least half of all SFF offerings (especially those set in other worlds like High Fantasy or Space Opera) wouldn't get a look in by editors... and yet they do.

Joshua Bilmes is Brandon Sanderson and Peter Brett's agent, so he evidently doesn't have a problem with fantasy settings.
But I think most of his agency's list (if not all) is made up of US authors.

 

[Tirellan]

Mr Bilmes' comment was specific to contemporary fantasy i.e real world settings. My own agent declined to try my UK-set contemporary fantasy on the US market for the same reason.

 

[Hex]

Perhaps it depends on the setting. There's a lot of stuff set in Scotland that seems to sell (oh, hairy highlanders...!)

 

[Tirellan]

I believe that is specific to a niche of the romance market, and frankly a lot of that is not depicting real-world Scotland

 

[Brian G Turner]

I find the whole discussion bizarre. I'm presuming that I misunderstand the concept - ie, that US authors are rubbish at writing about non-US settings, else the submissions they get from outside of the US are rubbish.

Otherwise, it's as if Joshua Blimes is saying that no-one in the US would ever sign up Harry Potter again.

 

[Juliana]

Tom Pollock's amazing UF trilogy is set in London, and his agent is American (Amy Boggs). I'm sure there must be plenty of other examples. But I keep reading that UF is a tough sell, that it has to be truly special to stand out, so maybe having a non-US setting makes it extra hard to sell? I really don't know, this is pure conjecture on my part...

 

[Hex]

I believe that is specific to a niche of the romance market, and frankly a lot of that is not depicting real-world Scotland

Says who?? We ARE all called Mackay Mackay and eat scones with heather honey FOR EVERY MEAL. Hoots!

(but my previous agent did sell a UF romance set in Scotland, during her brief time in agenting, and I know of other agents who especially like all things Scottish, or all things Irish. Maybe it's taste, or maybe there is a bias. It's an interesting question to consider (because it hadn't occurred to me before, and no one has yet suggested to me that I shouldn't.))

 

[Tirellan]

I find the whole discussion bizarre. I'm presuming that I misunderstand the concept - ie, that US authors are rubbish at writing about non-US settings, else the submissions they get from outside of the US are rubbish.

Otherwise, it's as if Joshua Blimes is saying that no-one in the US would ever sign up Harry Potter again.

I can only relate what Joshua Bilmes and Ian Drury told me directly. I'm not certain of the chronology, but I believe the US only picked up Harry Potter once it was flying over here.
How many non-US set contemporary fantasies are doing really well in the US? I believe Mike Carey's Felix Castor series failed to make a significant impression, what about Ben Aaronvitch's work?

 

[Tirellan]

Tom Pollock's amazing UF trilogy is set in London, and his agent is American (Amy Boggs). I'm sure there must be plenty of other examples. But I keep reading that UF is a tough sell, that it has to be truly special to stand out, so maybe having a non-US setting makes it extra hard to sell? I really don't know, this is pure conjecture on my part...

Is that series doing well in the US market?

 

[Juliana]

Sorry, Tirellan, I really don't know. I only know his agent is American.

 

[The Bluestocking]

Says who?? We ARE all called Mackay Mackay and eat scones with heather honey FOR EVERY MEAL. Hoots!

(but my previous agent did sell a UF romance set in Scotland, during her brief time in agenting, and I know of other agents who especially like all things Scottish, or all things Irish. Maybe it's taste, or maybe there is a bias. It's an interesting question to consider (because it hadn't occurred to me before, and no one has yet suggested to me that I shouldn't.))

One word (though it isn't UF):

Outlander

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I don't think we can judge the accuracy of what Mr. Bilmes said by naming books that were published and were popular several years ago.

Writers with manuscripts they are about to sub should be interested in what editors are buying now, not five or ten or twenty years ago. Writers who are just starting something or thinking about starting something in a non-US setting should be aware that the market (though generally slow to change) is fickle and who knows if UF itself will still be especially popular in a few years? Popularity itself isn't even always the most important thing. Sometimes publishers buy up so much of a certain type of book that they don't want to buy any more (unless it is something truly exceptional) until they have published their backlog, which could take a year or two. Sometimes one unexpected blockbuster can create a new appetite among readers and bring in a host of new books of a similar type.

If you are the kind of writer who takes a few years to write a book, then write the book you most want to write. Then see what publishers are looking for when you are finished. If you have something already finished that doesn't fit the current market (which you can only truly find out by sending it around) then put it aside and write something else. That book that doesn't sell now may be just what publishers are looking for a few years from now.

If you are one of those writers who can write to a high standard in a relatively short period of time and you have lots of ideas for books you would like to write, then choose the one that looks like it is the mostly likely to interest an agent or an editor and write that one.

 

[Juliana]

@Teresa Edgerton I love your post. I think you have it all spot on.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

My experience with Inish (Belfast based Science fiction, totally immersed in the land, and written in an unashamed Norn Irish voice) went like this:

Subbed to many agents, had interest from quite a few. One US agent (not Mr Blimes, but quite a high profile one) rejected on the basis that a UK agent would do better with it.
Finally signed with an American-born agent, based in the London office of a NY agency.
The agent didn't sell it (the market for YA and crossover sf, which it was subbed as, was terrible at the time) but I saw the editors' comments (both Uk and US.) Not one rejected based on the setting. In fact almost all, including the American editors liked the setting. Since it's come out, it has been more popular in the UK, by quite a long margin (but my profile is higher in the UK) but it is selling in America and getting good reviews - although not just as good as the UK reviews.

So, it was no barrier for US agents or editors or, if it was, it was a very tiny barrier. Having said that, as @Hex pointed out earlier, Ireland and Scotland tend to be popular. In our case, it's not the hairy-kneed haggis-eating hunks, but the lephrechauns. That's a fact, shure t'is. )

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

What about the hairy-kneed lephrechauns, begorra!