I'm a Tasmanian novelist and short-story writer. A few years ago, the Tasmanian Writers' Centre brought an agent down and asked for submissions from authors for her to consider. As I had already had a book published I was not surprised to be shortlisted. Unfortunately, it turned out that the agent was unable to offer any of us representation due to factors beyond our control. Thus, the whole thing turned out to be a disappointment and a waste of time. It is really difficult for us in Tassie, as we do not have the networks available to other people. Do you have any suggestions re agents who might actually follow through with forming relationships with Tasmanian writers?
I explored the issue of regional writers in this post so I won't go over too much of that ground, except to reiterate that I really don't think it matters where you live - if you find the right agent, then your relationship will work regardless of where you're placed. I have writers in Tasmania, as well as several other states; most agents would. Agents in the US certainly have writers from all over the country - most writers do not live in New York City, which is where the bulk of the agents are.
In the case you mention above I suspect it was more to do with what was happening with that particular agent than with the fact that you were in Tasmania. We really don't discriminate if you're not from Sydney or Melbourne. The greatest difficulty I find is the perception of writers outside the two largest cities - there is an idea that Sydney and Melbourne writers are hooked into some kind of publishing grid. They're not. The networks available to them are also available to writers elsewhere. Twenty years ago, this wasn't the case. The Internets have changed everything.
I've probably mentioned this before too but, if not, Varuna's LongLines program can provide opportunities for writers who are feeling geographically isolated.
Showing posts with label regional writers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label regional writers. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Regional writers
Do you need to be based in Sydney or Melbourne to get and keep an agent? Does it disadvantage your chances of publication if you are a regional writer and can’t get to major writers festivals or meet industry professionals in metropolitan areas?
Due to the wondrous Internets, I don't (personally) believe it makes a fig of difference where writers live in this country. Meeting clients in person is lovely, but I - and, no doubt, all other agents - maintain relationships with writers who live all over the place, many of whom we have never met.
You don't need to go to writers' festivals to meet industry professionals - in fact, you're unlikely to meet them there as they're usually working and wary of being approached by hopeful writers. In fact, you don't really need to meet them at all to succeed as a writer, provided you have Internet access and a phone. Most agents do not want to meet writers before they decide to sign them up; the submission process is the same from anywhere in the country, so it doesn't matter where you live when you send something in. I've never discounted anyone because they don't live in Sydney or Melbourne - if anything, I'm more interested in their stories because they're likely to be different to what I usually see.
However, I do know that a lot of regional writers feel that there is a barrier of some sort between them and the prospect of publication. I wonder whether some of this isn't an entrenched belief that their stories are 'less than' - they're certainly not. If anything, living outside of metropolitan areas, in parts of the country where two hours a day aren't lost in getting to and from work, means that regional writers often have more time to give to their writing and can be more thoughtful about the whole process.
If you're a regional writer and feeling a bit disconnected, the first thing to do would be to make contact with your closest writers' centre, or the one in the capital city. You can even choose a writers' centre interstate if you like the look of their services better. The next thing - or maybe equal first thing - is to look into the LongLines program at Varuna (http://www.varuna.com.au/) as this is specifically tailored for regional writers. Peter Bishop and his team at Varuna are longtime champions of regional writing, and he regularly goes around the country meeting writers.
There is a lot of help out there for regional writers - the first step is to believe that people want to read your writing, and then be confident as you send it out into the world.
Due to the wondrous Internets, I don't (personally) believe it makes a fig of difference where writers live in this country. Meeting clients in person is lovely, but I - and, no doubt, all other agents - maintain relationships with writers who live all over the place, many of whom we have never met.
You don't need to go to writers' festivals to meet industry professionals - in fact, you're unlikely to meet them there as they're usually working and wary of being approached by hopeful writers. In fact, you don't really need to meet them at all to succeed as a writer, provided you have Internet access and a phone. Most agents do not want to meet writers before they decide to sign them up; the submission process is the same from anywhere in the country, so it doesn't matter where you live when you send something in. I've never discounted anyone because they don't live in Sydney or Melbourne - if anything, I'm more interested in their stories because they're likely to be different to what I usually see.
However, I do know that a lot of regional writers feel that there is a barrier of some sort between them and the prospect of publication. I wonder whether some of this isn't an entrenched belief that their stories are 'less than' - they're certainly not. If anything, living outside of metropolitan areas, in parts of the country where two hours a day aren't lost in getting to and from work, means that regional writers often have more time to give to their writing and can be more thoughtful about the whole process.
If you're a regional writer and feeling a bit disconnected, the first thing to do would be to make contact with your closest writers' centre, or the one in the capital city. You can even choose a writers' centre interstate if you like the look of their services better. The next thing - or maybe equal first thing - is to look into the LongLines program at Varuna (http://www.varuna.com.au/) as this is specifically tailored for regional writers. Peter Bishop and his team at Varuna are longtime champions of regional writing, and he regularly goes around the country meeting writers.
There is a lot of help out there for regional writers - the first step is to believe that people want to read your writing, and then be confident as you send it out into the world.
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