I've broadened my horizons and opened myself up to the world of indie publishing. My dream will be a reality. No longer do I have to worry about word count, agents, manuscript format or other trivial matters, but I can focus on what really... matters: Writing a "ripping yarn". A story that readers want to read not because it's a duplicate of the current trend, but because it's the kind of story they've always loved. The story that makes you care about the characters and the fate of the world.

I won't be tied down to dates, but for those I make myself. I won't be tied down to deals, but for what my readers want.

To the teacher who told me when I was eight years old, "You won't make much." I'm not in it for the money; I want readers to know where they can go to expect a great epic fantasy.

An epic fantasy for the new age, which isn't sagging with Tom Bombadils, scourings of the Shire, aimless voyages on the Dawn Treader or two hundred pages at a camp where the Varden mingle with Urgals and Elves.

They'll have an epic fantasy with scenes that make their hearts race; an epic fantasy that will let them care about the characters.

My dream will be a reality.

I sent emails to eight literary agents in the US and UK to find out who would represent an author living in Australia. A few days later, I got three in return. More than a week after that, I haven't gotten a reply from anywhere else.
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This was my basic email:

[Agent's/Agency's name here],

I am currently writing an epic fantasy novel. I live in Melbourne, Australia, and I would like to know if you represent overseas authors.

The manuscript is not yet complete, but I anticipate that when it is finished it will be 70,000 - 90,000 words. The novel is aimed at late teens, but isn't particularly YA.

Thank you for your time,

Ryan Sullivan.
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And here were the replies I got:

Darley Anderson Literary

Dear Ryan,

Thank you for your email.

We do represent overseas authors provided they intend to publish within the British market.

Due to the enormous number of emailed submissions we receive on a daily basis, we are only able to consider hard-copy manuscripts. If you wish to submit your manuscript for consideration, please do send us a hard copy of the first three consecutive chapters of your work, together with a one page synopsis, a covering letter and a SAE should it not be for us. Alternatively we are happy to contact you via email and recycle the pages once we've had a look.

If submitting via post is going to be a problem for you, living in Australia as you do, feel free to reply to this email and I am sure we could sort something out. However, if it is at all possible, we would really prefer a hard copy submission.

We look forward to receiving your work.

Best wishes,

Vicki Le Feuvre

www.darleyanderson.com

www.twitter.com/Darley_Anderson


Darley Anderson Literary, TV & Film Agency

Estelle House

11 Eustace Road

London SW6 6JB

Tel: +44 20 7386 2674

Fax: +44 20 73865571
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Nelson Literary Agency

Dear Author:

Yes, we are open to authors from around the world. We invite you to query us when your project is completed.

Best,

NELSON LITERARY AGENCY. LLC

www.nelsonagency.com
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Scott Hoffman (Folio Literary Management)

Thank you for your recent query letter. We are always eager to hear from writers who are serious about the business of writing; unfortunately, we do not feel that we are the right company to represent your work.

We have to be very selective of what we choose to represent, and all of our decisions are based on a frank assessment of the current needs of the literary marketplace. The fact that this work doesn’t fit our narrow criteria for representation does not mean it couldn’t find a home elsewhere. We urge you to submit your work to other agencies or management companies that may be more suited to this type of material.

Kind Regards,

Scott P. Hoffman
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Having just jumped over to Darley Anderson Literary's webpage, I have found that every single book the agent found a publisher for was published within the "UK and Commonwealth" market. Australia is part of the British Commonwealth! I then searched Angus and Robertson, one of the most popular bookstore chains in Australia, and on the homepage I found a book by Lee Child, one of Darley Anderson's authors. I then proceeded to search "Wintercraft", one of the agency's YA dark fantasy books. And there it was.

More often than not, the agency has found publishers in countries such as France and Germany for a wider worldwide market.

I am suddenly very excited about this agency.

It's a shame you hear so many stories of rejection, because I would really love the opportunity to work with this agency.

Still, I plucked up the courage to contact them again. I can never know if I'm pushing too much, or whether they're excited to see an eager author.
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Vicki,

Thank you for your prompt reply.

I have thoroughly browsed your authors and noticed that each one is first and foremost published in the "UK and Commonwealth". Living in Australia, I am part of the Commonwealth and thus would be very excited to be able to buy my own book in Australia provided it found publication. I continued to search a number of your authors' books in popular bookstore chains in Australia, and was able to find all of them.

Can you confirm that the book would be sold in Australia?

Regardless, you are currently at the top of my list of preferred agents, and you shall be the first I contact when my manuscript is ready next year.

Regards,

Ryan Sullivan.
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Depending on the nature of their response, if they even do respond, I will post their reply.

People will tell you that the word count of your novels doesn't matter. This is largely true. While you're writing, you should be worrying about the writing and not the word count. However, what it doesn't say is that word count really matters if you seriously want to be published.

So, as I didn't wish to recieve any nasty surprises (namely my novel being too short), I sent queries out to a number of agents in Australia where I live. I am writing an epic fantasy novel, and I believe it is also young adult. So here's what went down with the agency, Australian Literary Management:
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Me:
When it is ready, I plan to submit my manuscript to Australian Literary Management. I was wondering what kind of range would be acceptable as far as word count for an Epic Fantasy novel.Also, when stating the word count should I be using the word count that Microsoft Word tells me? If not, which method should I use?

ALM:
Dear Ryan,

A word count given by microsoft word is fine. As a rough guide fantasy novels can be anywhere in the range of 100, 000 words to roughly 160,000 words.

Best regards, Karen Colston
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That was where I started to get worried, because for my novel I am aiming for between 70,000 and 100,000.
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Me:
Thank you for your prompt reply. If the novel was marketed as a YA Fantasy, would 70,000 to 100,000 words be too short? I may have to integrate the idea of the sequel to reach the 100,000-160,000 mark, which is entirely possible, but I'd prefer not to.

ALM:
Dear Ryan,

Yes that word count would be fine for the YA market, unfortunately though, we are not looking at any YA material at this time. A list of literary agents can be found on the Australian Literary Agent's Assoc website; www.austlitagentsassoc.com.au/index.html

Best regards,

Karen Colston
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So there we go. This agency wouldn't accept my manuscript if it wasn't within the range they were looking for. As you can see, the number of words that are needed are dependent on the genre you are writing. A young adult, epic fantasy novel would have a word count of 70,000 to 100,000, as opposed to a general fantasy which would be 100,000 to 160,000 words.