I'm discovering that the path to world domination is not as straightforward as I'd hoped. If I think I've taken two steps forward, I envariably find the next day I've gone a step back. Some days its two or three steps back. I haven't actually made the inroads into selling my books overseas that I thought I had, although I still have hopes that things may work out.
Yesterday I heard that some NZ publishers are tightening up their submissions process. Considering I made my first book sale out of the slush pile I find this a worrying trend. Will NZ go the way of overseas publishing and require an agent for the majority of submissions? We'd need to train up a lot of agents double-quick as they are a rare breed at the moment.
In the past i've loved the fact that you could get published in NZ without the help of an agent. but reading US blogs about the difficulties of getting an agent before you can even start thinking about submitting work to publishers strikes fear into my heart. Being a writer is fraught with difficulties to begin with. If you have to add the search for an agent to your search for a publisher it makes the whole thing more like Mt Everest, then Mt Taranaki. Good luck everybody. Don't forget your crampons and a good supply of oxygen.
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