Dear All, I live in Malaysia and i have written a fiction novel and wanted to find a literary agent for representation. The problem in Malaysia is that the concept of literary agent have not quite caught up yet so there are near to none, there are only a few rare individual who formerly worked in the publishing industry . So the question that i wanted to ask, are there any literary agents that accept foreign authors/manuscripts or i would have better luck by sticking to my home country? thanks

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Most US and UK agents do take foriegn clients. It is not a problem. Get a copy of the Writer's Market or Author's Yearbook.

While literary agents often consider foreign submissions, many would rather deal through third parties -- literary agents in the foreign countries with whom they have some sort of an understanding or partnership arrangement. This is because of the myriad problems in working with foreign authors. These include, on the one hand, language and style problems, and, on the other hand, currency restrictions, censorship, and intellectual property issues. An irrelevant relevance: Some 20 years ago, the film, "The Russia House," starring Sean Connery as a British publisher, presented several of these problems in a sensational way. "The Russia House" was based on John LeCarre's novel, so you could expect a lot of espionage and the like, in addition to witty dialogue and well-drawn characters. The international publishing aspect was definitely way down on the list, but I thought I'd mention it in passing. You'd probably best served by a literary agent in your own country who has a connection to literary agents in other countries. There is probably a Malaysian literay agency with an arrangement with an Australian literary agency, for instance -- this could open up the entire English-language market to you. Another idea: contact the Malaysian branch of an English-language publisher. Chee Wah Corporation Berhad (Butterworth) and the Kuala Lumpur branch of Oxford Fajar Sdn Bhd come to mind. Editors there might have connections with overseas literary agents.