Location Location

Here's something that I've never quite got my head around. I've banged it against the wall, but nothing rattles.

Imagine that an author writes a novel that is set in Australia or some other country on the underbelly of the planet - presuming that we really are looking at the universe the right way up!

Now, the author lives in London. Should he or she think about approaching a UK agent or publisher? Or should they restrict themselves to the underbelly country where the story is set.

I only bring this up because I have experienced this. I have been told by some agents and publishers that while they like the story and the writing, the novel should be published in the country being discussed.

Not all would say this, of course, but there are an awul lot who think along these lines.

These are the same agents and publishers who say they are on the lookout for fresh, original ideas that are able to take the reader to new places and experience new things.

Ummm ... hello? Have I missed something here? Should I be restricted to only writing about the part of the world I live in? How do these agents and publishers work out what their "consumers" want to read?

Can someone please explain it to me? At the moment this is in my "too hard to fathom" basket.

I should add that authors who are already published would probably have less of a problem here. Make a name for yourself and you can pull all sorts of locations out of your hat.