The Editors Answer - Agented Submissions?

by Raelene Gorlinsky

"Writers across the great blogosphere are tossing around the question of submissions. The most common advice is do not submit un-agented work directly to editors & publishers. [...] Ellora's Cave publishes many novella length (and shorter) stories. Many agents state 'no novellas or short stories' in their preferences.

Give it to me straight, if I want Ellora's Cave to publish my work (and I do), which is the best route: Agented, or an un-agented, direct submission?"

The best route is always to research what a specific publisher, editor or agent accepts and how. Don't bother with advice from others on how to submit - go straight to the horse's mouth, which is the company's or person's website, and get the facts. If the publisher/editor says "agented subs only", that is what they mean, they are not going to make an exception for you. If they give story lengths they accept, don't waste their time (and yours) by sending anything different.

The best route for submitting to Ellora's Cave? Go to our website and, at the Help and Info>Submissions menu, download the Author Information brochure. It tells you everything you need to know - what we are looking for, what we accept or don't, exactly how to submit to us. Make sure your story meets our length and content requirements and so forth. Then follow the submission directions to the letter.

Yes, we take unagented submissions - in fact, over 96% of our subs are direct from authors, not agents. Having an agent does not directly improve your chance of acceptance with us. It can have an indirect effect, if your agent helped you edit and polish your sub and improved its quality before sending it in.

So read our Author Information brochure and then send us your submission, please!