Submission Guidelines
We are currently CLOSED for submissions
Note that “closed to submissions” means just that. Only if our submission status is “open” should you approach us regarding representation, and if the web site states we’re open only to specific types of submission, please don’t send in something that falls outside the brief. If your submission is appropriate, we ask that you contact us via email initially. Our contact email is info [at] zenoagency [dot] com (remove the square brackets and replace accordingly).
A simple and polite enquiry asking if we’d be interested in seeing your work will do. It’s worth giving us some idea of what you’d like to send in – we may be open for submissions, but may not be looking for particular types of fiction at that time. And if you have a web site, make sure you mention it, along with the address.
Ideally your submission enquiry should contain your “elevator pitch” – a lean and concise summation of your novel of no more than a few sentences. It’s tough to try and squeeze your book into such a small space, but it’s very helpful for us at this end. Without some idea of what we’re dealing with, we cannot make a call as to whether it might be of interest.
If we decide that we would like to see a sample, we’ll ask you to send in the first fifty pages or so of your novel, along with a longer synopsis (although this version should be no more than a few paragraphs – one page at the most) and a CV that tells us a little bit about you and your work. You should submit all these via email (unless asked specifically to do otherwise) and they should be either .doc or .rtf files attached to your email – not text pasted into the body of the message! We do not accept submissions in the mail.
Please make sure your manuscript is formatted correctly and professionally – a little time spent googling will offer up this information. (If you can’t be bothered to send your work in the required format, why should we be bothered to read it!?) Look at our Resources Page, which is there to help you in all sorts of ways. Here’s a link to help you on your way and be sure to check out more than one entry to give you a rounded idea of what to do…
Our turnaround time is anything up to eight weeks, longer if we’re busy with things like the London Book Fair or the World Fantasy Convention, so we ask for your patience. If we wish to see a full manuscript, we’ll ask for it. If we decide that your submission is not for us, we’ll say so – but do please note that we’re not obliged to offer you any explanantion. It’s simply not possible for us to critique or offer editorial advice on everything we receive.